Patent ID: 8020659

Claim:
A method of operating a hydrostatically driven vehicle, the vehicle having a prime mover operating a variable displacement propel pump, a displacement of the pump varied based on an angle of a rotating swashplate included in the pump, a fluid flow impelled by the pump operating to transfer power to at least one propel motor, the propel motor operably connected to at least one wheel of the vehicle, the propel motor adapted to operate at a rotation speed and direction, motion of the vehicle being controlled by a control operated by a user, the method comprising: sensing with a sensor to yield an actual signal at least one of (i) the angle of the rotating swashplate and (ii) the direction and speed of the propel motor; relaying the actual signal to an electronic controller; generating a control signal based on input from the control operated by the user; determining a desired signal for the rotating swashplate based on the control signal; comparing the actual signal with the desired signal in the electronic controller; stalling motion of the at least one wheel of the vehicle when the actual signal differs from the desired signal by a predetermined extent and for a predetermined period; initiating a timer when the actual signal differs from the desired signal; and stalling the motion of the at least one wheel when a time value incremented in the timer is at least equal to the predetermined period.