Patent ID: 8160773

Claim:
A travel drive apparatus for a working vehicle, comprising: a tubular wheel mounting case provided on a working vehicle and rotating integrally with a wheel; a reduction gear mechanism provided in said wheel mounting case to reduce the speed of rotation of a drive source and transmit it to said wheel mounting case; lubricant oil circulation means for supplying a lubricant oil to said reduction gear mechanism; an oil temperature sensor for detecting a temperature (T) of said lubricant oil; and a speed sensor for detecting a rotational speed (V) of said wheel, characterized in that; said drive source is provided with a drive source temperature sensor for detecting a temperature (Tm) of said drive source, said lubricant oil circulation means being constituted by an electric motor, a lubricant pump for forcibly circulating the lubricant oil pooled in said wheel mounting case by being driven by said electric motor, and control means for controlling the drive and stop of said electric motor in accordance with the rotational speed (V) of said wheel, said control means being configured to keep said electric motor in a stopped state until the temperature (Tm) of said drive source detected by said drive source temperature sensor reaches a predetermined temperature (Tms).