may not be sufficient to maintain the ground speed of work machine 10 and the speed of engine 14 will decrease as the work machine 10 slows unless transmission 12 is adjusted or the force exerted on work machine 10 decreases the engine speed will continue to decrease until engine 14 stalls the flowchart of fig3 illustrates an exemplary method 90 for handling underspeed situations in a work machine 10 control system 64 fig1 monitors the rotational speed of engine 14 step 92 if work machine 10 is traveling at first speed 78 referring to fig2 and encounters a load that causes a decrease in engine speed control system 64 detects the change in engine speed step 94 control system 64 determines if the engine speed has dropped below a stall limit step 96 the stall limit is a threshold value that indicates engine 14 is nearing a stall condition a machine owner manufacturer or operator may determine the stall limit for a particular piece of equipment the stall limit may depend upon inter alia the particular operating characteristics of engine 14 and may be calculated as a percentage of the rated speed of engine 14 for example a wheel loader engine having a rated speed of approximately 1800 rpm may have a stall limit that is approximately 75 of the rated limit or approximately 1400 rpm if the current engine speed is within an acceptable range of the rated speed control system 64 will engage the standard downshift procedure described above step 98 in this situation which may be typical of a work machine climbing an incline the standard downshift process of transmission 12 will respond to the reduced engine speed.