Advice For Beginner

[fjblair]

First of all this forum has been a great help during my tractor search for the past couple of months. Thanks. This is my first tractor.

I have a 3130 on the way with a 723 FEL, A 60" Bush Hog, scrape blade and Woods BH. I am building a house next year on 23 mountainous acres(about 4 acres of pasture to mow). I will be maintaining a 1,200' gravel road and clearing wooded areas, etc.

When I bought the tractor the dealer was about to close so I did not get very much in the way of instruction. Removing the BH and attaching the 3ph looked pretty complicated to this newbie.
Is it complicated? Is it reasonable to think that I can figure this out from the books and just messing around with it? Or should I get some face to face help?

I am reasonably mechanically inclined etc, and I know once I do it a couple times I will get the hang of it. But man there are a lot of levers and hoses and gizmos on that sucker.

And the Bush Hog book tales about shortening the shaft????!!!!

Sorry for rambling but there are so many questions for a rookie. I don't want to screw anything up before I figure out how to use it , you know?

Thanks

 

[RonR]

Your dealer should cut the PTO shaft to fit your tractor before he delivers it, so you shouldn't have to.

My dealer's delivery guy spent about 2 hours showing me everything and went through every manaul in detail. He had me remove and install the FEL to make sure I knew how.

And he covered every safety feature on the units. I just wanted to DRIVE IT, but he was making sure I understood how the things worked and would be safe with it.

I would hope that all dealers did that, but I doubt they do. I had to even sign off that he'd done all these demos!

As for when you get yours, just be slow and smart. Don't start learning the BH next to your house or car. Keep others safely back.......... Low and slow is always good.

Ron

 

[RoyJackson]

As long as you read your manual and understand it...you shouldn't have too many problems. The firstime time I removed my loader, it took 20 minutes...a bit longer to install it. Now, maybe 2 or 3 minutes for both operations. As far as the backhoe, just go step by step following the manual's instructions Don't worry about how long it takes...just do it right and safely. You'll get faster after you do it a few times...might even think of some shortcuts. The main thing...do it safely!!

When the tractor is delivered to your dealer, you could ask him to show you again...but learn your manual...the answers are there.

As far as shortening you PTO shaft, you may not have to do that. I've got two PTO shafts...one for the mower, the other for the cutter. I haven't had to shorten either one. I'd try seeing how well it hooks up before disassembling it. It's not a tough job to disassemble.

 

[johnday]

fj; When your machine is delivered, the guy should run all that by you. When I replaced my TC35 with a DA model, the guy is a friend of mine that delivered it, but he goes over the machine with anyone. He should be willing to spend as much time as it takes. If he can't for some reason, go back to the dealer, some one better take the time with you.

Welcome to TBN, all questions are a go! /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[fjblair]

Thanks guys. Just a lot of unknowns for me. The tractor will be delivered tomorrow, so hopefully they will help me a bit. I figure I will be going very slow for a while.

It's exciting, but kind of scary. Just want to break everything in the right way(including me /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif)

FB