You can also "notice" that you are in 4wd on a hard surface like pavement when you turn the wheels you may feel in the steering wheel some resistance and notice some tire "scubbing". If you put the tractor in 2wd the steering wheel will make easy turns on a hard surface. As for the differential lock near your left heel on a HST model, it is for locking the 2 rear wheels together so that if one rear wheel is on a very slippery surface (ice or mud or unsupported in the air) and the other rear wheel/tire has good traction then the tire with poor traction will spin but the tire with the good tractive surface will not. By pressing and holding the differential lock down with your left heel, then both tires will spin together to pull you off of the "hole" or slippery surface you were on. Then let up off of the pedal and allow it to click back up by itself. Do NOT stomp on the pedal while spinning rapidly, you want to either be stopped or only barely moving the tire when you engage the pedal, You will feel it move into place and engage. If stopped you may have to press slightly on the hydro pedal with your right foot, to engage the differential lock with your left heel. when you feel it engage, hold it down until you are clear of the "thing that has you stuck then release it. If you use differential lock in this manner it will last for the lifetime of the tractor, if you abuse it, it will break. Another thing you can do to get yourself unstuck is by pressing on one or the other of the split brakes, in other words by slowing down the spinning wheel you can speed up the stationary wheel. This is more difficult to do with older Kubota's as the brake pedals are on the same side as the Hydrostat pedal.. You can do the "kubota shuffle" by shuffeling your left foot over to the right side, or use your cruise control to set the hydro pedal position and then brake with your right foot. Split brake steering like this can be useful when you need to steer when on ice and turning the front tires is not getting the tractor to go in the direction you want it to go. I hope these little tips have been of some value to you..
James K0UA
