Novice operating exerience....

[RidgeHiker]

We bought a used Kioti yesterday. Today was the first time I operated a tractor and I played in the snow. All these things you have to do at the same time - steer, operate the throttle, raise or lower the bucket, turn the bucket up or down, and watch where you are going.

One thing I learned was what happens when you are backing up, looking over your shoulder, raising the bucket, and forget you are raising the bucket. Turns out that it goes too high and dumps snow backwards onto the hood of the tractor and splashes it back on you. Took a half second to understand what was happening. Luckily nobody was watching. :laughing:

Hopefully the rest of my errors will be as much fun.

 

[IslandTractor]

Good thing you were not carrying a bucket of firewood or rocks too!

We all have had similar experiences and they generally speed up our learning curve if we survive.

Good luck with your new Kioti. I've loved mine.

 

[RoyJackson]

Just take your time...learn all the safety aspects and learn good habits. Speed will come with practice and time.

As IslandTractor wrote, that bucket could have had stone or something a lot more destructive (to both you and the tractor) then snow. A raised bucket at the wrong time can also roll the tractor.

Be safe and enjoy your tractor!

 

[Gordon Gould]

Wecome to the world of tractors. It would probably be better not to operate the bucket unless you can watch it. As you found out. Go easy and be careful. All your lessons may not be that easily learned. Lesson 1 - keep your bucket low as possible at all times. As Roy said a high bucket greatly enhances the chance for a roll over. The same is true of backing up because it is harder to see your angle w/o the hood and bucket in front of you for reference.

 

[JD5210]

Here is a few other safety tips. I have been keeping a list since I purchased my tractor.

Keep front/rear implements close to the ground, namely when going up hill
In neutral the tractor really moves going down hill, so keep it in gear and do not shift when going down hill, so plan ahead.
Be careful braking going down hill you can skid. If you are pulling something it could cause you to jack knife. Good time to be in MWFD if ground is wet.
If the front and rear tires are in a rut the tractor will move around to stay in the rut
If the bucket is on the tractor keep the blade up, this way if bucket runs into the ground, the tractor may ride up on the bucket instead of the bucket digging into ground and maybe stopping the tractor and tossing the operator off.
Think ahead of what you are going to do, the tractor is powerful and is unforgiving. If you think you need MWFD, put it into MWFD ahead of time, since some tractors need to be stopped to put it into MWFD.
Keep roll bar up and seat belt on. No good to have roll bar up, if you are not wearing your seat belt
As you raise loader you need to lower bucket to keep it level
As you lower loader you need to raise bucket to keep it level
Be careful raising the loader near something as the bucket moves out a little as it goes up.
When bush hogging watch that something does not get caught in the lynch pins and pull them off.
When loading on a tow behind trailer, make sure as driving tractor on the trailer

 

[BethesdaEC]

You said you are operating the throttle. Tractors are not like cars, you set your throttle once and typically do not touch the throttle while operating. Tractors have a governed throttle and the engines are designed to operate continuously at 2000 to 3000 RPM.

In your car if you are cruising on level ground at say 2000 RPM and you start up a hill the RPM will drop unless open the throttle. With a tractor when you set the governed throttle to a specific RPM, it will automatically open the actual throttle to keep the engine at the set RPM.

Speed is controlled via the HST pedal or in the case of a geared tractor, selecting the appropriate gear.

 

[b737drvr]

New to forum...what is MWFD?
Thanks.

 

[grsthegreat]

New to forum...what is MWFD?
Thanks.

its actually called MFWD
mechanical front wheel drive

ie) 4 wheel drive

 

[IslandTractor]

New to forum...what is MWFD?
Thanks.

Mechanical Front Wheel Drive. For practical purposes think of it as four wheel drive but it is not exactly the 4 wheel drive you think about with Jeeps or bigger tractors. None of the CUTs have true 4wd that I know of.

 

[bigbull338]

you learned a valueable lesson about raising your loader to full hight with the bucket tilted all the way back.i set my tilt on the bucket or hay forks an leave it alone.an i never fully tilt the forks back unless i have to,an even then never with the loader all the way up.because the bale could roll down on me an kill me.

 

[TripleR]

Sometimes, for a true novice, it is better to spend some time not doing any work until you spend a bit of time familiarizing yourself with all of the controls. I have had new owners go out into an open field and practice. I have done this when buying a new tractor.

As mentioned, when working pay close attention and I certainly can't improve on the advice given.

We were all novices once and can't certainly identify with your situation.

 

[Andrewnewy]

You said you are operating the throttle. Tractors are not like cars, you set your throttle once and typically do not touch the throttle while operating.

Your comments here are only partially correct, if your tractor has an HST trans the yes you set tractor rpm and adjust speed with the HST peddle, if your just driving(I.e not working) the set the rpm as low as possible to achieve the desired speed, when you start working the tractor you then set engine rpm to match what is required for that task, for example if you have a PTO driven implement requiring 540rpm @ PTO then you set your engine revs to achieve this.
Gear tractor you tend to drie just like a car, start in a low gear and change up as you increase speed, selling engine revs and clutching as you normally would, however the above still applies when you start working.
Diesel engine like operating under load, if your revs are two high and your not working your tractor you can where the tops of your crank bearings, on the otherhand if they do nothing but idle you will ware the bottoms, ideally you want to where both equally hence keeping it under load. (but without overloading it)

As for the OP, as others have said, take your time, get use to each operation first before you try doing it all together, tractors can kill if not use properly, and if you don't know something ask hear.

 

[rus_geek]

One thing I learned was what happens when you are backing up, looking over your shoulder, raising the bucket, and forget you are raising the bucket. ...

I was sure this was going to be another "I tore the corner off the garage" stories. Not that anyone here has ever had one of those . . .

My favorite when backing up is when one wheel switches suddenly from foot-deep snow to a foot-high chunk of ice. That'll wake you up in a hurry.

-rus-

 

[TripleR]

I was sure this was going to be another "I tore the corner off the garage" stories. Not that anyone here has ever had one of those . . .

-rus-

Yeah, I am pretty sure that's another one of those urban legends.

 

[RidgeHiker]

You said you are operating the throttle. Tractors are not like cars, you set your throttle once and typically do not touch the throttle while operating. Tractors have a governed throttle and the engines are designed to operate continuously at 2000 to 3000 RPM.

Gear tractor you tend to drie just like a car, start in a low gear and change up as you increase speed, selling engine revs and clutching as you normally would, however the above still applies when you start working.
Diesel engine like operating under load, if your revs are two high and your not working your tractor you can where the tops of your crank bearings, on the otherhand if they do nothing but idle you will ware the bottoms, ideally you want to where both equally hence keeping it under load. (but without overloading it)

I am confused here. Our Kioti is gear driven - high and low range, 4 speed trans. Moving snow requires a lot of changing direction and clutching. If I drive it like a manual trans in a car I will adjust the RPM to match the clutch function. I will be also be turning the bucket as I move forward to scoop it, etc. Can I really just set the hand throttle for this?

 

[kday64]

1) ROPS up
2) Seat belt on

Tractor safety starts with the above!

Take your time and remember your tractor will be more unstable on not flat terrain.

~Kevin

 

[CompactTractorFan]

You said you are operating the throttle.

I have to say, I'm guilty of doing this...:ashamed:

 

[CompactTractorFan]

I was sure this was going to be another "I tore the corner off the garage" stories. Not that anyone here has ever had one of those . . .

Nope, not me...Just the door...

 

[Gittyup]

I am confused here. Our Kioti is gear driven - high and low range, 4 speed trans. Moving snow requires a lot of changing direction and clutching. If I drive it like a manual trans in a car I will adjust the RPM to match the clutch function. I will be also be turning the bucket as I move forward to scoop it, etc. Can I really just set the hand throttle for this?

Yes. Use the proper range and gear. Set the throttle and go. Best on your clutch above 2000 rpm's if traveling.

If you have both a foot and hand throttle, you can set the hand throttle to some "minimum" operating RPM and go to work. When you need a little more umph, say faster loader operation, mash on the foot throttle. Keep in mind the tractor will pick up some speed as you add throttle. So, practice and work slowly at first. Can do the same thing if traveling across flat land where you might not need full throttle. Then as you turn up hill, you add throttle with the foot control.

I find I do heavy loader work in 1st gear, switching between hi and lo ranges depending on whether digging into a pile or traveling with the load. You do have to stop to change ranges.

 

[TripleR]

Yes. Use the proper range and gear. Set the throttle and go. Best on your clutch above 2000 rpm's if traveling.

If you have both a foot and hand throttle, you can set the hand throttle to some "minimum" operating RPM and go to work. When you need a little more umph, say faster loader operation, mash on the foot throttle. Keep in mind the tractor will pick up some speed as you add throttle. So, practice and work slowly at first. Can do the same thing if traveling across flat land where you might not need full throttle. Then as you turn up hill, you add throttle with the foot control.

I find I do heavy loader work in 1st gear, switching between hi and lo ranges depending on whether digging into a pile or traveling with the load. You do have to stop to change ranges.

This works best for me when using a geared tractor though there are times I will just put it at a set RPM. Experience/task/equipment will lead you to what works best for you.

I have 50+ years on geared tractors, so even though I have operated HST's for a few years, unless I am running something off the PTO, I vary throttle; just seems natural and works well for me.