IF You are a Tractor Operator in your ROOKIE Season.

[AxleHub]

This is my rookie season. I've done a few things right and a few things wrong.

Vanguard, nice post of items . . . and your list could have applied to most sizes of tractors equally.

One of the issues for us rookies is that for many of us, the learning and experiences keep changing as the seasons change. So learning to deal with cold weather issues becomes yet a new exposure to diesel additives for antigel and cetane and warm up times that are considerably longer.

An issue I keep wondering about is 2wd vs 4wd on hard surfaces. Most tractor manuals say to avoid using 4wd on hard surfaces. But if a user has concrete driveways with slope or concrete sidewalks eith slopes . . where is the "maybe slippery/could be" slippery line?

Not to mention its nice to have braking capabilities on the front wheels also when moving with a fel bucket in front (in 4wd).

Another new experience is wet grass on slopes at morning lows in the 22 to 35 degree range.

I've been in conditions like this all my life . . but each machine handles differently as weight balances become ever more focused.

Someone messaged me that a thread like this makes posters sound "weak" or "too fragile" . . and I strongly disagree with that concept. Knowing how to get better is how rookies become aware. The wisest operators I know in construction equipment . . are the ones that tell you there is no "end" to learning and awareness . . because each day things and conditions could vary.

 

[Ed of all trades]

The strongest men are the ones that are not afraid of appearing weak. It is the weak ones that must appear strong. I have been driving tractors all of my life and my beard is gray, I still have things to learn about operating a tractor. Anyone can drive one but to have the skill to be called an operator one never stops learning. Ed

 

[gladehound]

This is my rookie season. I've done a few things right and a few things wrong. I'll share:

Right:

• Hearing protection is great. Saves your ears and makes things more pleasant.
• Quick hitches are great. Safer and easier is a hard combo to beat.
• Sunglasses double as eye protection.
• Keeping an old hammer near the implements helps get pins in and out.
• I keep a 30 gallon diesel tank on my land. So much better than 5 gallon cans.

Wrong:

My big wrong was trying to pull a tree stump out with a snatch strap. This particular stump was rotting and weak. Rather than sort of "tip out" like I had seen so many times on youtube it broke in half and came flying toward me. It hit my tractor's taillight and wasn't a bad repair. However, 2' up and to the left and I would have died. Honestly actually died. I still think pulling a stump out isn't a crazy idea but I'll be a lot more selective about which stumps I hook up to.

I've broke my fair share of straps, ropes and chains while pulling. It's nothing to play with. Consider putting something between you and the danger. A raised carry all with something big strapped to it between you and what you're pulling can offer some protection.

 

[jenkinsph]

I agree that learning is an ongoing adventure. I have said before that you can teach just about anyone to drive a dpzer in ten minutes and then spend the rest of their lives learning how to control the blade. Same thing applies to tractor operation.

 

[100 td]

For rookies, here's another thing to think about.
(It's probably been stated before but...)

Murphy's Law goes something like this -
Murphy's law is a popular adage that states that "things will go wrong in any given situation, if you give them a chance," or more commonly, "whatever can go wrong, will go wrong."

Then there's Murphy's Brother's Law.
This law basically states that Murphy was an optimist!
So be careful out there!

One course I participated in my career was on "Risk Analysis"
I learnt to look outside the box and view things from a different perspective. This involves looking at each task and identifying hazards etc. and asking yourself the questions, what would happen if this or that, broke/moved/rolled/failed/slipped etc. and what would be the outcome.

Look at each job you do and ask yourself similar questions instead of saying -

I'll just pick it up with the corner of the bucket and drag it over there, only weighs twice what I should be lifting but it's such a short distance, "She'll be right eh!"

Then after asking yourself the questions, see what you can do to change or approach the task a different way so you remove the possibility of a hazard or failure.

 

[Ed of all trades]

For rookies, here's another thing to think about.
(It's probably been stated before but...)

Murphy's Law goes something like this -
Murphy's law is a popular adage that states that "things will go wrong in any given situation, if you give them a chance," or more commonly, "whatever can go wrong, will go wrong."

Then there's Murphy's Brother's Law.
This law basically states that Murphy was an optimist!
So be careful out there!

One course I participated in my career was on "Risk Analysis"
I learnt to look outside the box and view things from a different perspective. This involves looking at each task and identifying hazards etc. and asking yourself the questions, what would happen if this or that, broke/moved/rolled/failed/slipped etc. and what would be the outcome.

Look at each job you do and ask yourself similar questions instead of saying -

I'll just pick it up with the corner of the bucket and drag it over there, only weighs twice what I should be lifting but it's such a short distance, "She'll be right eh!"

Then after asking yourself the questions, see what you can do to change or approach the task a different way so you remove the possibility of a hazard or failure.

That is the essence of operating a tractor, plus experience. Remember if you don't have a lot of experience stay away from the edges of what is safe because you don't know where the edge really is. After you have years and years of experience you will know enough to get close to the edge but never actually to it. Ed

 

[Ed of all trades]

For rookies, here's another thing to think about.
(It's probably been stated before but...)

Murphy's Law goes something like this -
Murphy's law is a popular adage that states that "things will go wrong in any given situation, if you give them a chance," or more commonly, "whatever can go wrong, will go wrong."

Then there's Murphy's Brother's Law.
This law basically states that Murphy was an optimist!
So be careful out there!

One course I participated in my career was on "Risk Analysis"
I learnt to look outside the box and view things from a different perspective. This involves looking at each task and identifying hazards etc. and asking yourself the questions, what would happen if this or that, broke/moved/rolled/failed/slipped etc. and what would be the outcome.

Look at each job you do and ask yourself similar questions instead of saying -

I'll just pick it up with the corner of the bucket and drag it over there, only weighs twice what I should be lifting but it's such a short distance, "She'll be right eh!"

Then after asking yourself the questions, see what you can do to change or approach the task a different way so you remove the possibility of a hazard or failure.

That is the essence of operating a tractor, plus experience. Remember if you don't have a lot of experience stay away from the edges of what is safe because you don't know where the edge really is. After you have years and years of experience you will know enough to get close to the edge but never actually to it. Ed

 

[MortOz]

Someone messaged me that a thread like this makes posters sound "weak" or "too fragile" .

Kind of glad to hear that - **** sapiens are one of the weakest large mammals around. I regularly watch vets do surgery on standing cattle that lose quantities of blood that would drop a human, and the cow happily wanders off to find some grass. In my small local community I personally know at least a dozen people who have been pushed up against a rail or similar by a steer, and ended up with crushed ribs, fractured vertebra, ruptured spleens, etc. The steer never even notices the impact. Anyone who says that humans are weak or fragile has hit the nail exactly on the head!

And cattle are soft and cuddly compared the the hard, sharp edges on our tractors, loaders and other machinery! If the only surviving species in the genus **** has anything going for it, that advantage is brains and definitely not strength or robustness! Especially when compared to a couple of tons of metal with 50 or 60 horses under the lid We should all make note to use that one advantage to help ensure a lot more time to muck about on machines.

 

[jix]

My first scare happened last week, diving a Kioti 2510 with a bucket full of soil down a slope with a sideangle.. and the bucket all the way down. I entered the brow of the hill going down and driving forward in 4x4 hst. sudduenly the tractor began to tip forward and sideways. Off the forward pedal, I got. one real wheel in the air and the tractor on the edge of falling over sideways. ON the brakes. Into Diff lock, into reverse, slowly. Bucket to the ground. The tipping stopped. Then slowly backing up. Feathering the bucket up a little. Up- she came to level ground. Stopped, waited for heart rate to normalize.. Wheew... Close call.

Lesson! go down backwards, or avoid such slopes with a load on the FEL. Any compound slope is very tricky.. ten degrees of side slope is plenty dangerous. Tractors are darn tippy machines, even with weighted rears in 4x4 drive. Soft ground makes everything different than I expect it to. Tractors have a high C of G by design, not at all like a 4x4 ATV. The physics of angles can really surprise me!

A very scary lesson learned, luckily, without damage or injury... Oh yeah. IN a ROPS cab, always wear the seat belt! A loaded tractor is not a hill scrambler. PERIOD!

Jix---

 

[jix]

One more thing..... A loaded FEL has altogether different dynanmics than does a tractor with an empty FEL. It is about the smaller wheels on the front axle, and the weight shift off of the rear wheels, going forwards down a slope. If there is also a side slop, the tractor will begin to handle like a unicycle. The effect of changing C of G is radical and rapid.

Rule: Descend slopes backwards. Keep the bucket low, do it slowly and carefully, or don't do it if there is any other way.
A smart-*** on a tractor is a dead *** waiting to happen.
Jix.