Rhino35
Silver Member
- Joined
- May 28, 2013
- Messages
- 147
- Location
- Independence, KY
- Tractor
- 2013 Kioti DK 40 SE Hydro and two Cub Cadet riding lawn mowers
All,
I'm new to the forum - been enjoying reading for several months, then bought a new tractor with FEL and a 6' bush hog a few weeks ago and joined the forum. My first tractor! I am lucky to have experienced tractor owning neighbors, but there is nothing like this forum to search for advice and operating experience. I've learned a lot about stability, wheel bearings and general tractor safety so far - with much more to glean. I am a commercial pilot, 57 years old, with an uneven history of effectively using tools to either fix or destroy things I've intended to fix. In my defense I'm getting better with tackling vehicle maintenance because I've learned the hard way the apparent solution isn't always the best solution. I am cautious by nature and training so bear with me if I come across as a box of rocks by asking questions many of you would consider rudimentary and common sense *grin*. I definitely approach my new tractor as an inherently dangerous tool. It has teeth front and back! Believe it or not tractors strike me as at least equally dangerous for the uninformed or complacent operator as airplanes.
Brandi, in another thread on interesting things lifted in FEL's, kindly posted this link about an online retailer who offers floor jacks. I've already bought four 6,000 pound rated floor supports - the kind you adjust for a particular height and then use to hold vehicles up. I've used them to hold up my bush hog (while attached to the three point hitch) before crawling under it to inspect the blades and seal (I hit something during my bush hogging, and there was a little fluid on the top on the bush hog after my first use which was because the gear box had been a little over serviced - drained it a bit and no further leakage on the second and third day of bush hogging). Here is the link (hope it is okay to post it). I narrowed the retailer's offering to this floor jack.
Floor Jack with Rapid Pump®, 3 Ton Heavy Duty
So my questions are...if rated at 3 tons what does that exactly mean? My tractor with the FEL and bush hog and loaded tires weighs pretty close to 3 tons. Probably a bit more at 6,300 pounds. But it would be unlikely for someone to use a jack like this to try and actually lift the entire tractor. If you were to use it to change a tire - or even lift the entire front or rear end - what might the approximate load be on the jack? If you lifted one tire would that be something close to one quarter of the weight of the entire tractor? Lifted the back end half the weight?
Also, if anyone has a mental checklist they run down before jacking anything up please share it with me. I can think of a couple of things like parking brake set (only the rear wheels on my tractor), wheel chocks, level not slippery ground, and having my floor supports handy to slip under the item being jacked right away. Nothing like experience - and mine over the past 40 years since high school auto shop has been limited to changing one car tire after getting a flat.
Thanks,
Rhino
I'm new to the forum - been enjoying reading for several months, then bought a new tractor with FEL and a 6' bush hog a few weeks ago and joined the forum. My first tractor! I am lucky to have experienced tractor owning neighbors, but there is nothing like this forum to search for advice and operating experience. I've learned a lot about stability, wheel bearings and general tractor safety so far - with much more to glean. I am a commercial pilot, 57 years old, with an uneven history of effectively using tools to either fix or destroy things I've intended to fix. In my defense I'm getting better with tackling vehicle maintenance because I've learned the hard way the apparent solution isn't always the best solution. I am cautious by nature and training so bear with me if I come across as a box of rocks by asking questions many of you would consider rudimentary and common sense *grin*. I definitely approach my new tractor as an inherently dangerous tool. It has teeth front and back! Believe it or not tractors strike me as at least equally dangerous for the uninformed or complacent operator as airplanes.
Brandi, in another thread on interesting things lifted in FEL's, kindly posted this link about an online retailer who offers floor jacks. I've already bought four 6,000 pound rated floor supports - the kind you adjust for a particular height and then use to hold vehicles up. I've used them to hold up my bush hog (while attached to the three point hitch) before crawling under it to inspect the blades and seal (I hit something during my bush hogging, and there was a little fluid on the top on the bush hog after my first use which was because the gear box had been a little over serviced - drained it a bit and no further leakage on the second and third day of bush hogging). Here is the link (hope it is okay to post it). I narrowed the retailer's offering to this floor jack.
Floor Jack with Rapid Pump®, 3 Ton Heavy Duty
So my questions are...if rated at 3 tons what does that exactly mean? My tractor with the FEL and bush hog and loaded tires weighs pretty close to 3 tons. Probably a bit more at 6,300 pounds. But it would be unlikely for someone to use a jack like this to try and actually lift the entire tractor. If you were to use it to change a tire - or even lift the entire front or rear end - what might the approximate load be on the jack? If you lifted one tire would that be something close to one quarter of the weight of the entire tractor? Lifted the back end half the weight?
Also, if anyone has a mental checklist they run down before jacking anything up please share it with me. I can think of a couple of things like parking brake set (only the rear wheels on my tractor), wheel chocks, level not slippery ground, and having my floor supports handy to slip under the item being jacked right away. Nothing like experience - and mine over the past 40 years since high school auto shop has been limited to changing one car tire after getting a flat.
Thanks,
Rhino
