MN Charlie
New member
After wrestling off the wheel bolts so that I could get the front wheels back where they belong, I finally got some seat time in on my 1510D. I bladed the edged of the road, smoothed out some rough areas in the "back-40" and tried out the JD 261 finish mower. As I was mowing the ragweed in the back 40 tonight, I had some time to ponder this tractor-thing...
The YM1510D is really made for someone rather smaller than me. Getting on and off requires a certain technique. Getting on requires swinging my size 11EEE right foot over the seat back and then threading it between the fender and the loader controls/hoses. Getting off, I've found the best technique is to swing my right leg over the loader controls and steering wheel, over the left side loader arms to step on top of the left front wheel. Then I can grab the loader arm and swing gracefully
down to the ground.
I also can't see the top of the tach (where all the numbers are) without scrunching down and sideways in the seat.
I also found that my right knee has a tendency to push the hand throttle forward to slow idle or even off. While mowing I did find a seating position where I was able to leave the throttle at full without my knee hitting it. The foot throttle is very handy when using the loader.
I need to look at moving the non-factory seat back a bit and over to the left so that it doesn't interfere with the three point lift control.
Speaking of the three point, my biggest complaint with this tractor is that I can't control the LIFT speed. I've got it lowering down nice and gently now but it lifts very abruptly. From my research, there appears to be no way to change that. It makes using a back blade much more difficult.
The saving grace is that the home built loader has quite good control and I can smooth out things with the bucket better than I can with the blade. A ratchet-rake could be a very good accessory.
The JD 261 finish mower is about as much as this tractor can handle. Admittedly, it had a tougher than normal job tonight since the ragweed was a good 16 inches high. It's been so dry that I haven't mowed in 6-8 weeks and the weeds are all that's growing. I didn't need to touch the actual grass part of the lawn.
The power shift transmission on the 1510 ROCKS! What a wonderful thing for mowing and using the loader! Pick your transmission range and then never touch the clutch. Change gears as needed to keep the RPMs where they need to be as the mower loads up while continuing to move. There were a couple of extra thick areas of weeds where I needed to drop to neutral and let the mower blades spin up again, then slip it into first and off we go again. If I would have had to use the clutch, it wouldn't work nearly as well since the PTO is disengaged when the clutch pedal is pressed.
The temp light came on the first time I used the mower for about 30 minutes. Tonight I washed out the fins on the radiator with the garden hose and no more overheating problems. Lots of dirt and dust washed out of the bottom half of the radiator fins.
I'm amazed at how much heat comes off of the engine and trans-axle. I really noticed it tonight since there was barely a breath of a breeze. I think that I'll appreciate it more this winter.
The four wheel drive was very useful when I was grading the road. It let the blade dig in a bit deeper and keep moving. The differential lock may have done the same thing for me but that is not working on my tractor. Fixing it is a future project.
I definitely need to get some turf tires. The rice tires are way too aggressive to use in the lawn unless it's as dry as it is right now.
I LOVE the quick hitch for changing implements on the three point! Once I did my job and backed up straight :ashamed:, it hooked right up.
I definitely need some sway chains on the lower hitch arms and probably some longer arms as well. The ones on the tractor now are only 18 inches and they barely clear the tires. I think that the 23.5 inch arms will work better.
Mostly, this tractor stuff is FUN! I'm looking forward to more projects!
Charlie
The YM1510D is really made for someone rather smaller than me. Getting on and off requires a certain technique. Getting on requires swinging my size 11EEE right foot over the seat back and then threading it between the fender and the loader controls/hoses. Getting off, I've found the best technique is to swing my right leg over the loader controls and steering wheel, over the left side loader arms to step on top of the left front wheel. Then I can grab the loader arm and swing gracefully
down to the ground.I also can't see the top of the tach (where all the numbers are) without scrunching down and sideways in the seat.
I also found that my right knee has a tendency to push the hand throttle forward to slow idle or even off. While mowing I did find a seating position where I was able to leave the throttle at full without my knee hitting it. The foot throttle is very handy when using the loader.
I need to look at moving the non-factory seat back a bit and over to the left so that it doesn't interfere with the three point lift control.
Speaking of the three point, my biggest complaint with this tractor is that I can't control the LIFT speed. I've got it lowering down nice and gently now but it lifts very abruptly. From my research, there appears to be no way to change that. It makes using a back blade much more difficult.
The saving grace is that the home built loader has quite good control and I can smooth out things with the bucket better than I can with the blade. A ratchet-rake could be a very good accessory.
The JD 261 finish mower is about as much as this tractor can handle. Admittedly, it had a tougher than normal job tonight since the ragweed was a good 16 inches high. It's been so dry that I haven't mowed in 6-8 weeks and the weeds are all that's growing. I didn't need to touch the actual grass part of the lawn.
The power shift transmission on the 1510 ROCKS! What a wonderful thing for mowing and using the loader! Pick your transmission range and then never touch the clutch. Change gears as needed to keep the RPMs where they need to be as the mower loads up while continuing to move. There were a couple of extra thick areas of weeds where I needed to drop to neutral and let the mower blades spin up again, then slip it into first and off we go again. If I would have had to use the clutch, it wouldn't work nearly as well since the PTO is disengaged when the clutch pedal is pressed.
The temp light came on the first time I used the mower for about 30 minutes. Tonight I washed out the fins on the radiator with the garden hose and no more overheating problems. Lots of dirt and dust washed out of the bottom half of the radiator fins.
I'm amazed at how much heat comes off of the engine and trans-axle. I really noticed it tonight since there was barely a breath of a breeze. I think that I'll appreciate it more this winter.
The four wheel drive was very useful when I was grading the road. It let the blade dig in a bit deeper and keep moving. The differential lock may have done the same thing for me but that is not working on my tractor. Fixing it is a future project.
I definitely need to get some turf tires. The rice tires are way too aggressive to use in the lawn unless it's as dry as it is right now.
I LOVE the quick hitch for changing implements on the three point! Once I did my job and backed up straight :ashamed:, it hooked right up.
I definitely need some sway chains on the lower hitch arms and probably some longer arms as well. The ones on the tractor now are only 18 inches and they barely clear the tires. I think that the 23.5 inch arms will work better.
Mostly, this tractor stuff is FUN! I'm looking forward to more projects!
Charlie