learning to drive a 16 speed

Harv · Mar 10, 2001

<font color=blue>scatological</font color=blue>???

I was laughing myself silly, Gerard, until on a whim I looked in the dictionary -- and there it was! /w3tcompact/icons/shocked.gif

This forum is just one big learning machine. /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif

Oh, and GlueGuy -- I am frequently accused of having an offbeat sense of humor, but your explanation of wheel width settings has me humbled. /w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif Of course, from now on I'm gonna have to take any of your advice with a grain of salt. /w3tcompact/icons/crazy.gif

cowboydoc · Mar 10, 2001

drjdb,
Don't even worry about the sixteen speeds. What you really have is a 4 speed with a high, normal, and low range. It's all the same just shift 1-4. Although in a tractor, unlike a car, you don't have to continually shift to get up to speed. You can go in 4 high or 4 low and go, unlike a car you have to start out in first and go through the gears. If you can drive a 4speed in an auto you will be fine with the tractor.

drjdb · Mar 11, 2001

The tractor arrived this afternoon, and now has 3 more hours on it than it did when it arrived. Thanks again for the advice - dealing with the gears turned out to not be difficult after all. My son said I was grinning from ear to ear!

I ordered a box scraper with the tractor, and it arrived already mounted. Unfortunately, it doesn't sit level, but tilts forward about 15 degrees, even when the 3pt is lowered all the way. The scarifier teeth dig in, but it is difficult to get the blade at the back to engage at this angle. The top link has a thread, but it seems to be almost all the way out. Now for the dumb question - do top links come in different lengths, and I just happen to have a short one, or am I missing something obvious? If I do need to get a new top link, does it have to be a Kubota, or are all category 1 links the same?

dave

Bird · Mar 12, 2001

Dave, top links do come in different lengths and should have adequate adjustment to tilt the blade either direction. Of course, I don't know whether yours has more adjustment than you think it does, or whether someone has put one on that's too short.

Bird

cowboydoc · Mar 12, 2001

Dave,
If that link is too short go back to the dealer and have him give you the right one. He should have made sure that that was the right one before they ever sent the tractor out with you.

markcg2000 · Mar 12, 2001

Also, remember that the top link is threaded in two places... next to the tractor and next to the implement. I'd forgotten that one time and got all ticked off because I couldn't extend the link quite far enough. That's when I realized that the link had not been threaded all the way in on the top when I hooked up; which in turn meant that I ran out of threads on the top before I'd actually gotten the full use of the link.
Unhook the scraper blade, tighten the top link, top and bottom, then hook the scraper back up. Once both ends are attached, the link will extend equally on both ends.

mark

Bird · Mar 12, 2001

Very good point, Mark, and now that you mention it, I'd be inclined to suspect that as the most likely cause of the problem.

Bird

drjdb · Mar 12, 2001

I checked my tractor this morning. The top link is only threaded in ONE place! This means that:
a) it's quite short
b) I can't adjust it's length without taking the box scraper off

It seems to be a custom job - a regular male threaded end attached to the implement, and a short female section welded to the eye that attaches to the tractor. From what you've said, the regular ones don't look like this, and indeed the picture in the manual looks different.

I think a call to the dealer is in order. Thanks for your help!

dave

Bird · Mar 12, 2001

<font color=blue>I think a call to the dealer is in order</font color=blue>

Yep, sounds like someone did a little customization that shouldn't have been done.

Bird

MarkV · Mar 14, 2001

Dave, that sure doesn't sound like any top link I have ever seen. The question is WHY? I can see no purpose for that and would wonder why the dealer would let it off the lot that way.

As to filling the tires for extra ballast, I found that if made a huge differnce on my little B21. Besides the stability issues, it will add a lot of traction when pulling that box blade.

MarkV