OK, so I bought my first Tractor...pictures coming...but...

[Atlanta Panther]

now I need to figure out how to use it I'm trying to find information on basic tractor operations. Things like, the best way to fill a bucket and work a pile, how to use a box blade on a gravel driveway, how to get a smooth compacted path using a loader when filling in a ditch, the best way to use a bushhog, etc.

Can anyone point me to a training course or other forum where I could learn? Pictures would help a great deal.

 

[TripleR]

Try these and do a TBN search for threads on specifics operations: Tractor and Skid Steer Attachment Videos

 

[nybirdman]

Some basic instruction will be in the manual that comes with the tractor...at least for the loader.The box blade is a great tool with a little bit of a learning curve.If you purchase a new Bush Hog,it also will have a manual.Lots of good reading on this forum and don't be afraid to ask questions.A lot of it will just be "hands on"/practice.I had run older gear shift ,gas tractors....these new tractors are leaps and bounds better and easier,also safer.With HST you will hardly ever use the brakes.

 

[nybirdman]

With HST remember...let up on the "go" pedal for more power....not down like a car/truck.My normal working RPM's is about 1800.

 

[jeff9366]

Operating instructions for the FEL will be covered in your Kubota FEL Operator's Manual.

For the other information learn to use the SEARCH function here on T-B-N.

Also spend time on the SAFETY Forum.

Learn to use the FEL first, then the box blade. Delay on the 'hog until you have mastered the first two. Hooking up a PTO is always a challenge and a 'hog is a relatively hazardous implement as the spinning blade has tremendous kinetic energy.

An L3200 is a pretty good sized "first" tractor. Go slow at first. Get off the tractor when you are hot or tired.

 

[gwdixon]

Everything Attachments has good videos on just about every aspect of tractoring and implements.

Tractor and Skid Steer Attachment Videos

Also, You Tube, has informational videos - most of them are believable.

Edit: Darn, TripleR beat me to the EA videos.

 

[k0ua]

Everything Attachments has good videos on just about every aspect of tractoring and implements.

Tractor and Skid Steer Attachment Videos

Also, You Tube, has informational videos - most of them are believable.

Some of them are good on You tube.. but an awful lot of them are "bobby trying to use the Front End Loader" videos.. and show a lot of bad habits. like keeping the Front End Loader up as high as you can get it and traveling with a load that way, and of course no Ballast on the 3pt. I have seen a bunch of things that would scare the heck out of me, and I have been using FEL's and tractors for over 20 years.

 

[RFB]

Yes, without turning this into a safety police infomercial, there seems to be a certain "you can't teach me cuz I don't want to learn and we've always done it like that" mentality that continues in certain environments. About once every year or so I or a buddy will see someone straddling a 3pt auger for extra weight whiles its running, despite the fact that in fairly recent history there was a worker who had both arms and both legs torn off by doing the same.

Ignorance can be fixed; stupid goes to the bone.