Someone Please Translate This!

[SPYDERLK]

The problem is the simple geometry of the situation... my tractor vs. their land. Admittedly, my tractor is probably too big (i.e., too long) for most of the "back yard" work I find myself doing. One second my rake is in the ground doing fine and the next minute it is all plugged up with roots & rocks or up in the air. I have to actively monitor it and keep it clear. This is not just a case of setting proper depth once, being able to forget about it... and allow it to adjust itself to keep that depth. This is a problem of making almost constant adjustments to follow the contour of some of these relatively small, uneven, under-reconstruction back yards.

Remember... half or more of the reason I am there is to straighten out these silly yards... and usually that means I have been digging and/or placing material... so don't expect them to be uniform enough in the initial stages to behave nicely as I'm trying to do the smoothing out work!

Dougster

Ever tried it? Admitedly, mine is easy cuz its always enabled and I have full control from full DC off to full DC sense with the draft lever. I think by pulling the lockout pin you will be similar. Give it a try. There are real benefits to this live adjustment when grading.
larry

 

[Dougster]

Ever tried it? Admitedly, mine is easy cuz its always enabled and I have full control from full DC off to full DC sense with the draft lever. I think by pulling the lockout pin you will be similar. Give it a try. There are real benefits to this live adjustment when grading.
larry

Hi Larry - Tried it? Yes. Got to spend time experimenting with it and really learning it? No. Been studying the technical part of how it actually functions on my tractor so that I can pay much closer attention next time? Absolutely! Could it have possibly helped at all with last weekend's job? Very doubtful.

Maybe I'll come to appreciate it more... and perhaps my explanation above was not very good... but when a smallish jobsite is in the early rough stages and you need to pay attention every foot of the way, I just can't see me placing the thing in cruise control, lowering my sunglasses, cranking up the stereo and driving on... trusting that this thing called "draft control" is going to get me to where I want to be. I may come to know and love it... but not quite yet.

Dougster

 

[MtnViewRanch]

Doug, I don't want you to feel like we are ganging up on you here, but I agree with Larry. Once you get your draft control figured out you will be pleasantly surprised with how often you end up using it. You will be amazed at how well it works in the varying terrain that you have there. It is veeeery difficult to match the job that the draft control will do. Does your owners manual have any other directions about how to use your draft control? Do you have someplace at your place where you can practice at?

 

[MadDogDriver]

I think I'm getting the idea... but as a practical matter, I don't see where it's going to be super-helpful or worth the effort on the small jobs I get to do.... I measure all of my jobs in square feet!!!

I think you're correct about this Doug.

You've had quite a discussion about DC here, but as you've mentioned, it may not be of much benefit depending upon what you're pulling, the soil conditions and size of the job. It's not like you're trying to emulate the capablities of a much larger tractor than you have. Just using your position control will probably work best for you in most situations. At the correct setting, DC will make it easier to maintain a constant depth however, but so does experience.

Lots of seat time will tell the real story for you and your need/want to use DC.

 

[Dougster]

Doug, I don't want you to feel like we are ganging up on you here, but I agree with Larry. Once you get your draft control figured out you will be pleasantly surprised with how often you end up using it. You will be amazed at how well it works in the varying terrain that you have there. It is veeeery difficult to match the job that the draft control will do. Does your owners manual have any other directions about how to use your draft control? Do you have someplace at your place where you can practice at?

Hi Brian - First off, I wouldn't have posted and asked about it if I wasn't interested. The manual was a joke and all my research about it on the net wasn't telling me the things I wanted to know. Purpose and theory are fine... but someone please translate this silly owner's manual into English!

Secondly, you and Larry are rich and have "top of the line" monster machines... probably both with fully loaded tires... that go anywhere they want... anytime they want... doing anything they want... with little or nothing to stop them! Without my backhoe on, my tractor becomes a lightweight and I cannot load the tires due to trailering. To do the work I needed to do in a very limited area without literally spinning my wheels, constant manual adjustment (and clearing) of my rake was necessary. Maybe I am wrong, but I plain out would not have trusted cruise control in this case.

Thirdly, as mentioned above, like the silly mechanical engineer I am... I must understand how something works before I will want to use it. Makes no sense, I know... but I am working on this aspect as we speak. That will be followed by testing, experimentation and eventual incorporation into my work. Sadly, that is how I do things.

I do not have a good place to practice this at my home. I'll do what I can here to learn the mechanism... and try it out on a suitable jobsite.

Dougster

 

[MtnViewRanch]

To do the work I needed to do in a very limited area without literally spinning my wheels, constant manual adjustment (and clearing) of my rake was necessary. Maybe I am wrong, but I plain out would not have trusted cruise control in this case.

Thirdly, as mentioned above, like the silly mechanical engineer I am... I must understand how something works before I will want to use it. Makes no sense, I know... but I am working on this aspect as we speak. That will be followed by testing, experimentation and eventual incorporation into my work. Sadly, that is how I do things.

Dougster

Dougster, your statement of not trusting the draft control will change after you do get some of that experience that you are so much looking for.

As always, good luck.

 

[Dougster]

Dougster, your statement of not trusting the draft control will change after you do get some of that experience that you are so much looking for. As always, good luck.

Well, we'll just have to wait and see. This is not "Tractoring 101" to me! This is "Advanced 3-Point 414"... a senior level course! Remember, they give you 7520 guys a lot more training than us 4110 folks get!

Dougster