Stupid New Owner Tricks or What Not to Do with Your New Tractor

[Oaktree]

2. If you have a door of a cab tractor open to check on something, best to close it before trying to pull into a garage bay. You'll only fail to do this once.

2a. If you're putting the tractor in a garage with limited vertical clearance, fold the RPS before you go thru the door.

Not that I would ever have forgotten to do this of course, but I've read about it.

 

[rangerfredbob]

When loading a 12000 pound tractor on a trailer with ramps, make sure that the rear of the trailer is supported! We've only made that mistake twice... a Ford 8600 is HEAVY and when we picked one up for cheap at an auction and loading it on a trailer we forgot to support the back, the trailer tongue (pintle hitch) and the rear of the F350 went a couple feet in the air until the tractor was far enough forward to bring it back down... the second time wasn't near as bad, but it was a 10000 pound boom truck on the same trailer... I guess this should go more in the stupid things being towed section but still...

as far as stupid tractor tricks, I'm an engineer so I try my best to do like stated earlier "how can this go wrong" but as we all know, that doesn't always work. I've mentioned in another post or two that I have some reed canary grass that I've been trying to control and mowing is usually involved to get the ground exposed but the ground not having any structure from the reed canary grass and the water table being just below ground level that gets interesting, last year was a record, I think I only got the tractor stuck once! maybe twice... not having a separate PTO clutch doesn't help, when forward motion stops but the brush hog is driving the tires when the clutch is pushed in just makes the tractor go down...

Aside from that it's just minor interference with the bucket and inanimate objects, tore a fence wire while mowing (same PTO issue mentioned above), hit a tree with the bucket, minor interference with the lean to tractor shed here and there, etc... last year I bought a one way clutch for the PTO so that part isn't an issue anymore...

 

[MHarryE]

Took loader off my larger tractor for spring field work. Put it on level but soft ground. When I needed to attach it the supports and the boards I put under them had sunk in. Instead of lifting and blocking using my smaller tractor, I attacked it with the thought I can do this. Spent a lot of time working at it and finally succeeded in popping the loader arm brackets over the anchors, through the cab glass, and barely missing my legs. Windshield on tractor is tempered glass, not safety glass like car or truck, so I had shattered glass all over the cab and me. I sat there, calmed down, looked things over, backed up and popped the loader into place. My insurance was $1,000 deductible for glass. They allowed me $750 for installation but I installed it myself (actually 3 neighbors helped) so it ended up $250 plus beer.

 

[fruitcakesa]

My drive shed was built to contain a JD 350 dozer and it also was plenty tall for my L4630.
However, the 6040 is at least 6 inches taller than the L, so care [and backing accuracy] is necessary to safely park the big tractor.
Of course, the first time I attempted to back it in, I clipped the first rafter with the cab roof corner.
Man, that orange plastic sure is brittle and I suddenly had a large ragged hole right above the cabin filter.
2 layers of bituthane rubber roofing is my long term temp fix.

 

[rangerfredbob]

Here's a couple things to not to do... the one at an angle isn't that bad, was just mowing a ditch but felt kinda goofy... The one with the tractor stuck on the other hand I don't recommend... I think I was discing in January about 4 years ago, worked fine until I got down to that spot... I've since added several yards of dirt to that spot and leveled it out, drains better (you can see the ditch from the mowing picture about 50' past where I'm stuck). Since my disc is way too big for the tractor I think it's 8' wide and just a pull type so can't lift or disengage, was kinda a pain to get unstuck and stayed there for a few months, tractor was an easy extraction with the F350...

 

[cathy liebchen]

+2 on the "downhill in 2wd". the (rear) tires started skidding, brakes were useless and I was headed for a tree and the shed. I kicked it into 4wd, CRUNCHing noises and back in control.

Raising the FEL too high and not keeping the bucked level. Fortunately the dirt and small rocks landed on the engine cover. Same with lifting an 8' round log. Fortunately I saw the problem and dumped enough to keep it from coming over the hood at me.

And I've backed into a few things when the BH was on and forgot how much the stick protrudes. No serious damage. Thinking of installing rear view mirrors.

And, FEL = Ballast.

And, what PSI do most run in R4s? I've been going with Mfg Recommendation but seems like less air would equal better footprint and traction.

we run 30 psi in the R4's

 

[Teachu2]

Notice the cage on my tractor - it's saved me a couple of times.

 

[HillStreet]

I would travel with the bucket up high filled with rocks, and no ballast on the back. I did not have a problem but I have learned. Now I have a Kubota ballast box on back, and travel with the loader low. Also, I use low range when I am working the tractor.

 

[sdquick]

I'll chime in that most of mine have come from trying to do too much at one time (even though sometimes that is only 2 things). Examples are hitting or running into the barn or trees when focused forward on the FEL or backwards on the box scraper. In all cases it was very minor as I was going very slow so I second the advice of going slow.
Another example is removing snow and watching the box scraper in the back, driving forward, and lifting the FEL to dump a bucket full of snow. That has led to forgetting about the FEL and lifting it so high that it dumps back on the tractor. I have been told I will do it eventually with dirt or rock but so far I have been lucky to learn from once with snow!

 

[lakeside]

Drove my B26 into the garage with the BH partially raised. I'd been lifting things with the BH and forgot to lower it fully to the travel position.

I managed to stop before crunching too much of the top aluminium trim on the garage door frame. I was lucky I didn't prang the garage door as that would have been an expensive lesson. As it was, I just installed a piece of aluminium over the gash and, with a coat of paint, you can hardly see the damage.

 

[TheFarmerInAdell]

Just because you can LIFT it doesn't mean you can CARRY it.

It's heavier than you think when the ground is soft.

It's bigger/more powerful than you think when you don't want it to be or you're not paying attention.

 

[rbtjr]

I like Stihl chain saws. I ran over my first Stihl twice with our M5400 and the chain saw survived. One of those run-overs was while I was mowing. I didn't run over the chain saw with the mower but it was close. So later when I was sawing and stopped to mow in the same area, to be sure I wouldn't run over the chain saw with the mower I put the chain saw up on a bank about 1' higher than but on the edge of the area I was mowing. The chain saw was maybe 1' from the edge of the bank. What I had failed to anticipate is that the vibration of the ground caused by the tractor and the mower caused the chain saw to move over to and fall off the edge of the bank, into the area I was mowing, without me knowing it. I ended up running over the chain saw with the mower, and that was the end of the chain saw. Even Stihl chain saws won't survive a heavy duty rotary mower.

 

[scaredychicken]

mud mess one day, shear ice the next - the driveway to the barn has a slight inward slope to the left.
tenants car on low side with about 3 feet between driveway and parking spot
clearance, slope, and ice ... it looked a little sketchy
when I asked, they moved the car forward into parking area, allowing more clearance
tractor slid sideways about 5 feet, tread marks landed where the vehicle had been minutes earlier

 

[aczlan]

mud mess one day, shear ice the next - the driveway to the barn has a slight inward slope to the left.
tenants car on low side with about 3 feet between driveway and parking spot
clearance, slope, and ice ... it looked a little sketchy
when I asked, they moved the car forward into parking area, allowing more clearance
tractor slid sideways about 5 feet, tread marks landed where the vehicle had been minutes earlier

I did something similar with the L3830 the other week. I set a box of firewood down with the 3 point forks and when I went to pull forward, the wheel ended up on a small piece of wood and the tractor slid over 2' and just touched my car. No harm done, but I was less than thrilled...

Aaron Z

 

[s219]

I like Stihl chain saws. I ran over my first Stihl twice with our M5400 and the chain saw survived. One of those run-overs was while I was mowing. I didn't run over the chain saw with the mower but it was close. So later when I was sawing and stopped to mow in the same area, to be sure I wouldn't run over the chain saw with the mower I put the chain saw up on a bank about 1' higher than but on the edge of the area I was mowing. The chain saw was maybe 1' from the edge of the bank. What I had failed to anticipate is that the vibration of the ground caused by the tractor and the mower caused the chain saw to move over to and fall off the edge of the bank, into the area I was mowing, without me knowing it. I ended up running over the chain saw with the mower, and that was the end of the chain saw. Even Stihl chain saws won't survive a heavy duty rotary mower.

Don't know if it's been mentioned yet, but one time I had a chainsaw and woodcutting gear in my front bucket and decided to scoop up a load of dirt. Didn't remember the saw and gear until I dumped the load and saw them spill out too. What an idiot. :duh:

 

[Gary Fowler]

Here's a couple things to not to do... the one at an angle isn't that bad, was just mowing a ditch but felt kinda goofy... The one with the tractor stuck on the other hand I don't recommend... I think I was discing in January about 4 years ago, worked fine until I got down to that spot... I've since added several yards of dirt to that spot and leveled it out, drains better (you can see the ditch from the mowing picture about 50' past where I'm stuck). Since my disc is way too big for the tractor I think it's 8' wide and just a pull type so can't lift or disengage, was kinda a pain to get unstuck and stayed there for a few months, tractor was an easy extraction with the F350...

If you had a 4 WD tractor, you could have gotten further into the mud before getting really stuck!!!

 

[Gary Fowler]

Don't know if it's been mentioned yet, but one time I had a chainsaw and woodcutting gear in my front bucket and decided to scoop up a load of dirt. Didn't remember the saw and gear until I dumped the load and saw them spill out too. What an idiot. :duh:

I try never to put anything in the FEL bucket. Invariable if I do, I forget and load up the bucket with some dirt and forget about what is in it. SO FAR, nothing lost or damaged.

 

[YanmarFever]

I put my stihl saw in the feed chute end of my chipper because I was done working. The next day I started the chipper and chipped the front of the bar off along with the chain.
Needless to say I felt like an idiot, but learned a good lesson. New bar and chain and I was back in business, the chipper - well not a scratch!

 

[kswind]

Read or if it has been awhile, reread the safety section in the front of the operators manuals. It usually embarrassingly tells you not to do what you did to mess up.

 

[JasperFrank]

Most of my mistakes are uncoupling equipment in areas that are not entirely flat or hard surfaced. And then trying to re-attach them later at that location. Ended up almost always having to move the Bush-hog, Scrapper, Frontend loader... etc to some other a place that was flat and had a hard base to line up the mounting points.