When you bought your new tractor

Sprocket1 · Sep 14, 2003

How did you break the engine in? Or did you? If you bought a rear mower did you instantly run it at rated PTO speed and load?

GregJ · Sep 14, 2003

There have been a lot of posts on this topic, and just as many opinions. My dealer recommended that I not exceed 2000rpms in the first 50 hours and to vary the speed and load regularly during that time. This was not a problem for me as I don't mow with mine, so that's what I did.

Greg

Bird · Sep 14, 2003

My Kubota manual said to not run it at full throttle for the first 50 hours. Full throttle is a couple of hundred RPM more than PTO speed, so to answer your question, yes, I started using it immediately at PTO speed for the tiller and mowers, although I did try to vary the RPM frequently during the first 50 hours.

DavidJ · Sep 14, 2003

I did as Bird did. I started using mine at PTO speed as soon as I got it. I would alternate between mowing and FEL work and vary the engine speed frequently. As long as you use it for its intended purpose and not running it on the road WAO (Wide Open) you'll be fine.

frank_f15 · Sep 14, 2003

i did the same a BIRD takes u a few hours of operation just to get the feel of it . then just don't run it at the same rpm for extended periods.

Alan L. · Sep 14, 2003

I did the same as Bird also. I got my tractor mostly for brush hogging and it wouldn't have been worth anything to me if I couldn't do that.

Mrwurm · Sep 15, 2003

When my tractor was delivered, I asked if I should keep it below PTO speed for a while. The delivery/tech said there was no need.

cowboydoc · Sep 15, 2003

I would follow your manual. For my last tractor it said to keep the rpms from middle to full rpm for the first 100 hours. They are all a little different.

Typhoon · Sep 15, 2003

I will probably get hammered for posting my opinion on this but... with every single new vehicle/motorcycle/jet-ski/tractor that I have ever owned, I have never broken any of them in. I drive them like I want to from the very beginning. I take very good care of my things so they last me for years. I am not saying that breaking them in properly doesnt make a difference, but so far for me, it hasnt. I bought a brand S-10 and didnt follow the break in procedures. I put 210,000 miles on it and it still ran great when I sold it. My personal opinion is that its not that critical. With large scale mining equipment, as soon as they roll off the assembly line, they are immediately put to work under tremendous load for years and years, working sometimes 24/7. I know that our equipment is not the same as the big stuff, but hopefully you see my point. But I don't walk around recommending this to anyone, because it could be that I have just been lucky. I would recommend following procedures in the service manual. Good luck!