Choosing And Using A Tractor

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As I mentioned earlier, roll bars (or cages) for older tractors can be difficult to come by, but if you'll be working in steep or uneven terrain, it's well worth trying to find one. For logging, in particular, rollover protection is almost mandatory. If a search fails to turn up a ready-made roll cage or bar, a neighbor or farm-equipment dealer may be able to steer you to an expert welder who can make one to fit your machine.

Another hazard is the whirling PTO shaft used when a tractor is operated in conjunction with a powered implement-whether a movable one, such as a manure spreader, or a stationary one, such as a forage blower. Most PTO shafts turn at a speed of about 540 RPM, with an energy output, for the sort of tractor we're talking about, of around 30 horsepower. Consider what can happen if you should reach down to check one of the linch pins on the three-point hitch and the sleeve of your floppy old wool sweater—the one you keep meaning to throw away-momentarily brushes against the whirling shaft.

If the shaft happens to bring the fabric around for one full turn—perhaps because a loose flake of paint lightly snags the wool fibers—the part that first made contact with the shaft will be whipped under more fabric about one second later. A few seconds after that, the shaft will have wound in enough sweater to begin dragging you through the ten-inch-wide space between the PTO shaft and the tractor lift arm, with grisly results better imagined than described.

That may frighten you, and it should. If you're properly alarmed, you'll give that turning PTO shaft the wide berth it demands, and live to a ripe old age. The fact that every PTO shaft you use should be equipped with a tubular plastic safety shield (Fig. 13) should not temper your respect for it even slightly—any more than you would be careless in handling a loaded gun because the safety was on.

Maintenance, Repairs, and Troubleshooting

You need two kinds of tools to keep your tractor running well. If you don't already own a set of mechanic's tools (that's the first kind) when you pick up your tractor, buy some the same day. When you're already investing a considerable sum in the tractor, an additional $100 won't seem like so much—and if you don't buy them right away, you'll end up buying them one by one later, as you need them . . . paying a much higher price in frustration, lost time, and probably dollars as well.

A good starter set consists of a 1/2" drive socket set with sockets ranging in size from 3/8" to 1-1/4", and a set of combination wrenches in the same size range. Add to that a few screwdrivers, an inexpensive set of feeler gauges, and a lever-operated grease gun, and you're in business.

The second type of tool is the kind you hold, not in your hand, but in your mind. Fortunately, the information necessary to maintain most tractors is both readily available and less expensive than wrenches and pliers. The place to start is by acquiring the shop manual for your tractor—a storehouse of useful data, including specifications, advice on routine maintenance, and detailed instructions on how to perform major repair jobs, such as installing new rings and valves and rebuilding worn hydraulic systems. If you purchase a new tractor, you'll probably be able to find the appropriate shop manual at a local dealer's. If you own a used machine, though, you might have to order your manual from Intertec Publishing Corp., 9221 Quivira Rd., Overland Park, KS 66215. (Be sure to state the make and model of the tractor.) At this writing, the price of each manual is $11.95, plus $1.25 for shipping and handling.

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