Discover Versatile Compact Tractors
(Page 5 of 9)
April/May 2006
By Bryan Welch
Belly-mounted finish mowers generally are powered by a belt attached to a pulley that’s driven by the tractor’s central PTO. New tractors may even have special high-speed PTO units exactly for this purpose.
RELATED CONTENT
A tractor is one of the most expensive and potentially useful pieces of equipment any back-to-lande...
The benefits of small tractors are discussed and a comparison chart of various models is presented....
THE NEW HARVEST OF MID-SIZED DIESEL TRACTORS May/June 1979 by WILL ROWAN About 10 years ago—when I ...
Practical uses for a lawn tractor around a small farm, including a seasonal maintenance checklist a...
For as little as $50, you can build a woodburning appliance that does everything but wash the dishe...
Ask your tractor dealer about which PTO configurations cause the least trouble. Some tractors eat drive belts; others operate trouble-free for years.
If you’re going to put up hay, then you’ll probably want either a hay mower or a sickle bar mower and one of the bigger tractors, depending on your baling equipment.
If lawn mowing will be the main job for your compact tractor, then you might be better off with a high-end zero-turning-radius lawn mower. But if you need more versatility and decide a compact tractor is right for you, you’ll get to enjoy the biggest work-saving component on your tractor: the hydraulic front-end loader (see photo).
FRONT-END LOADERS
Compact tractors comprise the majority of the tractor market today, and nearly every one of the dozens of models you’ll see lined up in the front lot of your local dealership will come equipped with a front-end bucket (the part of the loader that scoops) attached to heavy hydraulic arms.
If you’ve never owned one, you may need to consider the utility of the front-end loader, which can be used to do the obvious, such as scoop and carry dirt, manure or gravel. But it also can carry your tools to the work site and will end up doing many other things you hadn’t planned, such as ferrying bags of feed and concrete, and hauling water. It also can lift and place heavy fence posts, brace the wall of your new shed and pull the kids’ raft out of the pond. Most of us find a new use for our front-end loaders every few days.
Some new tractors have old-fashioned systems of levers that operate the bucket. Others have nifty joysticks that govern the speed and movement of the bucket. Caution: Don’t let the controls fool you. Some new tractors don’t have enough hydraulic power to operate their buckets effectively.
If the hydraulic pump on the tractor doesn’t provide enough power, your loader will be useless. The horsepower of the tractor’s engine doesn’t guarantee the power of the hydraulic pump. Before you buy it, try out the loader with a full bucket of something heavy.
To some extent, controls on heavy equipment are a matter of taste. If you grew up using your uncle’s front-end loader, then you may prefer the traditional two-lever bucket control. Many tractors still have them, and you won’t have to learn a new technique to operate them. If you don’t have experience using lever controls, you may prefer joysticks.
A delicate touch is extremely important when controlling hydraulic equipment. The best tractors have high-quality hydraulics that allow the operator to move the bucket an inch at a time. Over the life of your tractor, this will save you thousands of dollars you might have spent repairing the stuff you tore up trying to use a herky-jerky loader. When you test a loader’s performance under a burden, test its delicacy. A good tractor, like a good mule, can pull hard or soft depending on the situation.
Page:
<< Previous 1 |
2 |
3 |
4 | 5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
Next >>
