Tractor
I have a love/hate relationship with this thing! I can drive almost anything made, from stick shifts to automatic vehicles. I learned how to drive on a truck with “3 on the tree”, which some of my readers will know about, and others will not. Basically, 3 on the tree means that you have a shifter on the steering column that you have to work in order to shift gears.
This tractor is actually not an stick-shift. It’s an automatic engine, but it’s so different than any car I have ever actually driven! I watched YouTube videos, read the manual, and let this big orange monster intimidate the heck out of me for months!
I finally decided that it was time to tackle this beast. I was afraid at first that I wouldn’t be able to climb up on it because it’s pretty tall. However, Kubota did a good job of putting steps on here, so even I could haul my tush up on it! The steering wheel is pretty responsive, unlike the smaller, older tractor we had at our old place. It drives mostly like a car, needing a little more room to swing around that front scoop. I was impressed that I parked it where it’s at for this picture. Our front porch is on the other side of the tractor and, as you can see, it’s pretty close to the vehicle on this side.
Speaking of the scoop, I figured out up and down pretty quickly. It took a little more time for me to learn how to make the bucket itself tilt, and I still have to practice each time if I want to use the scoop to haul things around. For my purposes, the bucket makes a great way for me to haul bags of dirt, mulch, and other heavy objects from one place to another.
To drive this orange beast, your feet are on either side of the area where the drive shaft resides, somewhat like straddling the console of a normal car. There is a pedal at each foot and the right pedal is a rocker. Push forward to go forward. The brake is on the left and works very well. I’m GREAT at the brake!
There are hand controls for raising/lowering the scoop or forklift attachment on the front. Ours is equipped to be able to put tools on the back as well, but I have not used the tractor with an attachment on the back yet.
The only real down side to this tractor is that our pigs seem to think that starting the engine means they are getting feed delivered. Every time one of us starts this thing, you can hear our pigs squeal with joy! Overall, the tractor has been pretty easy to learn to use. I need more practice and my main tip if you’re learning is to give yourself plenty of space to move the tractor around and raise/lower tools.
