New tractor

[ScottAR]

post hole digger...

[johncinquo]

I have used it on occasion to push a disk down into hard soil.

Where I use it more is with a trailer.  I use a pull bar with a 2" ball mounted to it.  Back up to the trailer and haul it out to wherever you are loading, like a gravel pit.  Set the trailer down, load it with the loader, and then back up to it and haul the load to wherever your going.  When using the loader I bring the 3pt up so it does not dig into the ground when the front rises filling the bucket.  If I have the 3pt raised, I have to set the brakes, throw the lever, get off the tractor, stand on the bar, wait for it to lower with my whole 180lbs, then reboard, back up to the hitch, and make sure I have it lined up correctly the 1st time or I have to do it again to lower it.  With Power down, you just wiggle the lever and rock the tractor with the clutch.  Even hooking up implements is easier with PD. 

I checked out a few of those links, will have to go see some more later, cool stuff.

[Murf]

A lot of the old Soviet Block stuff had power down on the 3pth too.

Real handy for doing back blade work, a few hundred pounds on the blade makes a big difference, especially for scraping slushy snow.

Speaking of trailers, the average 3pth mounted trailer hitch can get real exciting when the trailer develops negative tongue weight, there is nothing but gravity holding the 3pth down, so if the trailer gets light in the bum, or you try to stop faster than the trailer wants to, the 3pth can go to the full up (or higher) postion all by itself. A very dangerous situation. The local marina at my summer place had this happen, the hitch came undone when it went up and that little tin plate behind the seat was all there was between a 5,000 pound boat and trailer and the kid at the wheel!! 

[beenthere]

John
There likely is an adjustment valve that you can open to allow the 3pt arms to drop faster. At least that is a feature on other tractors, not sure it is on yours. The 3pt arms should lower without anything on them, especially you 

For the negative tongue weight Murf mentioned, putting a short chain on your hitch to link it to the drawbar works. It will act as a safety link, not allowing the 3pt arms to raise to their full height as Murf mentioned. That feature can be used when lifting and pulling logs held up by the 3pt, to limit the height the front end can raise, precluding a flip over backwards. Just don't bend the drawbar by raising the 3pt arms too far.

A hydraulic top link is very handy (one shown recently in another thread) when using the 3pt to lift trailer tongues and other things.

For a real treat hooking up 3pt attachments, getting a quick hitch is the cats pj's. 90% of the time, just back up and lift, lock down, and go.  To drop off, just unlock, set down, and go.  Won't hook up the PTO that easy, but the ballast box, the carry-all, the blade, the rotary cutter, and the forks are all quick and easy.  Also, the quick hitch has a top hook to hang the logging tongs on, for quick log skidding. I know, it shouldn't be all that easy - but it is. 

[thecfarm]

On the old Ford NAA we always used some special pieces of metal bought from a Ford dealer,that went from the high point of the 3 pt hitch,up behind the seat,down to the other 2 points.These were adjustable,but once we set them we never adjusted them again.Than we would put the hyd lever all the way down.Would not want to raise the hyd lever up.We would use this on the baler or anything that we would trailer behind us.This would make everything nice and safe.

[johncinquo]

Well I bought a brush hog for a very good price so I can get a couple chores I had on the list done.  Its a nice John Deere, and its green.  When I looked at the Bush hog and tractor together, I noticed they were both green just a couple shades different.   

I think I figured out what to call it.....



Yer waitin, aint ya?









Its a John Dink!     

[mike_van]

Lets hope it dosen't become "Dear John" 

[beenthere]

johncinquo
How is that new tractor workin out for ya?  Been finding a lot of projects you never could do with out it yet? 

Maybe all your time spent in that nice deer stand, and gettin no tractor time  eh?

[maple flats]

Down pressure helped my brother out when we had a real wet fall. He had been using an old MF65 2WD and kept getting stuck. He bought a Belarus 420 4x4 (rated 60hp)and thought his problems were over. The tractor spent it's 1st night stuck in the corn field where the other tractor had been getting stuck. This time he was really stuck and I could not pull him out. In the morning he took some short timbers and assorted planks and shorts. He went to the tractor which was setting on the frame and tranny, engine, with no space under it. He put the timbers under each 3 point arm and down pressure lifed the tractor up, threw under some of the shorts and planks, unhooked the corn picker and wagon and drove out. When he had gotten to firm ground he hooked chains to the picker and pulled it out and then the wagon. He ended up hand picking a small section and was able to pick the rest by leaving the wagon unhooked and pulling just the picker, catching the husked ears in burlap bags tied onto the picker elevator and emptying them into the wagon at row's end. This time down pressure worked wonders. We would never have thought it could lift the back end of the tractor but we called the dealer for ideas and he said to do it that way. This however is the only tractor I am familiar with that can do this. That being said, the shifting of the tranny could sure use some refinement, this was a real mongrel to learn to shift, was done straight forward and back but you had to rotate the knob on the shift lever to get the various gears. That really took some practice.

[johncinquo]

Well the gas gauge doesnt work.   That only put me in 1 small bind so far!  I keep a extra full can around now.  I find I rather play with the tractor than ride the dirtbike now.  Its a lot of fun to just tool around and pick up logs, dig out stumps, move the compost pile from one side of the garden to the other.  I will use the brush hog next weekend to take down the old neighbor ladies "flower garden" that has been sitting for several years.   Searching around for a rototiller to add a couple extra garden beds and prep some feed plots out by the deer blind.  finding a decent used one has not been to easy and I hate to go spend the top dollar on a new one. 
The tractor itself has had no real problems.  I have only had to use the priming button a couple times to get it started after sitting for a few weeks.  I learned not to park it on a hill when the gas is low!  It crawls through loose sand no problem, I have ag tires on it.  I can fill the bucket in one pass with gravel and not dig in too much with the tires trying to push it into the pile.    All in all I am very satisfied with how she worked out.