The 11th way a tractor can get severely damaged is to allow ANYONE to operate your tractor.

When lending equipment consider that it will be brought back “beaten like a rented mule”.

I consider myself an inexperienced tractor owner/operator who was blessed with good common sense and the ability to recognize my limitations.Since buying my 2017 L4701 Kubota 3 yrs ago, I have invested the time to both learn good safe operating habits as well as familiarizing myself mechanically. I refuse to own any machine that I can’t perform basic maintenance work on whether a tractor or a Harley, if I can’t change oil and filters/ hydraulics etc, I don’t want it! Your videos have helped me a whole lot , thanks!

Excellent presentation. With the expanding population of folks getting into the compact tractor market I'm surprised dealers aren't offering "Tractor School." A couple of hours of information like this including basic operation would be time and money well spent.

Your comment about the machine being able to lift more than the actual tractor can handle brought back a memory of trying to unload my 800lb engraver off the side of a trailer and not realizing all the weight was on the left front tire that was soft, when I tried to climb into the tractor it started to roll over towards me! I pushed backwards and it righted itself, scared the crap out of me and taught me a lesson at the same time!

If it moves I can break it. At 61 years old I have a lot of experience.

Having just bought a tractor I definitely appreciate these lists. I’ve watched your FEL video like ten times since I got it, just to keep it fresh in my mind!

Here's how you bend the quick coupler on a loader the very first time you use it: Take the bucket off, have the arms reaching out there empty, mow your lawn with this large, new, unfamiliar, expensive machine, and cram the front end into a tree. Ask me how I know!

Talking about PTO shafts being too long, “Tractor Time with Tim” just did an episode talking about jamming his PTO into the tractor! It was a several thousand dollar repair.

Thanks Neil! Some really helpful advice again - especially for us new tractor owners! Cheers and all the best!

I just delivered something from Messicks to a shop in Michigan!

Excellent advice and diplomatically communicated! I definitely need to hear it!👍👍

Great video! New to the compact tractor family! Thought it would be a breeze to operate...... I have lots to learn! Neal you do a great job with the videos! Sharing information & providing tips!! As well other Kubota owners! Been watching lots of U tube!! Thank you all!!

That last tip is the best, which is why I always stop here any time I need some advice on something new. Great job 👍🏻

Thanks for another great tips and advice video, Neil! After three years as a tractor owner (Kubota L3901), I have managed to avoid these top 10 ways to break mine. I work my tractor hard but try to be careful not to exceed it’s limits. Thanks for sharing your know-how!

Great comment regarding sticks! I learned the hard way to be careful going over areas where trees had been cleared. Broke a bead on a tire at the worst possible time! 😠

Just picked up a 2020 BX2680, trading in my 10 year old BX1860. They asked me if I needed to come in and check it out. I said "nope, I've been watching Messicks videos all day". :) The wanted to extend a thank you for all your time and effort for them. So do I!

A must video to watch. As a new tractor owner, I've got to say most of what's covered here I would have to learned the hard way.

The last tip alone is worth the price of admission. Thanks for a terrific video!

Neil you are excellent as an owner/ Salesman for your Dealership. The Fact that you own what you sell. I have had two different guys come out from Tire shops for rear big backhoe tires. One guy loved my backhoe and wanted it for his yard. The other kid, just a punk could have cared less about damaging my LUG bolts, then had the balls as he stripped out the corners of LUG to say I need NEW ones. He went around Lugs like a Nascar pit crew. Just a field guy who could care less about someone else personally owned piece of Equipment. I told the manager at the store to NEVER ever send that Jerk to me again

Great tips !

Great presentation, but I love the outtakes! Always a good laugh 😅

Bending the PTO shaft isn't as bad as damaging the tractor PTO. Good advice, thanks for the video!

Great video!

Great video. Niels favorite catch phrase is “over top” lol!

In addition to bending up your PTO shaft if it's the wrong length, it is also possible to do severe damage to the tractor's PTO and transmission housing itself. Especially if the PTO shaft is too long or, if the implement is a pull type brush hog, you do not adjust the tractor's draw bar length properly. If you want an example of how bad it can get, see a recent KZfaq post by Tractor Time With Tim in which he details the damage he did to his John Deere 2038R's PTO. The problem was caused by not properly setting the length of its draw bar. And no, this was not a "Deere" problem. The damage he did could have happened to any color tractor.

All great points!

Your videos are awesome, subscribed and I really appreciate your knowledge! Just bought an L47 and loving it on 80 acres here in CO.

Great Vlog!

Good video and good subject 👍🏻

I think a good video would be showing people the proper way to cut a pto shaft. It seems like even though there are some videos on it, people seem all over the place on it. Great video and definitely on point. Especially just because you can drive it doesn't mean you can operate it proficiently.

Here's the list: 1. Tires/wheels/valve stems 2. Sticks- pokes grill/lights/oil filters 3. Lights - get knocked off 4. Seats - pokes/sun damage/rips 5. Loader Quick coupler - bent/ damaged 6. Loader hyd cylinder- bent/damaged 7. Top link - bent(easy to do) 8. Broken front axle @ drop box - overloaded front loader 9. PTO shaft - needs to be the proper size (bent shaft) 10. Broken tractor - operator that knows how to use it rather than an operator that just owns one and tears it up

It sounds like you've been following me around!

Seems so obvious, but have to appreciate the reminders and some of the info to think about. Can see myself doing something, doesn't seem quite right, wonder what's wrong, and immediately remember what Neil or someone else said, stopping in time to prevent damage. Thanks

Great Video! You wouldn't happen to have any used CAT1 3-point hitches for sale, would you? Asking for myself!

...very good points. Thanks. - N Idaho -

Always be mindful of hydraulic hoses!! I went to scoop stone out of the back of a dump truck at work and caught the hydraulic lines of the lift cylinders on the tailgate... on both sides. Busted the 90° elbow on a short section of hydraulic hose connecting the cylinders to the solid line. Hydraulic oil was pissing all over the place. Had to leave the tractor out overnight while we got new hydraulic hoses from NAPA made up. My only saving grace is that I didn’t destroy the threaded nipples coming out of the cylinders. We only had to replace two, foot long hydraulic hoses as opposed to 2 lift cylinders. My boss was not happy.

Thank you, first question I had for my dealer after I bought a MX5200HST, what is the most common breakages your see on new tractors. My dealer really didn’t have an answer. Now I know!

Do you know how many and stats about the ford 1120

Just got L47 with Grapple. Freakin love this machine

Good points!

Glad you mentioned sticks. When I was a teenager I was out riding my quad with my cousin. His dad had a king quad 800 or something. My cousin decided to run through an old brush pile that loggers had not burned yet. Somehow he put a two inch birch stick right through the center of the tire. Not the sidewall, the center of the tire...

If nothing ever broke, life would not be worth living....

Very nice.

Neil sitting on a Cub Cadet! I thought I had seen every thing until now! 😃

I’m very hard on my bx2670. I don’t abuse it but I work the loader hard. I know it’s not advised, but I added shims to the relief valve to boost hydraulic pressure.

Can I replace a transmission that had 2 speed sensors with one that has one for my 2007 ford f150 pick up had a 4rw70automatic trans. 2 wheel drive 4,2 mother.if so what do I need to do to make it work L Mcdaniel

I appreciate your last comment about men that run heavy equipment for a living which I do.. and the whole thing is speed is not the answer like I see a lot of on these tractor videos it's making every move count where the production comes in

What you said at the end made me think of my buddy. He's my best friend and I love him to death but man he abuses the hell out of his equipment, running full out. Watching him rip n roar with an $85,000. piece of equipment jumpin it off the ground and tearing it up is nerve racking to me, but its his stuff and his money.

Neil, I have a new Kubota Bx 1880. My problem is the seat.That is the most uncomfortable seat I have sat on. I called my dealer and asked if I could buy another seat.I was told sorry,.They could not find a better seat to bolt up.The seat that came on the tractor is terrible. I also have a BX25D. It has a great seat,armrests and padding in the seat.Can you help with my problem

Very interesting

Always connect my pto when shaft length would be shortest/level. If I have to extend it, then I’m good to go and won’t break stuff

You mention the sticks, clearing some brush I had a stick pop my oil fill cap off. Happened to notice a little oil splash on the side. Never found the cap.

NEIL : Frm Judy &JIMM ; MESQUITE, TX . Thanx for The pearls of um aww, ok, reality , truth hurts ALWAYS ! I am always hunting KB 's for empowering OUTDOOR POWER EQUIP. in need of reliable steam. " Highly Experienced ", SCREWED ' ENOUGH STUFF UP , TO KNOW WHAT NOT TO DO THIS TIME THANX for a good show ; JIMM

You know i got a 60 year old john deere 2030 thats been slightly abused and it still has its factory top link in perfect shape besides for some rust.

Should remind folks to engage and disengage the mower pto near idle speed instead of full rpm. It makes life easier on the clutch, pto drive parts and mower gearbox.

The tires and wheels that are one the first tractor, I wish I had those on my L3901

Geez. Now you make me not want to use my tractor anymore seeing as it's so vulnerable!

Tractor time with Tim actually drove his pto shaft through the rear of his lift ram housing due to the shaft being too long for the application (in the raised position...) He said it was an expensive mistake, and I don't doubt him.....

Seen a friends neighbor a few weeks back bought a brand new l3301w/ fel and no rear attachments or filled tires. Told him hey fyi you need to add weight to the back of the tractor while he was out moving dirt around with his new toy. Guess he thought i didnt know what i was talking about .... a week later he put her on her side and cost him a lot of $!

Because the tractor is ballasted enough to lit feed totes we have, the weight over the front axle has caused damage. And you can't be more right than talking about the fact that just because you own a piece of equipment it makes you an expert!! I'm constantly hearing gears grinding, the loaded slamming totes down, and watching the whole tractor bounce around when a "particular operator" is on the machine.

Thanks for these videos, you guys are life savers. Riddle me this, do they make a duelie kit for a kioti 2410 size tractor? I don't want to have to engineer and machine something that Can be bought prefabricated.

So you say to add ballast to the rear to reduce the pressure on the front axle and to distribute the weight. So in my thought process even with ballast added to the rear the front wheels still take the bulk of the load when using the FEL as they are the pivot point. Adding rear ballast may actually increase the load on the front wheels when using the FEL to its fullest capacity vs not having extra rear ballast. Not sure if you have access to 4 individual scales to test the theory. I know you have done the test with the load cells. I know rear ballast increases safety and stability in most cases so I'm a firm believer in properly ballasted tractors. Just questioning whether or not it actually reduces the load on the front axle. Thanks for the great videos always watch them!

Dont do with tractor if it doesnt have guarding. I need to build a guard for gramps boom pole. Towing a car at demo derby chain didnt break. Where i hooked to did. Car was really mangled. I pulled in 4th and didnt want to go so i shifted to 3rd then it started moving and bang i heard chain flying and put hand behind head. I felt the chain with hand 6 inches or less from head. I do a high hook chain for lift and a low hook chain for pull together about 60% up between top link and pull arms with about 8 links then my j hook. The pull chain took most of the recoil out. People when helping hook up like to take my pull chain off no it needs to be there so i dont stand her up. I pulled a f250 with 40ft gooseneck with 2 cars in slop without flinching. (2wd gear drive ag tires JD 2cylinder) ive pulled cars that that wanted to wait for the skytrac because that bad. Nah. I got this. Know your limits dont go above what youre comfortable doing

Watch Outdoors With The Morgans on You Tube. The last few weeks Mike has been operating a rented brand new KX 080 excavator. From digging shale borrow pits to dredging a pond he always shows care and respect for power equipment. He has experience but is not a current professional operator. A few videos back he discussed rough careless operators. Thanks - always a enlightening video Neil Take care

Whats the story with that L35?

Most hydro tractors are susceptible to damage underneath running thru the woods and going over stumps etc, the filter, pump and fan sit low and and lack protection. Ask me how I know ha ha.

Had a reciprocating saw on my mower seat. Picked it up and the blade rotated and cut the seat in the corner. Now whenever I seat and use the mower the cut gets bigger and bigger. Lesson learned, I put it on the metal engine cover, which incidentally I was avoiding doing because I didn't want to scratch the paint.....

Or like TTWT and ramming the PTO shaft into the transmission destroying the transmission.

“Be sane about what you lift with your tractor!” I thought the reason to own a four wheel drive tractor was so you could keep going when the back tires came off the ground! Bwhahaha! Kidding aside great video! 👍👍👍

Sweet video. Now I know how to go about killing my tractor so I can buy a sub compact tractor!! Thank you 😊

Yep grill crunched by stick coming through the grill and bent tie rods. Sure wish Kubota’s steering tie rods were designed to be behind the axle.

What was that a small lift or a trailer the bush hog was sitting on? Was this somethings to make it easy to move around? Be nice to be able to move the thing to the tractor instead of having to back up perfectly to line it up wouldn’t it?

I always got into Styx with my tractor just as I liked a momentary lapse of reason.

I would be careful about adding too much ballast on the rear of a tractor to compensate for an overloaded front loader. There have been tractors that have actually broken in half around the bell housing due to this. I would check the tractor manuals very carefully before adding the ballast to verify the tractor can handle those weights.

Valve stems on the inside of Wheels do not protect them from damage. thrown objects from brush Hogs can still wipe out a valve stem on the inside

Seat damage is something our tractor really sufferers from, but not the bottom part, but the backrest, the fabric went off of it, the headrest part is missing, which I don't mind, and the fome on the top went away to reveal the metal frame, but the tractor is from 92 with my dad being the second owner having bought it 96,and he doesn't take too much cear of our machine's.

I see a lot of front wheel bearings go out on those kubota tractors

The very end from 9:55 is the complete truth. I had a neighbor that owned a 30hp compact tractor completely destroy it in 600hrs. Used his finish mower as a brush hog and would lower it on rocks and logs all the time cutting pastures and such. Anyone can go buy one, but only a select few know how to truly operate one.

Seats can also be destroyed just by the UV light so maybe a cover is good if its kept outside.

Sticks seem to have a deep hatred of belly mowers.

Heh, I did #2 the other day with a 2" stick. Took out one of the headlights.

You missed cab doors an a few other things ive seen

Don't forget if you have to cut your pto shaft down to cut both ends not just one.

I've done 2. 5,6 and 9

Our local town bought a small John Deere with a loader and within ten hours of operation they over filled the bucket with brush and raised the bucket when it reached the top of the loader lift it tossed a large chunk of wood out of the bucket and on to the hood.

I use mine like a Tank... but old tractors are tuff

If they still made things out of steel you’d never have a stick tap your headlights out...

Oh no 🤭 what are the internet trolls gonna do they can’t complain about the shingles😂

Just the tips can be so dangerous

letsdig18 is a equipment operator

That's probably the one and only thing I do not like about Kubota there grill guard they should come standard with a screen mounted on them rather than everyone having to make their own

Interesting...you did just touch a topic that lately I’ve become more concerned about, and that is the front wheel bearings. I’ve done 2 botas and one LS. And for the life of me why are they using ball bearings in these?!! I know you talk about having proper ballast when lifting but I’m beginning to wonder if that’s the problem?! More ballast more lift. More weight on front bearings. And no it’s not because the axle oil has not been changed either. One has been over changed just because I knew about the first two!!...Still failed🤬

Wish Ford would get back into tractors

Its funny..kubota knows most of their problems..ie poor lighting..grill guards etc..but they dont solve the issues.. a grill guard is a perfect simple solution kubota could factor in when building

I honestly don't understand how an adult can do some of these things to their own equipment, as most of these are the result of severe misuse of the equipment. Too many Bubba's try to use a compact tractor like a bull dozer.

#1 way tractors broken: Operator error/ inexperienced operator.

Don’t turn your wheels to protect valves, it doesn’t work. In addition, the set up of your wheels is really critical for stability and not rolling the machine is way more important.

One way to break a tractor or implement is to borrow it to an old friend who farms. My dad had a friend from the Army who also farmed. I think after the 2nd or 3rd time he broke something and didn’t pay to fix it my dad finally said no more. He always blamed it on his hired hand.

Mowing unknown or once a year acreage rough on tires last years dead scrub tree stalks can ruin a tire and your day/pocketbook!!!!