Using your garden tractor appropriately and caring for it well will increase its lifetime. Here are some tips on how to use a garden tractor:
- Before you even put your key in the ignition, read the manufacturer's operating manual. The operating manual will have vital information, such as whether you need to add counter weights when using attachments mounted to the tractor. It's details like this that you don't want to learn the hard way.
- Familiarize yourself with the controls: Know the location and function of the controls. Know how to stop the tractor in a hurry should you experience an emergency.
- Check the oil and fuel level when the engine is cool. If you need to refuel the tractor in the middle of a job, turn the engine off and wait for it to cool if there is any possibility that the fuel might splash on the hot engine.
- Always check for parts that might have been loosened during use. Tighten or replace any parts that are not in good working order.
- Wear appropriate clothing--you don't want to get your clothing caught in any parts. Your clothing should be tightly fitted and as protective as possible--steel shank boots, long pants, eye protection and so on.
- Always start the tractor in neutral gear. Always start the tractor outside so that unsafe levels of carbon monoxide do not build up inside of a garage or building.
- Always look around you before starting out. This seems like such an obvious statement but sometimes when you are engrossed in a job or in a hurry, you forget. Make a safety check a part of your start-up routine every single time you turn the key in the ignition.
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Author: Staff Writer