My First Tractor!

TomAce82

New member

Equipment
B6200, box blade, brush hog, loader, rototiller, landscape rake
Jun 8, 2019
12
0
1
Santa Cruz, CA
Hello everyone, I just bought my first tractor. I have many questions regarding small repairs, but I've been enjoying doing my own research and finding answers throughout this forum. I've already learned a ton about my tractor, and yesterday I took it for a spin around our property in Santa Cruz, CA. My home town on the Monterey Bay. I had a blast. Day one was officially entertaining and therapeutic. I wanted to post pictures to show my new machine! So they are posted below.

The pursuit of a tractor began over the last year or two. I had been mowing a combination of weeds, grass and saplings with a '97 craftsman 42" ride on mower. We have 5 acres, and about 2 which need yearly maintenance and another 2 or so that need some re-claiming done. The mower has been great, and I beat the heck out of it, but I'm limited on what I can do otherwise, and my wife and I have a lot of deferred land maintenance to catch up on. So I stated looking for a tractor.

What size? What implements? Well first, what's an implement? I knew nothing. I did come from an automotive background, having sold auto parts as a late teen and building a few Mopar big blocks in my garage to hot rod around town with. I'd take them up and drag race at a couple local tracks, too. But that was about 20 years back. I knew mechanically I would love the hobby of learning a tractor, and how to use it, but did not know where to start when it came to features, functions of implements, hp needs, size needs, and so on.

After months of passively searching craigslist, I went and saw my first tractor last Wednesday; an 1986 Kubota B6200. 4wd hst with front loader and ag tires. I fell in love. A few quirks but I felt confident knowing it was a good "entry level" machine to learn on. Yes, I could have just went to the local dealer and bought a new one and been happy, and maybe more productive, but the 33 year old "classic" felt right up my alley. Not to mention 25k cheaper. So Friday, two days later, I rented a trailer and purchased the B series along with a brush hog, box scraper, rototiller, and 3pt ball hitch trailer mover! Loaded up and headed home.

Now I'm ready to get under the hood, get to know my tractor, and then re-assess my property needs after learning it's capabilities and limitations.

Yesterday was the first day putting around and getting under the hood. I’ll elaborate more, but I want to get some pictures up. A few from my trip last week to pick up the tractor, and a few from yesterday out on our land. I have so many little projects to start that it's overwhelmingly exciting. I wish I could research 24hrs a day! I just might!



Thomas
 

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Bmbbm

Member

Equipment
Bx2370 land pride box blade 60"mmm kubota fel
May 29, 2016
282
6
18
Chillicothe mo
Welcome to the world of tractoring. You didn't ask for advice but first thing I would do is change all the fluids and filters. Enjoy!
 

Tornado

Well-known member
May 7, 2019
793
251
63
usa
Nice, welcome. Im with Bmbbm, I would change everything right out of the gate - all filters and fluids, and grease up every zerk nipple you can find with a high quality grease. Zerks on your FEL and any around the 3 pt. hitch you should grease every 10 hours of operation or so. You may already have this but Im including a link here for the owners manual for your tractor. year may vary a little, but it should give you a lot of useful information on operation/maintenance of the tractor. Id take some time and read it all the way through.

http://www.kubotabooks.com/AutoIndex/index.php?dir=Tractor Owners Manuals/&file=B6200-7200ops.pdf
 

NorCalOrange

Member

Equipment
B2150HST, Brush Hog, FEL, Post Hole Digger
Mar 24, 2019
74
1
8
Newcastle, Ca.
The eco-woke in SC will be raging with an old diese in the hood ;)


Congrats! Good advice above. Let me add, ff you live in a steep hilly area, take things slow and be safe.
 

D2Cat

Well-known member
Lifetime Member

Equipment
L305DT, B7100HST, TG1860, TG1860D, L4240
Mar 27, 2014
13,003
4,383
113
40 miles south of Kansas City
Tom, that tractor will be everything you'll need on 5 acres. Do as others have suggested, by changing all fluids and filters. I think that machine has a filter screen in the hyd line, so remove it and clean it at fluid change.

I know your feeling. The first tractor I bought was a B6100, and I had been mowing with a Sears 10HP on 3 acres. Hey, welcome to the forum!

And Oh, that ROPS is not suppose to be attached to the box blade!:D:D
 
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shootem604

Member
Lifetime Member

Equipment
L245DT with Kubota (Arps Model 22) FEL and Kubota B/L4520B (Woods 650) BH
Apr 23, 2018
875
18
18
British Columbia
Haha, everything is relative I guess. It's bigger than his Craftsman, but seems small compared to an L-series.

But, its all in how you use it!
 

TomAce82

New member

Equipment
B6200, box blade, brush hog, loader, rototiller, landscape rake
Jun 8, 2019
12
0
1
Santa Cruz, CA
Agreed. The owner I purchased from had it for four years before buying a L3301. He said he maintained it well. Today I blew out the air cleaner, and got familiar with fuel line routes and such. Lubed all zercs I could find. I'm planning on doing all filters and fluids as suggested.
 
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David Page

Active member

Equipment
1974 L260, 6" bush hog, subsoiler, spring tooth harrow, boom pole, 2 bottom plow
Jun 25, 2013
381
66
28
Dexter, ME
Congratulations, nice purchase. I don't have a loader or 4 wd but I can still send a lot (I mean do a lot) with the 3 pt hitch.
 

TomAce82

New member

Equipment
B6200, box blade, brush hog, loader, rototiller, landscape rake
Jun 8, 2019
12
0
1
Santa Cruz, CA
So I’ve been working on my tractor quite a bit. I wanted to post a video I made of the initial purchase of the tractor from a few weeks back.

It includes footage of us picking it up and loading it. Returning home and then using the loader for the first time. Pushing our debris pile around.

Also, I replaced the regulator under the dash. I was thinking about posting a thread with some photos of the back of the b6200 dash. Might be helpful to someone, I know I had a heck of a time trying to get a real photo to supplement the work shop manual. Fixed my charging problem.

I’m a happy tractor owner. :)

https://youtu.be/l9SwvwyP8ok
 
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ihfr

New member

Equipment
b3300su w/loader & backhoe
Jun 27, 2014
17
0
1
Barrington, IL
Nice video. Especially liked the drone shots. What do you do with the piles of debris. I’m able to burn it- I assume in CA that’s not an option because of wild fires


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

TomAce82

New member

Equipment
B6200, box blade, brush hog, loader, rototiller, landscape rake
Jun 8, 2019
12
0
1
Santa Cruz, CA
Nice video. Especially liked the drone shots. What do you do with the piles of debris. I’m able to burn it- I assume in CA that’s not an option because of wild fires


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Thank you for watching. The song was written for my late father in law, whose property I’m now helping manage.

About the debris, we are able to have burn piles during certain parts of the year. I haven’t done it but will be this coming winter.

The drone is a lot of fun. I’ll attach a couple shots from the sky of the property.
 

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sheepfarmer

Well-known member
Lifetime Member

Equipment
L3560, B2650, Gator, Ingersoll mower
Nov 14, 2014
4,444
661
113
MidMichigan
Nice song, and a pretty piece of property, vintage California. Thanks for posting.
 

ihfr

New member

Equipment
b3300su w/loader & backhoe
Jun 27, 2014
17
0
1
Barrington, IL
Thank you for watching. The song was written for my late father in law, whose property I’m now helping manage.



About the debris, we are able to have burn piles during certain parts of the year. I haven’t done it but will be this coming winter.



The drone is a lot of fun. I’ll attach a couple shots from the sky of the property.


Video and music were well done and the drone must be a blast. Speaking of which- don’t know your experience with burning- however keep in mind if using gasoline, you don’t want to be near the accelerant when you apply the fire (or add gas to an already burning fire). I’m sure this is common sense to probably most here- but I’ve seen more than a few people almost get themselves killed doing some variation of that.
I personally like to light a torch from about 30’ or so away and toss it into my gas soaked piles (which are often 20x20x20). Makes for a nice “implosion” that rattles the windows in the house!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

TomAce82

New member

Equipment
B6200, box blade, brush hog, loader, rototiller, landscape rake
Jun 8, 2019
12
0
1
Santa Cruz, CA
Video and music were well done and the drone must be a blast. Speaking of which- don’t know your experience with burning- however keep in mind if using gasoline, you don’t want to be near the accelerant when you apply the fire (or add gas to an already burning fire). I’m sure this is common sense to probably most here- but I’ve seen more than a few people almost get themselves killed doing some variation of that.
I personally like to light a torch from about 30’ or so away and toss it into my gas soaked piles (which are often 20x20x20). Makes for a nice “implosion” that rattles the windows in the house!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thanks for the burn pile concerns. I will take them all into consideration.
 

les.smith99

New member

Equipment
B7800
Jul 27, 2010
45
0
0
Tyler, Texas
Welcome! Check out “asktractormike.com you can pick up a lot of good information there. The site is for people who did not grow up around tractors


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RCW

Well-known member
Lifetime Member

Equipment
BX2360, FEL, MMM, BX2750D snowblower. 1953 Minneapolis Moline ZAU
Apr 28, 2013
8,382
4,026
113
Chenango County, NY
Tom -

Beautiful place!
My daughter lives in Capitola, almost neighbors.
I visited last year for the first time. Saw the Elephant Seal colony, and my first Redwood (she has one in their yard). As a forester and biologist, really enjoy region and it’s agriculture. Saw artichokes!
Really temperate place; not real hot or cold.
Just too many people and too much traffic for this ole farm boy.... I don’t travel very well....[emoji15]


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FloridaAl

New member
Premium Member

Equipment
L2500DT, King Kutter 5' bush hog, Howse 4' disc, back blade, plow, boom pole.
May 15, 2019
15
0
1
Jacksonville, FL
TomAce82,
I'm smiling as I type because you sound just Like I feel. I've got my first tractor in 40 years, and my very first ag tractor. Except for some "fun work" I'm still doing what you're talking about doing, replacing or changing things. Yesterday was the hydraulic fluid and a new strainer. Last item (that I know of) is the front wheel drive fluid and then I'm ready to start my food plots. Hope you enjoy yours as much as I'm enjoying mine.
Tons of info on the site and every question I've asked has been thoroughly and thoughtfully answered. Great site of fine folks.
FloridaAl
 

Dennis.D

Active member

Equipment
L6060, Erskine hydraulic snow blower, back hoe
Feb 16, 2018
146
59
28
Central, ME,USA
Very few purchases will give you as much pleasure as a tractor. You can accomplish a lot and enjoy doing it. Its kinda fun. Please remember to always tell the wife how much WORK you got done with the tractor. If you tell how much fun you had, it will make the rest of us look bad. Enjoy your tractor.