The mistake was telling the cousin “not to worry about it”…. He didn’t.
What SHOULD have been said is “Do NOT operate or mess with my tractor under any circumstances!”
I have a son-in-law who is the most wonderful guy my daughter could have found for a partner.
He’s sincere, honest, and a hard worker. If he detects a task needs to be done he energetically and sincerely offers to perform it….and his work-product always turns out beautiful!
But he was raised in the republic of NYC and has little experience driving or operating machinery, and although he is attentive, intelligent, and listens to instructions…. his “feel” for machinery is somewhat lacking. He’s a careful driver and does a pretty good job of driving in traffic…but has a somewhat “mechanical” technique in handling the vehicle…. nothing deserving criticism exactly, but not exactly or intuitively smooth when making transitions or maneuvering into/out-if parking spaces if you know what I mean. (In aviation we call that “seat of the pants” capability.)
He so-enjoyed driving the Kubota RTV around the ranch …and it was obvious he would like to know more about the tractor …but politely did not ask…. Sooo… In case it needed to me moved should I not be available….I made the offer to show him how to start it up and back it out of the hangar.
I asked if he knew how to operate a standard-transmission auto…and he indicated ”yes”…. so I told him a major difference between a standard-shift auto and a gear-tranny tractor is that we do NOT change gears while in-motion…. that we come to a complete stop before changing gears.
I then (after starting it up, raising the FEL only JUST enough to get it off the floor but not high enough to whack an airplane wing, and backing it out of the hangar)… I talked him thru geting it safely started and in-gear…how the FEL joystick worked, the 3-pt lift lever, …how the hand throttle worked, etc….and turned him loose on it in a wide-open pasture…. Only to cringe as he headed away from me, lurching around in circles at high rpm grinding gears as he slammed the gear-selector around various gears, etc.
I was running up behind him as fast as I could shouting to STOP shifting!…. and finally he saw me wildly waving my arms to catch his attention. He stood on the brakes until the tractor chugged to a wheel-hopping stop.
It seems HIS concept of “standard transmision” is one that has a selector labelled ”P-R-N-D-2-1”
I’ve avoided any need for him to be on my tractor since.