In article ,
Eric R Snow wrote:

Well, I've been making a real mess of things. It takes lots of
practice to use one of these things! I can't see where the front of
the bucket is. I can't tell what angle the bucket is at.

Sometimes, you just stop things and go look, especially when you are
starting out, but later on, too. A miscalculation can make a mess of
things, especially a miscalculation regarding clearance to a building...

You can watch the space between the back of the front bucket and the
ground if the ground is somewhat level, but it often is not. There's
also a bucket angle guage which would be somewhat easy to build (I don't
have one; I saw one once I tracked down manuals for my machine, but I
have not bothered to build one yet). For the most part, the bucket is
not great at digging, and is primarily useful for moving loose dirt -
the hoe digs much more efficiently.

How far can
the tractor tilt before it rolls? I need a tilt meter.

Unfortunately, the answer to that question is "it depends". Since
weighty parts of the machine can be repositioned a great deal, you can
sit stable at a particular angle, then move something and roll over from
the same angle. Two classic examples are raising the bucket, especially
if it has a load on, or swinging the hoe. Don't operate the hoe without
the outriggers down. If the track (wheel width) on your machine is
adjustable, adjust it to the widest setting, unless you must squeeze in
somewhere narrow.

And all those levers!

For learning, it can help to cheat and label each lever, and what it
does in each direction. Working with myself, and without benefit of
"proper terminology" when starting out, I labeled the "wrist, elebow,
and shoulder" motions of the various levers (Dipperstick, crowd, and
lift, if I've correctly picked up what "real" operators call them).
Color coding the cylinders & levers is another trick when you don't
recall instantly which lever does what.

You can practice controlled operation in the air, as well as the "along
the ground" technique that has been suggested. There's often little
motion of the controls between slow controlled motion and slamming along
as fast as the thing will go, so you need to develop feel, by
practicing. Then dig and backfill a practice hole a few times - leveling
backfill is a good practice execise for hoe control, requiring two
controls working together.

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