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Find a model →Pit up to four models against each other. Engine, hydraulics, hitch, weight, warranty.
Open comparison →Written guides on choosing tractors, hydraulics, PTO, hitches, and maintenance.
Read articles →A beginner-focused walkthrough structured around 10 numbered operational tips for using a front loader bucket, demonstrated on a real gravel project. Covers four-wheel drive engagement, RPM settings, angle-attacking crusted piles, the raise-curl loading technique, avoiding tire spin, and carrying loads low for stability. It's a practical first-timer primer, not a tractor review, best suited to new owners nervous about their first loader job.
Tractor Mike is a longtime tractor-industry insider with decades of hands-on experience in the equipment business. He built his channel to help first-time and rural buyers make confident decisions, and his guidance comes from that deep, long-term background rather than a sales pitch.
Keep it just below PTO rated engine speed, probably about 1,800 to 2,000 RPM, since faster engine speed means faster hydraulics.
Drive in at an angle with one edge of the bucket, left or right, to break it up, repeating throughout the pile to loosen it.
Carrying it high changes the tractor's center of gravity and is scary, especially on hills, raising the chance of rolling over.
Drive in straight, and when the tractor starts to stall, raise the loader, then curl the bucket back slightly, repeating raise and curl.
