I certainly won't disagree with you, and won't tell you to do anything different from what the manufacturer's manual says to do. But I can tell you that sometimes manuals, no matter what kind of manual or what product, become outdated and are not kept up to date. I've bought repair manuals for new vehicles that had errors in them. The headlights on my new 1989 Chevrolet pickup did NOT work like the manual said, and I learned that GM changed the way the headlights worked, but didn't get around to changing the manual. I found a similar error in a Chrysler station wagon manual. And the owner's manual for each of my Kubotas said to use 10W-30 motor oil with a CC or CD rating. Those are obsolete ratings. I guess you might say the manual is correct since the higher ratings "include" the lower or older ones. And when a manual says to not operate the machine at "full speed" without specifying any particular RPM; just what does that mean? Wouldn't one RPM be less than "full speed"? Have you ever asked a dealer, or a factory service rep, what that means and how the tractor should be broken in? The manual doesn't say to run it at 3/4 throttle or less. I know from personal experience that it's very difficult to write any manual that covers every detail and every possible scenario. I can't help but wonder just how close the coordination is between the people who write those tractor manuals and the people who designed them. Are you old enough to remember when most new car manuals had a similar recommendation for breaking them in at slower speeds the first thousand miles or so? Does any car manufacturer include such instructions today? I haven't seen that in quite some time. And, like JerryG said, I'd expect less trouble and less oil consumption on a machine that I broke in than one broken in slow, as you say you're doing. Of course there's also a few differences in gasoline vs. diesel engines, and engines designed for different uses. Most tractors are designed to run high RPM continuously all day long on the farm after "break in".
Now I certainly don't intend to tell you, or anyone else, to do anything different from what the manual says. I can only tell you what I do after years of working in my Dad's service station and auto parts store, growing up around mechanics, being a fleet manager in later years, and owning and operating a lot of different machines.And, like JerryG said, I'd expect less trouble and less oil consumption on a machine that I broke in than one broke in slow, as you say you're doing.
