Vehicle knowledge, maintenance and technical inspection
This domain checks whether you can tell a roadworthy tractor from one that only starts. Questions cover the daily walk-around, fluid and brake checks, tyre and ballast care, what the periodic technical inspection actually certifies, and how to react to a defect before it becomes a breakdown.
Pre-departure checks
Walk round the assembly: tyre condition and pressure, wheel nuts, visible leaks under the engine and hydraulic couplings, cracked hoses, guards on the power take-off shaft, lights, indicators, beacon, mirrors and the hitch. Under the bonnet: engine oil, coolant, screen and radiator fins cleared of chaff and dust - a blocked radiator is the classic tractor overheating cause in summer harvest work.
Brakes, tyres and ballast
- Air-brake systems must be drained of condensate as specified; a sinking pedal or hissing coupling means do not drive.
- Trailer brakes are tested separately: park on a slope and confirm the assembly holds.
- Correct inflation for the load; too soft a tyre overheats and slips, too hard a tyre loses traction and damages soil structure.
- Ballast matched to the implement; excess front ballast overloads the front axle and increases fuel use.
Technical inspection
Periodic technical inspection (technická prohlídka) confirms identity, braking, steering, lighting, tyres, coupling and emissions where required. Its interval depends on the vehicle category and is recorded in the registration document - a tractor's due date is not the same as a car's, so read the document rather than assuming. A valid inspection is not proof of roadworthiness on the day you drive; you remain responsible for the vehicle's condition.
Worked example
The brake pedal sinks slowly while you hold it at a standstill, and the fluid level is at the minimum mark. Reasoning: a pedal that creeps down points to an internal leak in the master cylinder or air in the hydraulic circuit; the trailer brake line may share the fault. Do not drive to the field "just this once". Find and repair the leak, bleed the system, refill with the specified fluid and retest both tractor and trailer brakes before moving.
Traps that cost marks
- Treating a valid inspection sticker as a substitute for daily checks.
- Ignoring a cracked hydraulic hose or a missing PTO guard.
- Over-inflating tyres to "carry the load" instead of respecting axle limits.