JULY 2019

INDY … Your comment/question about tractors got my interest.  I grew up on tractors and currently have four in my shed. (A fifth on is there but is a non-runner at this time.)  I'm gonna make an assumption that YOU are the operator.

Personally, I'm NOT able to operate a Bobcat machine … I'm too uncoordinated to operate with my feet and hands at the same time.  I admire anyone that can operate one without tearing down the walls, etc. in a confined area.  It so happens that the loader I have is attached to my biggest tractor, but of course, that doesn't do well in small confined areas.  It is a 55 hp 4610 Ford.  Don't be in a big hurry to dispose of that skid steer loader (BobCat) if you get along well with it.  Loaders of any sort are just as handy about a farm setting as my shirt pocket is to me!!  Look around your area and see what tractors are most prevalent I'm mowing with a Kubota that I really like except for NO power steering.  I hope to correct that later this summer.  It is 19 horse power and cuts 60 inches of yard without difficulty.  

You said your Farmall B had a belly mower, but not how wide of a cut it is.  Im gonna assume its a least 60 inches of cut.  How many acres of pasture are you trying to maintain?? How rushed for time are you (typically speaking) when you want to do your pastures?  Are you trying to make hay or just clip weeds?? All of my tractors have a wide front axle which IMO is more stable that the narrow tricycle your "B" has especially on slopes and uneven ground.

Maybe Diane wil tell Donnie about his John Deere set up.  .



It is my opinion that 23 or so horsepower should be adequate for a tractor.  I would also consider Power Steering a MUST HAVE as well as Live Power Takeoff for the mower or any potential future equipment.  As far as make/brand tractor is concerned … that's like asking which color horse is the best!!

Hi RICK, you made the right assumption. I am definitely going to be the operator. You wouldn't be in the market for a Farmall BN would you? It's actually in pretty good condition. I had it converted from a 6 volt to a 12 volt a couple of years ago. It's a little tempermental in hot weather. I have to be careful not to let it overheat if I'm mowing and it's hot out. I'm thinking someone who likes to restore them and show them in parades etc will like it.

Thanks for the heads up on the power steering. I just assumed they all came with power steering now a days. Kubota is one of the tractors I am looking at. I'll ask a silly question, the tractors I have looked at all have PTO and 3 pt hitch behind. Is LIVE PTO a specific type of PTO?

The pasture is about 4 acres and in the past have just needed to cut weeds. This year with all the rain we've had I haven't mowed it at all and it is running away from me. Yes the Woods mower is a 59, I know strange size. Considering a pull behind rotary mower instead of the deck mower only because my neighbor suggested it. He has a deck and says he wishes he had the pull behind instead and he uses his tractor for basically the same purposes I plan to. It's always taken me about 2 hours to mow the pasture with the BN mainly because if I go any faster it tosses me around too much.

Glad to hear the 23 hp should work. Thanks for the info.

Indy, I will begin by saying I know nothing about tractors.  My neighbor has a small John Deere 70. He got it used and it is a few years old, although it looks like new.  I saw him pull out some shrubs that had been in place for YEARS.  It was no problem at all.  He pulled 5 of them out in the length of time it took to wrap the chains around them.
That is the full extent of my tractor knowledge.

Indy, I have a Kubota about 40-45 yrs old 35 hp diesel............does wonders..............
I call her Second Hand Rose.........my girly tractor. She can't do big jobs, but good enough
for anything around the barn..............

Good luck shopping...................drive them all. LOL

Well, I was waffling about getting the new tractor but after what just happened, it's definitely going to happen, and soon! It started a little hard this evening. Not terrible just enough to make me talk nicely to it and then it started up. Mowed for one hour almost to the minute. When I started mowing I told myself I would just mow for an hour and then call it a night. I looked at my watch at about 55 minutes and decided since it was a nice night I would continue mowing for another 30 minutes or so. Started on a new section and the darn thing just quit. It will turn over fine but it won't fire. So I shut everything down so at least I won't drain the battery and left it out in the field. Stupid tractor! grrrr. Stop laughing, it's not funny.

Indy, I'm not laughing. Really. Well, I might be chuckling just a little bit. At least you are already working on a replacement instead of really needing to keep going and having it quit.

Well, INDY, it's not a bit funny..............at least you know that you need a tractor............or you can wait an have work done on the old one.

That said, I had to laugh. The only times that has happened to me was when I didn't check the fuel
before I started. Then in a huff at the end of the pasture, I walked in and then had to drag the gas
can out to the tractor. I bragged when I got in.........

Post to us when you get the new one and what you get...............

ARK -- I too watched "Mushrooms" last week! We should tell folks more about it. Too funny! If you can laugh about dismembering a dead man (a big one!)with a meat cleaver and wrapping the pieces for hiding in a freezer. And then, at the dinner table, being served a thigh as a roast leg of mutton. I had to put my hearing aid (cheap amplifier, actually, but it works wonderfully -- more people should know about them) in for that one, and call up subtitles, too -- but still missed the significance of the mushrooms. Can you explain??

ELLEN -- I have YouTubeTV, so I can get the live shows that I want, but mostly I ignore what's on in favor of YouTube. I was lured there by all the how-toos, which have shown me how to fix everything, from my lawnmowers to my kitchen faucet and all the woodworking I've been fantasizing about doing. But lately I've branched out into using YouTube for entertainment. My current craze is for videos about narrowboating on English canals. Before that for years (and sometimes still), I watched the English "Escape to the Country," which intersperses a little learning of all sorts in between images of gorgeous homes set in romanticized pastoral scenes. But there's tons more: last night I was lured into an hour-long video about a sail from New York to Ireland; earlier I was hip-slapping to videos of pianists playing boogie-woogie in railway stations and airports. Fun. And minimal ads.

RICK and INDY - I'm laughing because I keep fantasizing about getting a real tractor, spending lots of time looking for something cheap on the Internet --something like my father's Farmall, left behind when I moved. But my creaky body tells me that it's way too late for that to happen. So I make do with the golf cart I call my "poor woman's tractor," an ancient thing sold me by my neighbor, who used to wheel and deal in them. Alas, he's died (at 41 of a congenitally bad heart), and the little shop that used to repair them has closed, so I'm left playing Fixit Queen. HA! My "tractor" pulls a good-sized trailer I bought a few years back on line from an outfit in Ohio, one that has removable sides and a tilting body, and, even with no horse now, I need it for moving brush. But first I have to get the "tractor" started. That's my next job today...

INDY, you wrote / asked: "Thanks for the heads up on the power steering. I just assumed they all came with power steering now a days. Kubota is one of the tractors I am looking at. I'll ask a silly question, the tractors I have looked at all have PTO and 3 pt hitch behind. Is LIVE PTO a specific type of PTO?"

Larger, heavier tractors probably all come with power steering as standard, and live PTO also … but you'll wanna ascertain that yourself!!

On your Farmall B, you have to depress your clutch pedal to engage your mower to work. On live PTO, that's not a requirement and you can be riding/ driving your machine and just slow down to calmly put the PTO "in gear"... then you can bring your engine speed back up to speed and continue your work. ALWAYS do this with your engine speed slowed down … saves wear and tear on tractor and potentially on mower also.

There's almost an infinite number of machines / implements that attach with 3 point hookup. Get your salesman to show you how you do it. It will probably be a little frustrating at first, but really not so bad once you get the hang of it. TIP: ALWAYS park on level ground to disconnect from 3 pt. stuff. Its a lot easier to reconnect when you return later. Ive got a large wardrobe of t-shirts with the BTDT from being in a hurry to disconnect and having to struggle later.!!

Have fun and BE SAFE!!

Rick, is slowing the engine before engaging the PTO a good thing for lawn tractors too? It's a 20 hp MTD. I've never thought about it and just lower that handle at whatever speed the engine is going. I don't have to push in the clutch/brake.
I know it's dumb to have that much tractor for my little yard, but I love it. It also makes for a good deal with my neighbors. I mow my yard and two of theirs, and Travis mows the yards up by the street with the walk behind.

This evening, the little girls had come to visit Nana and swim. They saw me out on the deck and came over. They'd been swimming at their dock for quite a while, but for some reason, my dock seemed more appealing. So, they put on their lift jackets and jumped off my dock about a hundred times. "Look what I can do!" "Mommy, watch me!" "Nana" watch!"

BEECH
The two old ladies grew the mushrooms with the composted chicken manure. (You know what they fed the chickens....) They used the mushrooms to stuff the chickens and served them to the detective's grouchy boss and the rest of the police department at the Christmas party . I didn't know whether to roll with laughter or gag . Those two ladies were a riot! That tattooed butt roast was too much!

I love shows with older people as the main characters, especially Australian, New Zealand or British movies. I have the captions on during the shows because I don't want to miss what they are saying in their cute accents! I like YouTube TV and Roku, too. With Prime video from Amazon, we don't need anything else.

INDYAPP:
Donnie has a John Deere diesel tractor that has a 38 horsepower engine. We needed something just big enough to use for making hay on small acreage using equipment made by IHI Star Company out of Japan that makes tiny rolls of hay, about 45 pound bales. We only make hay on about 9 or 10 acres and didn't want a huge tractor that we wouldn't need the horsepower for what we wanted to do. Donnie loves it. It is very fuel efficient compared to the bigger tractors.


Today was cloudy and cool compared to the past 10 days or so, about 80 degrees. We got in a load of shavings for the barn. It will be warmer the rest of the week, so the timing was good.

Continuing saga of the tempermental tractor... When I went out to feed this morning I thought I would give it a try and see if it would start so I could get it out of the field. Turned over and fired but didn't start. Tried again and it started right up. Tonight instead of mowing I had fun and rode Tiberius. He has finally figured out how to gait. It's really fun. I would love to have someone drive along side me as I ride down the road to get an idea of how fast he goes. I'll keep you posted on my tractor buying. It'll take a while for me to decide exactly what I want. I usually do way to much research and comparison before hand looking for the best deal.

GRAYMARE I've done the walk of shame with the gas can more times than I can remember. Both for the Farmall and my yard tractor. I wish they came with gas gauges.

BEECH keep on keepin on with the golf cart. Whatever it takes to get the job done. BUT, if you're interested in a deal on a Farmall... I know where there is going to be one for sale. I bet the owner would make a deal with you...

When I still lived in Speedway, I had a 17hp lawn tractor. I put a regular 2" ball on it and could pull my little trailer all over the place. It would haul a lot of mulch bags. I haven't added a ball to this lawn tractor, only because I don't need it.
I do have a heavy duty wagon that I could pull with the tractor too. It's supposed to hold 1200 pounds, but it's never been put to that test.

Beech, I'll bet you could get a really good deal on that Farmall tractor that Indy is talking about.

Hubby and the kids have been using a new holland tractor with a bucket and shovel cleaning up messes the renters left behind. They have fallen in love with it. Doing a really good job.
Still moving in....slowly.
Took our big toyhauler rv in to body shop....its going to take awhile...they are talking most of a new roof where H caught a tree limb....ouch.
I got a lil runabout car call her feisty....much cheaper on gas than the beast truck fir sure.
Going to drive her to PA.....Trudy look out here we come. Be in PA 24th thru the 29th. He has two sisters in 80s and i have one and all 3 have medical probs. Its time to make the trip.
Hot and dry here ....making up for the cool and rain we had a month ago.
H had a dentist appt this morning and i waited for him in the car and i put my feet up and my seat back and went out like a light....until the diesel truck started up right over me! I thought a train was coming thru....i was trying to get out the druvers side door and i had been in the passenger side. I list my glasses and my shoes somehow when i dove across the car. Took me a few minutes to calm my heart diwn. Geesh. I look over and the guy in the diesel is laughing his arse off. I must have looked like a nutty ol lady!

CB, do you visit a FaceBook group called Aging Horsewomen? It seems to be a very supportive group. If not you, someone else is using your moniker. That was not nice of that trucker.

I got to hang out in the waiting room at the tire store this morning while I had new tires put on and the alignment done. There was a woman about my age, her daughter late 20's early 30's with a 4 month baby and 2 (well behaved) dogs there as well. They were traveling when their tire blew so they were at the door waiting for the place to open first thing. Car was packed to the gills with a roof carrier too. A detour to the tire store was not on the agenda.

Super hot today so no mowing and no riding tonight.

Indy, I sure agree with the HOT today. I was going to power wash my deck. It was too hot to even get that done. I went to the grocery store this afternoon and didn't like the short distance from the store to the car. I'm a wienie.

CB:  Give me a ring when you arrived in PA.  It's going to be a crazy time for me then, but I will squeeze in a visit with you.  My friend Karen (the Gold Star mom) is having brain surgery on the 23rd, she passed out the other morning and went to the ER where they found a mass on her brain.  It's been a little crazy since Tuesday. 

My son who had the surgery had to go to Children and Youth yesterday to try to get custody of his grand daughter, the mother overdosed on heroin and was taken to the hospital where she fled and tried to grab Gemma and flee the state.  What a nightmare going on there. The police and caseworkers were scrambling to get to the baby before she did.  All went well and Gemma is with my son.  They have a hearing this morning to grant him custody.  

That's been my crazy life lately.  Drama after drama but who needs a boring retirement life anyway? 

Indyapp...i do belong to aging horsewomen group.

Trudy...hope yo see you while we are home. Im glad your son has his little girl safe. Gosh...drugs can screw up lives.

We are still mowing...building fences...cleaning crap out of corrals for 3 days. Those poor animals all stuffed into 2 corrals...cows...alpacas...llamas...horses...pigs...herd of goats.....my neighbor said she counted....75 animals! Wish she had turned them in
They brought more in after they moved here.


.

What a nice day it has been today! High of about 80 with much lower humidity. I made some progress with power washing the deck. I still have a lot to do, but at least there is a visible difference between what is done and what isn't. I hope we have a few more days like this one.

Trudy, I'm glad little Gemma is safe.

CB, it sounds like your renters had a strange collection of too many animals.

They had too many animals and didnt take good care of them. Took 4 days with a tractor with a bucket loader to clean out 2 corrals...what a mess. Stinky too. But its done.

It got to a 100 today and our cental air still isnt fixed...ack. We bought a window unit and have portable one so we can survive. Dogs lay under the ac.

Sweet dreams.

If you haven't watched the movie (documentary?) The Wild Horse Redemption, I highly recommend it. Wild Mustangs trained by Colorado prison inmates.

Good lord CB, that must be a huge mess you're dealing with. I'm surprised Animal Control didn't step in just because of the number of animals involved.

Boy, pray for the people in Louisiana and the SE.............

TRUDY, I met a Navy Seal in T's PT group that was shot, fell about 50ft, broke both legs, spine, & pelvis.
It happened 6 years ago and he never will be well...........What a hero.......interesting to talk to
but he never complains...........I hope he writes a book...............he says there are many like him
that get no recognition.................sad state of affairs in our country.

CB, glad you're making headway on the leftover mess from your renter

Meanwhile, my horses are out munching..............monsoons aren't here yet.........notice I said
yet.

Everyone have a good day.

Graymare, our vets deserve all the praise and help we can give them. Maybe the guy you met can get one of those track chairs that gives them more mobility over all kinds of terrain.

I've made better progress on the deck cleaning than I thought I would. Almost done. It's getting hot again, so I'm glad to have that done. It won't be slick anymore. The deck is on the north side of the house where moss and fungus tend to accumulate. Now that I have a good power washer, I'll get it done more often and it won't be such a big job.

The lake is full of boats and pontoons with people swimming from them. This lake has clearer water than the other lakes so lots of people who don't have beaches come to this lake to swim.

Indy, I haven't seen that particular documentary, but I've seen some shows on TV about inmates and horses. The other day, I was watching some horse racing from Saratoga. They were talking about retired race horses being cared for by inmates. It's good for everybody.
There are more organizations that are focusing on giving new lives to races horses that have a case of the slows, or are too old to race anymore.
I've seen a lot of those horses that would make beautiful hunters or jumpers; some would be good for dressage too.

Add one more thing to my insane week.  This is a great one though.  I got to hug my grandson who I haven't seen since he was a tiny baby.  Chad turns 22 in Sept.  His mother refused to allow him to visit with his dad Stacy or us.  All those wasted years.  Aaron (grandson number one) has been talking to him and telling him we are not the monsters his mom made us out to be. Chad drove up here from Pittsburgh on Friday night and is spending the weekend with his dad.  PRAISE GOD...Stacy brought him to the farm yesterday.  I'm going over to spend some time with him, great grand baby Gemma & grandson Anthony today.  What a great day today is going to be.

Trudy, an estranged parent trying to vilify the ex and family sometimes comes back to bite them in the butt, when the child finds out he or she has been lied to for all those years. I'm so happy for you that he has come home.

Everybody must be hiding out from the heat.  
A Great Blue Heron is standing on a swim platform cooling his wings and preening, just hanging out.

I just tried out a new service, at least new to me. I needed to get a few things from Walmart, so I brought up the website, filled out an order, waited a couple of hours, and they informed me that my order was ready. I drove to the store, parked, and the stuff was brought right to my car and loaded for me. Talk about feeling spoiled! I probably won't do that every time because I need the walking, but it sure was nice this time.
There was one person there with a pickup truck. They FILLED the back of that pickup with all kinds of groceries. I can imagine that person was REALLY happy to not have to haul all that all over the store.