Well, I guess it was October 4th that the new tractor was delivered to the farm. It showed up and I must say, I was not impressed with the dealership’s delivery. They forgot the tiller, they brought it with a broken wiper fluid lid, and they brought the key to another tractor. The coolant was low, and overall, it seemed they just put the tractor on a trailer and brought it right off the lot without reviewing to see if it was ready for delivery or not. It didn’t even have an SMV sign on the back. There were no manuals, and they was no offer to go over anything with me when they dropped it off, but rather, they just wanted to drop it and go. I only noticed after that they dropped it off with only a quarter of a tank of fuel. I called and asked if that was their standard practice. When the guy came back with the tiller, he also replaced the wiper fluid lid, and put the manuals in and topped the coolant and fuel tanks. Later in the week I had to tighten the fan belts on the alternator and on the air conditioner.
Dealership problems aside, the tractor itself seems pretty good. I put it right to work and have put hours on it. I in fact am ready for the machine’s first service already! It wants a service at 50 hours to clear any metal worn from it being new. I’ll be talking to the dealer about it tomorrow. But the work I have put it through so far has cleared a ten year long to do list and caught up on as much as I could possibly hope to with this machine as it is. If I had a backhoe, then I would have cleared more, and that would have cost a lot more.
I killed a goat pen next to the barn, a mess in front of the granary, finished a driveway on the west end of the home lot, and made a pad to set a new shed down on. I have hauled home large round bales of hay and unloaded them and cleaned up messes and the like just about everywhere, including the wood yard, formerly the Service Yard. I also build a massive compost pile and loaded it with horse apples and llama poo from everywhere I could find it. I made a ramp down from the canal path over where the canal people piled tailings so high, I could not get my truck over it to haul down a dead llama last year. I cleaned up the dead llama finally and felt a huge sigh of relief when I put him someplace far less conspicuous till his remains are gone naturally.
Oh, and the firewood I have moved! I brought over the wood that was left across the street a few years ago when that massive cottonwood came down on the neighbor’s farm and delivered here. What a wonder it was to be able to move that at last!
I am set up to lift logs, till gardens, level land, haul trailers, and lift large bales of hay. And all of this with a tractor of only 24.5 HP! But it does have a cab! It has a cab that is more protective than one without if I roll a bale of hay over towards me, and against loose hay blowing in the wind, and the wind, and the rain, and the snow, and the heat. It has a radio, and it has all the bells and whistles I could want to grow old in on my little farm.
So, what’s the plan?
In the coming summer, I want to put the old dog to work making flower gardens and vegetable gardens and cleaning up the property across the street from the canal company mess. I want to be ready when they put the canal into pipes underground to make the land good and clean. I get to clear our own snow this year, and even keep our drives clean inside the gates. I hope that with the tiller, I can beat back more of the grass and weeds that come up in the gardens. I plan to compost the gardens well with the heap I have been building. I will be able to remove dead animals regardless of their size and weight!
There are so many things I can do! And that is the key to the whole deal. I can do! That is what excites me most! And with that, I have been doing. It was lovely today to go out and work in warm air while the weather was cold outside. I went over the road to collect more to feed the compost heap with, and it never bothered me in the least. Granted, this is the beginning of the cold time of the year. I have yet to plug in the block heater. But I suspect I will be doing that soon by the way the old dog started this morning. We are putting electric into two outbuildings where I will soon be able to install a dedicated outlet for that and sort out a proper parking spot for the tractor.
So, for now, all is better than well on the farm. I have not yet come to a chore the tractor could not do. I suspect that may change soon as I am getting the largest bales of hay I can get hold of delivered in the next couple of days. We’ll see if I can even move them once they are on the ground here. Luckily, I will have them put where I can take them apart to use if I really am unable to move them at all.
In other exciting news, the weather has changed from summer like to autumnal. We have gone from warm and lovely last week, to snow all the way down the mountains in the west and nearly as far in the east just this weekend. It has rained, which is a first for the month. But the temperature dropped, and the rain turned to snow overnight. My daughter came in with firewood this evening, and said she was going to go back out and after and watch the snowfall. We lit the woodstove Friday evening, and I suspect it is going to be going constantly from now till Spring. What a time it is! I am glad I got the tractor when I did and have been able to get the farm ready for wintering over and bursting out to life in the Spring!
I think we are in for a cold winter. The rheumatism is speaking clearly, and so is the dry patches I get on my hands. Everything about this autumn just feels like we are in for it this year. Only time can confirm this feeling, though. I have some machines to service this week, and a lawnmower to put away for the winter. Once all that is done, I think a trip to pick up some dry wood to bring back to split up and add to the winter pile is in order. I am not too happy with feeling like “I hope we have enough,” and am ready to call it “I KNOW we have enough.” I’d also like to start getting enough ready to start piling up a year in advance now that wood is probably going to be easier to manage, and I’d like to pile up enough to start selling on the side. I can procure in the cold and the hot, and I can saw and split in the temperate seasons. That ought to give some extra money.
I have been too busy to write since the tractor arrived. I have even been too busy running the thing all over the farm to shoot a picture of it. I am familiarizing myself with it from top to bottom and scoop to three-point hitch. There is still a lot for me to learn about it. But I hope to write more as I get settled with it. It has been so exciting to finally be able to start working this farm to live up to my dreams for it.
Without a backhoe I have a few things to either seek help for or hire out for. We have to replace the septic system here and put in a few hydrants to help with getting water to the animals and to the gardens. I think with those in, this place will be able to reach a much higher potential. The only thing it could do with more would be irrigation over in the pasture. Who knows? Maybe such a thing could go into the works. Again, time will tell.
Well, it is getting time to walk the dogs and have a bite to eat before bed. Tomorrow is Monday, and this week promises to be productive and to see a lot of things done to ready us for what could be one of our best winters yet here on the farm. Hopefully!