They're Back...

I imagine Bert Schrank Inc. (where I buy diesel fuel) and Lawson Implement (where I get parts, supplies and take stuff for repairs or maintenance I can't do) love to see the spring and beginning of summer.  In the past few weeks I've used almost all the farming equipment--a rented Ditch Witch to dig a trench across the dirt road and lay a water line into Nettie's Pasture, then the bucket on the JD and the box blade on the IH to smooth it over; the tandem plow, field cultivator and grain drill to plow and plant Sudan in 3 fields; and both tractors and the hay cutter, rake and baler to cut and bale John Finley's oat hay on halves and the hay wagon to bring my half (4 bales) home.

Hay Fleet

I dragged a harrow over some ground where termites had built surface tunnels to break them up, pulled a different harrow to make some small grooves in the dirt, then sat on the back of the Gator scattering seed as Amy drove me around the area.  I didn't fall off once despite her driving, and today I can see that some of our seed is coming up.  We might need another tunnel-busting mission and spray with Malathion, and maybe we can drive those termites back over the fence to Zane's.  We've loaded the 4-wheeler with mesquite-killing equipment and hooked the small trailer to it to carry cut brush to the burn pile.

Some of the equipment is showing its age, but I'm trying to maintain the functional parts if not so much the aesthetic parts.  Everything worked fine as I cut and baled John's hay, although the IH isn't in the picture because it had a flat tire on the way home.  It sports a new seat, new muffler, new fuel filters and runs as well as it's run in years (and will have a repaired tire tomorrow).  The JD has a new air conditioner compressor and will chill you right out.  Looking forward to running it this summer.

I got to ride around a while with a guy in his GPS/autosteer-equipped JD tractor.  Very impressive technology, and he used it just right--mixing exactly enough chemical to cover the acreage he had to go, with no overlap, no underlap and no waste.  Very environmentally responsible, very cost effective.  I wish we could publicize guys like him.  Life is good.  Come on down and drive around with us.