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Can t Ever Sell It
I told my wife that, now that we have accomplished most of what we wanted to with the tractor, that we could sell it and get a considerable amount of money back. But we have both fallen in love with this chunk of metal, the things it has done for us, and the amazing ways it continues to help us.
Even just parking the tractor, raising the bucket, and using the bucket to support the end of a ladder on a steep roof. Or re-arranging some boulders on a whim. Or digging up white quartz rocks that have been buried under a stone wall for centuries. Or tearing pachysandra out of our front garden. The place would have never looked this nice without it.
So my wife said - no way - we are never going to sell this tractor. And I knew she would say that, or I never would have offered up the idea. I still am amazed when I come in my garage and see this baby and realize its ours.
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Can t Ever Sell It
No kidding, they are amazing utility helpers. Nine months more and mine will be paid off. Then we will build it a home of it's own in the form of a new shop.
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Can t Ever Sell It
For the many uses of a well optioned compact I see people even drop to acreage that could nearly be done with a walk behind but the tractors seem to stay!
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Can t Ever Sell It
I don't plan on giving up my tractor. So what if I have to downsize sometime. It's just too handy to have. I don't remember how I got along without one.
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Can t Ever Sell It
Years ago I moved off the farm to be an engineer. Now I live back in a more rural setting.
When I was growing up and we needed muscle for heavy lifting or pulling we would immediately go get the tractor. After I moved away, I learned many more labor intensive methods for removing tree stumps and moving heavy objects. (I think that I have rediscovered some of the ways that the ancient Egyptians built the pyramids.)
A few years ago, I got my tractor and I love it, my back loves it, and my wife loves that my back loves it. Now I am back in the mode of getting the tractor for the smallest of jobs that requires heavy lifting or pulling. I think that I will put in my will that I want to be buried with it.
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Can t Ever Sell It
You want to hear lazy? I put the quik-tach loader on my JD4310 to go pick up dog turds in the yard. I drive it to the main patches, and then use a regular shovel to toss them into the loader bucket. I do this until I have to range too far away to find the nuggets. Then I move the tractor and keep going. When I'm done, I just drive the load into the field and dump it. Beats dragging a trash can or bucket around!
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Can t Ever Sell It
Now that I have caught up with maintenance around this place my wife is talking about buying some land to plan for a retirement home. It would be a smaller - more maintenance free home, but I am telling her I need at least 2 acres (preferably 4 or 5) so I can have something to do with the tractor. Maybe just dig some holes every time I want to relieve some stress.
AC5ZO - who will run the tractor to dig the hole for burial? Can you build a robot for that? Iowafun, ha! That is very lazy - but the sound of the yanmar engine is a pleasant one. Good luck with your SIL this weekend!
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Can t Ever Sell It
I am even lazier. I use my backhoe to weed my gardens. I have some nasty weeds here that are impossible to just pull. I'm not up to using a shovel to hand-dig out each big weed plant. It's also 10x easier to add & remove flowers and trees to the landscaping. I'll never hand-dig again (I hope!)
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Can t Ever Sell It
A backhoe to weed a garden?  I will have to tell my wife about that one, I have some heavy weeding to do every now and then. We plant lots of trees, shrubs, and perennials with the backhoe but I have learned to be careful. I found ourselves digging holes too deep and wide for small plants. It took me more work to fill the holes back in than the work saved by the backhoe. Now I still use the old pick and shovel method for the small stuff.
I also found that planting purchased trees with huge root balls (10-12 ft tall) is still a problem even with my setup. I can dig the hole easy enough with the backhoe - but getting thee tree over the hole, getting the wire and burlap cut off without breaking the root ball, and setting the tree in place without damage can still be problematic. The last job I did to help a neighbor ended up being downright dangerous.
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Can t Ever Sell It
On most tree's you should break up the balls and allow the roots to expand in an outward direction instead of a circle like the root ball tends to make them grow.
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Gas Generator Weather Protecti
08-15-2005, 18:47 
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