Tractor - Mower

We thought we needed a tractor and went shopping for one. We visited the local John Deere and Co. and Kubota dealers. After discussing horse power, four wheel drive, gas or diesel, cab or no cab, tire type, power steering, PTO power, active or passive type and price, we were totally confused. Then came the discussion about attachments. These included front end loaders, box blades, straight blades, under belly mowers and brush hogs. This brought on much more confusion. The one thing we did understand is that tractors are very expensive. Not understanding what we wanted a tractor for, other than mowing the grass, we decided to buy a ride-on lawn mower with a buggy attachment to move hay to the barn and an under the belly mower attachment to cut the larger pastures. We also purchased a 22” power mower for the grass around the house. The small mower lasted about a month. The rocks and tough grass broke the mower each time we used it. After several trips to the local mower fixer, we abandoned the 22” mower completely. We still use the ride-on mower and buggy, but the end is near.

The ride-on mower has a mid-deck, or under belly, cutter for grass. It has three cutting blades run on a pulley and belt system. The cutting blades are held by a housing with the pulley on top. The housing is designed to break before the blade or belt system. So, whenever you hit a rock either the rock breaks or the housing breaks. We have gone through three housings so far. The first time a housing broke, we went to buy one at the nearest supply store in a town about 30 miles from home. While there, the man behind the counter became aware that I did not know what I was talking about when describing my problem. He asked me if I had a grease gun to grease the bearing after I installed the blade and new housing. I stared at him in wonder. He then asked me if I was a farmer as all farmers had grease guns. Before I could answer, he asked me to show him my hands. As I held them out, palms up, he shook his head and told me I was not a farmer as my hands were soft looking. He suggested I take several housings and a grease gun and call him if I needed advice. I bought the housings and attaching parts, but not the grease gun. Don’t ask me why.

In order to get to the blade housing, you must drop the deck and disconnect the belt system. It was all I could do to get the deck out from under the mower. When I discovered that the housing was attached by bolts tightened by King Kong, I went to the neighbor. He brought over his portable air compressor, generator and air tools. I saw a long list of new tools we would need float before my eyes. He removed the broken housing, attached the new housing with blade, greased the fitting with his grease gun and started the mower engine. I asked if we were going to attach the deck. He then drove the mower over the deck and lined it up for reattachment. (You don’t have to drag the deck around if you have a mower with the engine that moves.) We then discovered that the deck was bent and one of the supports was half torn off. My very good neighbor then brought over his spot welder and fixed the torn support. He then used his “come along” to bend the deck into shape. More tools to be purchased were added to the list. After this we raised the deck back onto the mower. After the blade housing broke several more times, my wife and I became expert in the replacement. We have fixed other broken parts on this mower by ourselves and have begged for help from our neighbor several times. The mower is often broken from rough use and rocks.

The mower has moved many bales of hay, cut our fields several times and broken down a few more times since our original blade mounting. However, the real problem is that there are jobs we need done that the mower will not handle. We would like to move the 20,000 pounds of horse manure we have in the pasture next to the barn. Donna would like to make compost from the manure and turning it is required. We started by hand, but the amount of manure grows much faster than our ability to turn it. We also need tree stumps moved, rocks carried, dirt dug for compost pits, and other small farm chores that need a tractor, not a lawn mower.

Sometimes, it doesn’t matter what you are driving when the next opportunity to learn something comes about. The first time Donna used the mower, she started to cut the pasture near the chicken coop. Hiding in the tall grass was a water spigot. About six inches high and imbedded in concrete, it was almost invisible. Adding to the impending disaster was the fact that this was Donna’s first ride and the braking process was not readily available to her. The result was a broken spigot with water shooting into the air.

Responding to the call for help and finding out that she was uninjured, we discussed the problem at hand. Where is the water cut-off? While the puddle was growing at a very fast pace, our neighbor came to the rescue. He showed us the pump house and where the valve was to turn off the water. The handle to the valve was broken, so, he showed me how to turn off the valve with a wrench. (The valve is still broken, 3 years later). After thanking him, we then asked how to fix the pipe. After a fast lesson in pvc piping, we left for the store to buy pipe, pipe cutter, bends, tees, joiners, and purple and orange sticky stuff to make the join. Several attempts and some hours later, we made the join and buried out first mower and pvc piping mistake. We also noted at this point that we would need work gloves, shovels, work boots and clothes. Too bad we didn’t know yet what we didn’t need to know.