Well, I guess I have caught redneckitis....

Been living in Wakulla county for too long, I suppose. Used to be I would drool over Corvettes and other fast cars. You know, NORMAL stuff for a guy who thinks he is younger than the number of candles on a birthday cake would prove otherwise. But now, lately, I have been looking at tractors.

That's right folks. WebSlave has gone full red neck.

Heck, I am even thinking hard about buying one.

But let me explain what happened to change me.

The other day I wanted to move a concrete bird bath across the yard. Our old metal one finally, and suddenly, bit the dust. So we have this concrete one that has been next to the old reptile building nearly forever. It was leaning to one side, so wouldn't really hold water very well. So I figured, heck, why not just replace that broken one with that old concrete one?

First thing I did was to straighten it up and make sure it would hold water. Yep. So far, so good. The bowl came off, and it by itself was pretty heavy. At least for this aging feeble body of mine. I brought one of the wagons over and figured I would just lift the base up, put it on the wagon and roll it over to the spot it needs to relocate to. Eh?? Not so fast Herc. I couldn't even lift it off of the ground, much less the foot or so to go onto that wagon. Connie is away, so I couldn't ask her for help. Actually, probably best I not do that anyway, as I sure wouldn't want her to hurt herself. And she sure as heck would, trying to keep ME from being hurt. She still worries about that heart attack I had last year. And it's not been quite a year since that second heart stent was put in. The stuff she has gone through has really weakened her, so I CAN'T put her in jeopardy of hurting herself.

So what to do?

Now, I have an engine hoist in the garage, but with the small metal wheels on it, it wouldn't get more than a foot once it came off of the concrete garage apron and hit that soft sand. Then I would have to figure out how to get that thing out from being stuck in the sand and back onto hard surface. I would need some sort of big balloon tires on it, but that might be it's own world of problems trying to lift something heavy with those kinds of bouncy wheels on it.

So that got me thinking, I am getting too old to be lifting crap like this. And it will probably get worse, rather than better. So I thought of my friend Rickey, who has a small tractor, and uses it a LOT to help lift and move things around for him. Hmm. Well, can't say I ever thought twice about a tractor before, but suddenly I was thinking hard about one. Connie and I together might never be able to lift the kind of stuff we used to in the past. Sometimes I will have to cut down some trees, and the number of very small pieces I would have to cut that tree into so we could lift them and cart them away, well, that would really wear us out quickly. This past year really changed us. For that matter, it is still touch and go as to whether I will still have Connie around at all for any kind of help for the long term. Four hands have always been better to two, and it is quite sobering to think there might ONLY be two hands in the future.

So there you have it. I just need to be thinking about a helping hand around here, and a tractor might be that help I can see myself needing.

Never, ever pictured myself riding a tractor before.

But probably better than waiting for some sort of AI robot to come along that would crush my skull in my sleep when it went rogue on me from buggy programming.

I just hope that if I do get one (tractor that is, not a robot), that I will be able to find enough things to do with it to justify the cost and the upkeep it will need over time. But one thing of interest. I have watched a lot of videos by people who have gotten tractors, and the general consensus from those people is that they don't know how they ever got along without one before. Of course, they are mostly farmer folk or people doing a lot of work in rather sizeable tracts of land. But heck, I have 50 acres, most of it heavily wooded, and I would like to cut some walking trails through it. So who knows? Maybe it is something I would find a lot more uses for than I can imagine right now.

I think I can afford one. When my mom passed away, she left me a little bit of money that I haven't done anything with. Maybe it would please her to have me use it on something that might save me from my final heart attack some day.

Not sure how large a machine you need, but I have a Kubota BX2380 and get a lot of use out of it. It only officially lifts 600 lbs in the loader (and in practice that's pushing it), but that's pretty good for mulch, and OK for gravel.

The mower and back blade get a lot of use (I wouldn't mind a sickle bar cutter too). I sometimes use the tractor to move trailers around, as it can be a little easier to maneuver than a pickup truck. I have a carry-all for the three point in back that is great for hauling cordwood out of the woods. Neat machine.

Well, not sure if I can keep this on the front burner or not. Got some issues with the medications Connie is going to be taking when she gets back from Tijuana, and not sure where that is going to go with how she will feel from them. Oral chemo drugs can be just as awful as IV administered chemo drugs concerning negative side effects.

But as of yesterday, the one that was top on my list was this one:

https://www.summittractors.com/

Main problem with them is that they are rather new on the scene, so don't really have a confidence inspiring network of service and support facilities set up. LAST damn thing I really need now is something else that would turn out to be a soul killing burden.

Rickey and I looked at the TYM/Branson brand tractors and there were some smaller models there that looked nice, but some features were missing. Plus the smaller tractors looked a bit "tippy" to me. Some areas on my property are not exactly level, so I would be worried about having a tractor roll on me if I get on an angle too steep. I am a complete newbie with this tractor stuff, so I sure don't want to kill myself with a tractor pinning me into the dirt.

Tractor overturns are the leading cause of fatal injuries on US farms, resulting in an average of about 130 deaths each year. 1 in 10 operators overturn a tractor in his or her lifetime.

That Summit is the same size as my Kubota. Looks pretty nice. The fluid filled tires on that one will make it more stable, though they're sometimes marketed as actual counterweight ballast (I use a ballast box for serious loader work, since weighted tires won't keep weight off the front axle, a weak link in tractors I'm told).

I put an aftermarket (Bro-Tek) pair of 2" wheel spacers on my tractor -- they bolt between the wheel and the hub, and basically extend the length of the back axle by four inches overall, and that makes quite a bit of difference in the feeling of stability (which was not at all bad to start with).

Drove down to Crystal River on Sunday. On the way back stopped in a couple of tractor dealerships. One of which was John Deere. Seriously, who thought up the color combination? Bright green tractors with bright yellow wheels and seat?

Made my eyes hurt just to look at them.

In case some of you haven't guessed this, I am focusing on this tractor idea as a way to keep my mind off of other things going on. I don't know if I will really buy one or not, but pretending that I might helps to keep my mind from galloping off into directions I really don't want it to be going. It sure beats all to hell what reading about cancer every night does to my mind and my soul.

Rickey has a Kioti tractor that he has brought over to our property several times to help us out with things. He told me that it is therapeutic to drive his tractor around and just, as he says it "knock over crap" with it. He has been divorced for a number of years and lives alone. Maybe it is something that he needs, and perhaps I need to be thinking that perhaps I will need it too in the future. But I think I would need a REALLY BIG tractor..........

I can't wait to see the picture of your new tractor when you get it! (I think your Mom would have definitely approved)

Not sure about my mom approving. She really wasn't the country girl type. I would expect her to say "Richard, what in the world do you need a tractor for?"

My friend Rickey is picking me up tomorrow and going to a tractor dealership about an hour and a half away. That is the closest one that sells the brand I have been looking at lately. Tractor dealerships are few and far between around here. I would have thought there were a lot more farmers around here than there are, apparently.

But I will say that a number of things have convinced me that I should seriously consider getting a tractor with a cab on it with air conditioning. One that I was looking real hard at does come with a cab, but heat only, NO ac. That would be just about useless around here. So scratched that off the list. Unless I just can't find one with a cab and AC that I can afford and have to get an open air style. Which would be great fun during yellow fly season.

Been looking at tractors till I am blue in the face. Or depending on the brand looked at, orange, red, green, or blue.

The latest one I have been looking at that has risen to the top is this one in the pic below that someone posted on a tractor forum (go figure...) I have been prowling around in. Seems to be a lot of bang for the buck, but still a lot more bucks than I thought I would ever consider spending for something like this. But honestly, that is pretty par for the course for me. Think of something I may like to have, figure out how much I think it will cost me, then when it gets down to the wire, it winds up costing two to three times my initial estimate. Go figure.......

Well, I placed the order for the tractor yesterday. Connie and I stopped by the place after our cardiologist appointments. Put a deposit down on a TYM T474HC. Options I am getting on the tractor are:

• Front 3rd function kit
• Double rear remote with detent

I decided against getting the backhoe. Money would be better spent on other things, I think. Plus it would make the tractor more unwieldy trying to get it between the trees.

Only getting the pallet forks with it right now. It comes with the front loader and bucket. Still trying to decide on which type of grapple and flail mower I want to get. And I want to get a combination root bucket/tree puller attachment for the front loader too. I want a flail mower heavy enough that I can keep it on the tractor most of the time to use as rear weight ballast when digging out stumps or pulling small trees out of the ground. The weight of the cabbed tractor itself is listed as being 3,660 pounds.

I think that will be enough to get started cleaning up around the planted pines a bit and taking out any dead ones back there, as well as putting in some decent walking paths all through it.

Guess I need to figure out a good way to store a modest amount of diesel fuel around here. At least 20 to 30 gallons. And some sort of pump to put the fuel into the tractor. The fuel tank on this thing is in the back and kind of high. High enough that I sure don't want to have to be trying to lift and hold up 5 gallon containers at chest high. 5 gallons of diesel fuel should weigh around 35 pounds, which doesn't sound like all that much to carry, but holding it steady at arms length trying to pour it into the tank will be a challenge for me I would rather avoid. The fuel tank on the tractor holds 9 gallons.

I have seen people hint that running out of diesel fuel in the tractor is a bad thing, but no one has explained why.

Honestly, this is all being really therapeutic for me, helping to keep my mind off of other things.

Below is a representative image of what I am getting. Mine won't be in for a couple/few weeks.

Nice! That's a monster compared to my little BX.