Big Boy Toys

You know the old saying that the only difference between men and boys is the cost of their toys. I guess that’s true, and I recently got a couple of new toys to help me out here on the property.

Tractors like my Kubota come with what’s called a three-point hitch for attaching implements on the rear of the tractor. This means that when you want to connect an implement you have to line up three different horizontal arms to holes on the implement and put locking pins through them to keep them in place. Depending on the size and weight of the implement and how stiff my back and hands are at the time, this can be easy or problematic.

So I picked up an item called a quick hitch at Tuscaloosa Tractor Compan. This attaches to the three-point hitch arms that I told you about and stays in place, and then when you want to connect an implement you simply back up to it with everything lined up to hooks on the quick hitch and it all clicks into place and you’re ready to go. When you want to remove the implement you just move two levers on the quick hitch and you’re done. It saves a lot of time.

Once I had the hitch on I connected the back blade that came with the tractor, just to see how easy it really was. It took me less than three minutes. That’s a lot better than the 15 minutes to half an hour I was dealing with before.

The back blade has four adjustable tines that can be extended down and used to rip up surfaces of rutted driveways and gravel roads and such. Then the tines can be retracted and the thick rubber skirting at the back of it smooths everything down. I plan to put it to use as soon as the weather cooperates a little bit, because our driveway and the road back to the barn are overgrown and need a lot of attention.

Another new toy was acquired to help with that project. It’s a 15-gallon sprayer with a 12-volt motor. Of course it came unassembled, which meant that I had to call on Terry to put it together for me. Where would I be without her?

The instructions could have been a little clearer, but she has a mechanical mind that I don’t and it didn’t take her long to figure things out and then get it all assembled.

And here it is in the back of the Mule, plugged in and spraying. Once it was ready to go, I added some heavy-duty weed killer and drove up and down the driveway and the barn road spraying all of the grass and weeds that have grown up through the gravel. As it turned out, the 15-gallon sprayer was just about the perfect size because I ran out just as I finished.

Now it will take a week or two for the chemical to do its job on the vegetation. Once it dies off, I will use the tines on the back blade to rip it all out, revealing the gravel underneath, add more gravel that is sitting in a pile, and then use the back blade to hopefully give me a smoother surface.

It’s nice when your toys have a useful purpose, isn’t it?

Be sure to enter our latest Free Drawing. This week’s prize is an RV camping journal donated by Barbara House. Barbara makes several variations of these, and they all have pages where you can list the date, weather, where you traveled to and from that day, beginning and ending mileage, campground information including amenities at RV sites, a place for campground reviews, room to record activities, people met along the way, reminders of places to see and things to do the next time you’re in the area, and a page for notes for each day.

To enter, click on this Free Drawing link or the tab at the top of this page and enter your name (first and last) in the comments section at the bottom of that page (not this one). Only one entry per person per drawing please, and you must enter with your real name. To prevent spam or multiple entries, the names of cartoon or movie characters are not allowed. The winner will be drawn Sunday evening. Note: Due to the high shipping cost of printed books and Amazon restrictions on e-books and audiobooks to foreign countries, only entries with US addresses and e-mail addresses are allowed. After 90 days, unclaimed prizes revert back to the drawing pool for a future contest.

And finally, here’s a chuckle to start your day from the collection of funny signs we see in our travels and that our readers share with us. I would definitely be shopping here!

Thought For The Day – If at first you don’t succeed, order pizza.