Taking Care of the New Workhorse

Today started slowly.

Very slowly.

I woke up around 9:30 this morning, and I was in such a sound sleep that I really didn't want to move.

Eventually I crawled out of bed and opened the curtains.

Within a few minutes, I saw exactly what I was hoping for.

Hummingbirds.

But this time they weren't at the feeders.

They were drinking from the red flowers in the hanging baskets.

I know I've mentioned this before, but seeing them use those flowers makes me ridiculously happy. When I picked them out, I specifically chose red, tubular flowers hoping the hummingbirds would find them. Now they have, and every time I see one hovering there drinking naturally from the flowers, it feels like that little project worked exactly the way I'd hoped.

Not a bad way to start the morning.

By around 10:30, I finally headed outside.

Today's main project was the tractor.

Or more specifically, continuing to learn about the tractor.

It's only been a week since we brought it home, and while I've already put it to work moving logs, cleaning up the orchard, grading and raking Memory Lane, and hauling things around the property, there's still a lot I don't know about it.

Today I wanted to spend some time checking the basics.

I moved it onto flat ground and started going through the fluids.

The transmission and hydraulic fluid was low.

The coolant was low.

The engine oil was full, but very black.

None of that made me panic, but it did reinforce something I'd already decided.

The tractor is going to the local dealer for a complete service.

We bought it for somewhere around $7,000 to $8,000 below what I believe its market value to be, and the seller was very upfront that it was due for service. He also told me he'd traditionally done the maintenance himself, and I have no reason not to believe him.

Overall, the tractor seems to be in very good condition.

It starts easily.

It runs well.

The hydraulics work.

The four wheel drive works.

Everything I've asked it to do so far, it has done.

But it also seems like some of the routine maintenance may have been neglected recently.

And that's something I don't want to continue.

A tractor lives a very different life from a car.

It's heavy.

It works hard.

It's lifting, pulling, pushing, digging, and operating hydraulic equipment.

Fluids matter.

Maintenance matters.

From what I've learned, a compact tractor like ours might accumulate somewhere around 100 to 150 hours in a typical year, depending on how it's used. Ours has averaged roughly 140 hours annually over its life, so it certainly hasn't spent its entire life sitting around.

A well maintained diesel tractor can also potentially run for 7,000 to 10,000 hours before requiring major engine work.

If ours eventually made it somewhere around 8,500 hours before needing anything truly major, at the rate we've calculated it could theoretically still have decades of useful life ahead of it.

Of course, that's not a promise.

Machines break.

Parts wear out.

And I suspect I'll put considerably more hours on it while we're restoring Memory Lane than I will once the major cleanup is finished.

But that's exactly why I want to take care of it now.

Finding the fluids low made the decision pretty simple.

Before I used it for anything else, I wanted to top them off.

I'll still have the dealer completely service it, change the fluids and filters that are due, inspect everything, and give me a good baseline going forward.

But until I can get it into their shop, I don't want to risk damaging something because I knowingly ran it low.

Here's a little tractor trivia I find particularly appropriate right now. Did you know Lamborghini actually started out making tractors? Ferruccio Lamborghini founded Lamborghini Trattori years before he started building the sports cars the name is famous for today.

And after looking at what it costs to have a tractor serviced at the dealer, I'm beginning to think the connection still exists.

Apparently maintaining a tractor can make you feel like you're maintaining a Lamborghini.

For this first service, though, I'm willing to pay for it. The tractor is new to us, I don't know its complete maintenance history, and I want the dealer to go through everything so we have a good baseline. Once that's done, we'll probably handle most of the routine maintenance ourselves. Oil, filters, fluids, grease and the normal service items are all things we can take care of.

Besides, the previous owner maintained it himself for years.

And if owning 80 acres has taught me anything, it's that paying someone else every time something needs maintenance can get expensive very quickly.

So the dealer gets this one.

After that, our Lamborghini is probably getting serviced at home.

So off to Walmart I went for fluids.

Then I stopped at the hardware store for a few things I needed for the bunkhouse.

When I got back to Memory Lane, the tractor came first.

I topped off the coolant.

Then the transmission / hydraulic fluid.

Once everything was where it belonged, I felt a lot better about putting it back to work.

And, naturally, I found work for it.

I moved a few more logs and relocated some pallets so I could use them to stack wood and keep it off the wet ground.

I also had to refill the tractor's fuel tank.

We've officially owned it for a week, and this is the first tank of fuel I've gone through.

Honestly, considering how much I've used it, one tank in a week doesn't seem bad at all.

I've probably also used the tractor more this week than I normally will.

Right now everything is a tractor project because I'm learning what it can do and the mower is still broken.

There are logs to be moved.

Brush to be piled.

Materials that need to be relocated.

Roads that need attention.

Years of accumulated cleanup.

As those projects disappear, I expect the hours I put on it will eventually decrease too.

For now, though...

I'm having fun.

I ran it for about another hour today.

Afterward, I parked it back on level ground and checked everything again.

So far, everything looks good.

That was reassuring.

While traveling back and forth along Memory Lane, I continued using the York rake on the road.

I'm hoping that if I keep working it periodically, especially before and after some of these rains, some of the accumulated dirt and mud will gradually work its way out while more of the existing gravel comes back toward the surface.

We'll see.

I'm still learning.

But the road already looks better than it did a week ago.

Eventually I headed back toward camp and started digging through the pile of dirt and logs I'd created the other day.

I pulled out some of the better logs so they can eventually be stacked and dried.

While I was working, I also realized something.

I put that pile in a terrible place.

At some point I'm probably going to have to move all of that dirt again.

That's another lesson I've learned.

Sometimes you move something because it's in the way.

Then you realize you moved it somewhere else where it's eventually going to be in the way.

So you move it again.

I think that's just part of cleaning up a property this size.

Then I turned my attention back to something that's been bothering me much more than it probably should.

The weeds.

With the mower still broken, the grass and weeds around camp continue to get taller.

Yesterday I borrowed my partner's battery powered weed puller and managed to clear about twenty percent before the battery died.

I'd charged it overnight, so today I went back for round two.

This time I probably knocked out another third of what was left before...

Dead battery.

Again.

Back onto the charger it went. I know there is another battery around here somewhere but I think its in the main house and I didn't feel like looking for it.

I waited for it to charge and was getting ready to head outside for round three (THE FINAL ROUND - THE SUPER BOSS).

But Mother Nature had other plans.The rain moved in.

Again.

At that point, I surrendered.

The weeds will still be there tomorrow.

The tractor is full of fluids.

The road is a little smoother.

A few more logs are where they belong.

And another small section of Memory Lane looks a little better than it did yesterday.

I've realized lately how much those visible improvements matter to me.

When I can look across freshly cut grass, a cleaned up orchard, a stacked pile of firewood, or even a freshly raked road, I can see that we're moving forward.

When the grass gets tall and everything starts looking overgrown again, sometimes it's harder for me to see all the progress we've actually made.

But it's still there.

A year ago, I didn't even know Memory Lane existed.

Now I'm sitting here watching hummingbirds drink from flowers I planted, learning how to maintain a tractor I bought to care for the land, stacking wood from trees we've cleared, improving a road that leads to a place we're slowly bringing back to life.

Maybe that's the part I need to remember when the grass gets a little too tall.

Progress doesn't disappear just because the weeds grow back.

Tomorrow I'll charge the battery and pull some more.

Tonight, Wyatt and I are staying dry.

~ Making Memories