Tractor therapy.
For stress relief, that’s what I call it.
Shifting in the seat and looking back, I can see what I’ve just plowed or mowed. Sitting behind a desk, I can’t always see those accomplishments. I depend on regular tractor therapy.
And that’s what I was doing 20 years ago, mowing on a slope.
I should have been daydreaming less and paying more attention to the grassy hill.
Yikes!
The tractor almost tipped over.
Once should have been sufficient warning, but no.
Moments later, yikes!
I almost tipped over, again.
I turned off the tractor and walked to the house to call DR Brush.
The brochure had been parked by the phone for months. I decided to purchase some life “assurance” to ensure that I wouldn’t die under a turned-over tractor.
And ever since, I mow tricky spots with my walk-behind DR Brush. If I were to stumble and turn loose of the handles, the powerful, self-propelled machine shuts off. I must have walked far enough behind that workhorse to cross half of Georgia.
Christmas has come early. I bought my second DR Brush. It’s wider, and it has an electric-start 17.5 horsepower engine. On the first day, I tackled 7-foot-tall vegetation around the edge of a pond. Saplings of unwanted sweet gum and volunteer pine disappeared. This thing slices and grinds through the toughest underbrush.
I can’t imagine trying to maintain property without a DR Brush. It’ll go where tractors can’t.
And it just might save your life.
Muck boots
While I’m recommending farm things, have you ever worn Muck boots? They make multiple models in varying heights. I keep a pair of Muck “Jobber” boots at the backdoor. They’re a rubber cousin to brogans. Without bending over, I can slip them on and kick them off.
After I’ve tromped in the animal stalls, I use a water nozzle to hose off the smelly stuff. But I still kick them off at the backdoor.
And my Jobbers are comfortable.
TRAP ’N TOSS fly traps
If you’ve got animals on the farm, you’ve got flies. Maggie, our mule, and her barnyard buddies roll out the welcome mat for those winged pests.
I’ve warred with flies forever. And then I discovered TRAP ’N TOSS traps. The plastic domes are simple. You empty a packet of the special powder, add a little water and hang the traps by a string. For less than six bucks, it’s an around-the-clock warrior against flies.
One day, I was standing at a llama stall’s gate when a new stench twitched my nose. Looking around, I wondered, “What’s that awful smell?”
And then I looked up.
Dangling over my head was a fly trap, clogged with at least 1,000 black flies. Stinky. Nasty.
That’s why the name says it all: TRAP ’N TOSS.
These are three of my favorite “helpers” on the farm.
dnesmith@cninewspapers.com
