The Tractor

You may have noticed that there is a new paypal donation button at the right side of our blog. It is to establish a tractor fund.

M. Legend Brown (Mike) has seen us struggle with our old beat-up tractor. Just about every time he sees us, he asks about it. He has seen it with a flat tire, he has seen it out in the pasture where it has quit on us.

Admittedly, our tractor is on it's last leg. It is ancient. Every time it goes down, Jim has been able to get it running again so far. However, there are MAJOR problems with it. One of the big tires keeps going flat on us. It blows oil like crazy, it runs the battery down in a heartbeat, and now diesel is somehow getting mixed in with oil if we don't turn off the fuel valve every time we kill it. It's so old that most parts are now obsolete. To say it's being held together by baling wire would not be too far from the truth.

Starting it is a process:  Check the tire and usually put air in it, reattach the battery cables, turn the fuel valve back on, climb up in the seat, say a prayer, turn the key and see what happens.  Oh! And be ready for Plan B,  if it won't start for whatever reason because the job still has to be done! (The song to "Green Acres" just popped into my head for some reason!)

So yesterday Mike suggested we start a "tractor" fund and see if we can get some people involved to help us get a newer tractor. He even set up the new button for us. He can tell his friends and spread the word, you can tell your friends and spread the word, we can tell our friends and spread the word. Hopefully we can little by little raise enough money to get a newer tractor.

It doesn't have to be new or have all the amenities like a/c. It does, however, have to be the right size (40 -60 HP). Too big and it won't fit through our gates and we wouldn't be able to use the implements (disk, blade, forks,big mower). Too little and we could fit through the gates, but we still wouldn't be able to use the implements. It does need to be designed to handle 30 acres and have a front-end loader. AND we would really, really like for it to be dependable. (I value Jim's sanity more than I could ever say.)

Unfortunately tractors, even used ones, are not cheap. A good 2010 model will probably cost between $25,000 and $30,000.

So here we go. Do you or do you know anyone who is passionate about horses, therapeutic riding or just need a tax deduction? Every little bit counts and collectively, I think we can get it done. We are coming up on the end of the mowing season, so the goal is to get this done by Spring 2015. Can you help us?

Thanks,

M