It’s Not A Bed Of Roses

I have been taking care of a friends farm near mine. Both of them are up for a new 30 year lease and I am trying my best to get them fully planted and in shape. As the James Ingram song “Just Once” says “I did my best, But I guess my best wasn’t good enough, Cause here we are
Back where we were before”. I keep getting a bit ahead and then fall back, sometimes further back.

Anyone who thinks that farming, or even attempting to far, would be fun is up for a rude awakening. People, places and things will all conspire against you.

I have a tractor and a flail mower which I use for moving dirt, taking down trees and mowing. Over the years I have had MANY issues with the tractor and mower including breaking the 3-point hitch, breaking the 4-weel drive shaft and other issues. The mower gets a lot of abuse and constantly needs repair. My remedy has been to keep replacing bolts and removing parts that are not necessary. The hitch will drop down to the ground soon after the engine is shut off and I don’t think it should. The hydrolic system is a closed system and you would think that the fluid would stay in one place, but it appears some seal is leaking and shifting the fluid to another location, thus not keeping the mower up off the ground. I took the tractor in for repair but they told me there is no spec on how long the hitch should stay in the air, I guess ignoring my suggestion that the reason there is no time listed is because it should not move at all. There is a foot which woudl keep the hammers off the ground, but when the whole assembly drops it puts excessive weight on the 4 bolts which hold the mower to the hitch. I think the best solution is to just have the mower frame tack-welded.

Over at my friends farm, I had a section planted with some small fruit trees and 8 banana trees. The renter is caring for the property and planting coffee up the hill. In the area I had the trees and banana, his worker misunderstood him and cut down my banana trees. These were 6 feet tall and planted in a row and so on. I have no idea what they were thinking, but those bananas were the things that made that area look planted. Granted the banana trees *MAY* regrow but it could take a couple years.

I could go on and on but I have weeding to do.