Our new Tractor!!!

On March 1st, 2015, we got our very own tractor!  We learned of it being for sale through a friend on Facebook.  We worked out the details and drove to Virginia to get the new addition to our farm family.  And here’s the story!

– Mary B.

We learned about the tractor on Wednesday and it had to be picked up in the next week or so.  We were blessed to be able to use my dad’s big ole truck and 16 foot equipment trailer. We got everything ready – getting a new tractor battery, packing every available supply known to man, getting directions, making a down payment, etc and started out on Sunday morning.  According to weather.com, it was supposed to be 44 and sunny on Sunday.  It turned out to be a high of 34 and freezing rain.  According to Google, the drive was to be 5.5 hours.  On the way up, it turned out to be 7 hours *because* of the freezing rain.  We had to stop twice to deice the truck – the wipers were stuck, the radiator frozen over, the trailer gate frozen over and creating drag.

We got there safely (each set of parents called many times to check in 🙂 ) and met Joe – the real estate agent’s husband.  He was awesome!  He brought his own suv to get back to the tractor because his own bigger truck had gotten stuck.  He told us to leave the truck and trailer on the driveway and we hot footed it to the barn.  Tim and Joe worked on the battery to get it started and it was great to hear it come to life!

After getting the tractor started, the hydraulic lines ruptured – which means the loader bucket couldn’t be raised up, which means it couldn’t be moved or loaded onto the trailer.  We tried taping the lines but it didn’t take, so we raised the bucket with the fluid left, set it on blocks, and chained it high enough to move the tractor.  On the way up the road, the tractor slid in the snow and the bush hog got caught in the back tire – that’s extremely dangerous and could have popped the tire.  Joe had to use a tow strap to pull it out of the way – and keep it out of the way.

When the tractor was on the trailer, the bush hog hung over about 8 inches – so close to getting the gate shut!!  We collapsed the wheel on the back and took apart the 3 point hitch to get it in – we had 1/2 inch to spare and the gate shut!  All in all, it took 4 hours to get everything loaded.  No one got hurt and we got everything on the trailer (these were two big concerns going into the trip).  We started back home….took a wrong turn…..then realized we had left a part of one of the implements at the barn!  We talked to Joe and he could help us get it the next morning, so we drove back, spent the night, and went back the next morning.  Joe was a sanity-saver!

On the way back, we stopped at Ikea for dinner and got home around 9pm.  Over the next week, we got the bush hog off the trailer (it got caught in the trailer gate and was really stuck), hoses made and hydraulic fluid added and got the tractor off the trailer! We bought filters and ordered sway bars, a top link plate and tested all the implements.  Along with the loader, we got a post hole digger with an auger, a scrape and the bush hog.

We washed the tractor and greased all the points, joints, and anything exposed!  We have more work to do to repair some things, but the engine purrs, the PTO runs and the hydraulics are back in action – in other words, the bones are great!

It’s all shined up now and is bright orange again.  Tim already has a Kubota hat.  The dogs approve too!  We cleaned out a home in our barn for the tractor and it’s tucked in tight into it’s new home.