There are always surprises on the farm, we hope for good surprises but it seems like we usually get not so good surprises. 🙂 On Tuesday Dad was driving one of the tractors (the big, four-wheel drive, work horse tractor) when the front end started going “ka-chunk, ka-chunk, ka-chunk” and the front wheels started locking up. That’s very bad and this would be one of those not so good surprises. Dad had to abandon the tractor in the field, yikes.

Dad had a long evening Tuesday, wondering what was wrong with the tractor and how long it was going to take to fix it (we’re swinging into high gear for hay season). Another big concern was how to get the tractor out of the field where it broke down, there’s a low water creek crossing with steep inclines on both sides. On Wednesday afternoon we took the older tractor down to the broken down tractor, we had to switch the hay spike to the working tractor. Before we set to work switching the hay spike, Dad took a minute to look at the broken down tractor. It appears the front differential became detached which shouldn’t be too bad of repair but it’s a mystery as to how that happened. Dad is hoping he’ll have time to tear into the tractor next week and, assuming there isn’t additional damage that he can’t see, it should be pretty quick and he can get it done where the tractor sits in the field. That’s a good surprise on the tail end of a not so good surprise. 🙂

I’ll keep you guys updated on the tractor repairs. Hay season is looming (as soon as we get some dry weather!).

Before I leave you guys here’s a pic of some happy cows.

Cheers,

D