Well, I guess I have caught redneckitis....

Been living in Wakulla county for too long, I suppose. Used to be I would drool over Corvettes and other fast cars. You know, NORMAL stuff for a guy who thinks he is younger than the number of candles on a birthday cake would prove otherwise. But now, lately, I have been looking at tractors. :face_palm_02: :face_palm_02:

That's right folks. WebSlave has gone full red neck.

Heck, I am even thinking hard about buying one.

But let me explain what happened to change me.

The other day I wanted to move a concrete bird bath across the yard. Our old metal one finally, and suddenly, bit the dust. So we have this concrete one that has been next to the old reptile building nearly forever. It was leaning to one side, so wouldn't really hold water very well. So I figured, heck, why not just replace that broken one with that old concrete one?

First thing I did was to straighten it up and make sure it would hold water. Yep. So far, so good. The bowl came off, and it by itself was pretty heavy. At least for this aging feeble body of mine. I brought one of the wagons over and figured I would just lift the base up, put it on the wagon and roll it over to the spot it needs to relocate to. Eh?? Not so fast Herc. I couldn't even lift it off of the ground, much less the foot or so to go onto that wagon. Connie is away, so I couldn't ask her for help. Actually, probably best I not do that anyway, as I sure wouldn't want her to hurt herself. And she sure as heck would, trying to keep ME from being hurt. She still worries about that heart attack I had last year. And it's not been quite a year since that second heart stent was put in. The stuff she has gone through has really weakened her, so I CAN'T put her in jeopardy of hurting herself.

So what to do?

Now, I have an engine hoist in the garage, but with the small metal wheels on it, it wouldn't get more than a foot once it came off of the concrete garage apron and hit that soft sand. Then I would have to figure out how to get that thing out from being stuck in the sand and back onto hard surface. I would need some sort of big balloon tires on it, but that might be it's own world of problems trying to lift something heavy with those kinds of bouncy wheels on it.

So that got me thinking, I am getting too old to be lifting crap like this. And it will probably get worse, rather than better. So I thought of my friend Rickey, who has a small tractor, and uses it a LOT to help lift and move things around for him. Hmm. Well, can't say I ever thought twice about a tractor before, but suddenly I was thinking hard about one. Connie and I together might never be able to lift the kind of stuff we used to in the past. Sometimes I will have to cut down some trees, and the number of very small pieces I would have to cut that tree into so we could lift them and cart them away, well, that would really wear us out quickly. This past year really changed us. For that matter, it is still touch and go as to whether I will still have Connie around at all for any kind of help for the long term. Four hands have always been better to two, and it is quite sobering to think there might ONLY be two hands in the future.

So there you have it. I just need to be thinking about a helping hand around here, and a tractor might be that help I can see myself needing.

Never, ever pictured myself riding a tractor before.

But probably better than waiting for some sort of AI robot to come along that would crush my skull in my sleep when it went rogue on me from buggy programming.

I just hope that if I do get one (tractor that is, not a robot), that I will be able to find enough things to do with it to justify the cost and the upkeep it will need over time. But one thing of interest. I have watched a lot of videos by people who have gotten tractors, and the general consensus from those people is that they don't know how they ever got along without one before. Of course, they are mostly farmer folk or people doing a lot of work in rather sizeable tracts of land. But heck, I have 50 acres, most of it heavily wooded, and I would like to cut some walking trails through it. So who knows? Maybe it is something I would find a lot more uses for than I can imagine right now.

I think I can afford one. When my mom passed away, she left me a little bit of money that I haven't done anything with. Maybe it would please her to have me use it on something that might save me from my final heart attack some day.

I went and saw my brother last weekend and he had just gotten one of these delivered.

https://badboymowers.com/tractors/bad-boy-40-series-model-4035-mid-size-tractor

I don't know the model number or what it cost but it had the enclosed cab with A/C and the Grapple attachment on the front. He already had an old Massey Ferguson with a loader that was very handy on the farm (113 acres) and this one looks even more capable.

Look like nice tractors, but there doesn't appear to be a dealer anywhere within a two hour drive for me.

That is one of the hangups I am having with that Summit brand tractor. NO dealerships to do repairs anywhere nearby. Home Depot is selling it, but they sure aren't going to be carrying spare parts, much less have anyone who knows anything at all about repairing anything under warranty.

There is a Kubota dealer nearby that I might check out sometime.

But honestly I am not 100% sold on the idea of even buying a tractor. Cost of implements for these tractors is pretty high for just about all of them. Then there are compatibility issues. Some will say their rear mounting implement will "probably" work, but you might have to trim down the PTO shaft a couple of inches. Yeah, right. Like anyone can do that like slicing a salami.

Just trying to be careful I don't buy just another big headache. Might be best to just consider I have reached the point in life where some things just won't be able to be done if it NEEDS a tractor to do it.

Hey, go for it!


https://www.walb.com/2023/07/12/woman-treats-herself-john-deere-tractor-97th-birthday/

Well, funny you should mention that. My 73rd birthday will be on Friday of this week.

But I won't be able to buy anything for a little while. The credit cards got maxed out from the bills for Connie's trip down to Tijuana for her cancer treatment. So I would have to take a rain check on that birthday.

Well an early Happy Birthday to you! I hope Connie is improving. This getting older stuff isn't for Sissy's is it?!

Just found out a former deputy that I worked with at the sheriff's office has been diagnosed with ALS. Our boys played baseball together on the all stars traveling team. He was their coach. And he's at least 10 years younger than I am!

His outlook isn't good at all. Life expectancy is usually 2-5 years. This is weighing pretty heavy on me. What do you say to someone like that?

Take life one day at a time and tell the ones you love how important they are to you I guess. I think we all should do that, for we never know when our time will come.

Sorry to hear about your friend. I guess the older we get, the more often we get news like that.

Bad news is all around us.

Few people ever really think about their vows taken during marriage and what the phrase "till death do us part" REALLY means about an inevitable future.

Drove down to Crystal River yesterday. On the way back stopped in a couple of tractor dealerships. One of which was John Deere. Seriously, who thought up the color combination? Bright green tractors with bright yellow wheels and seat?

Made my eyes hurt just to look at them.

They're quite proud of that John Deere green and yellow. Especially at the cash register! They do make a quality product though. My brother has 3 or 4 zero turn mowers. One is electric, the others are the 997 diesel mowers. He's gotten good service from them and they leave a very clean cut. I

haven't heard any complaints on JD tractors either. Other than the price maybe, but I don't think the competition is giving theirs away either.

In case some of you haven't guessed this, I am focusing on this tractor idea as a way to keep my mind off of other things going on. I don't know if I will really buy one or not, but pretending that I might helps to keep my mind from galloping off into directions I really don't want it to be going. It sure beats all to hell what reading about cancer every night does to my mind and my soul.

Rickey has a Kioti tractor that he has brought over to our property several times to help us out with things. He told me that it is therapeutic to drive his tractor around and just, as he says it "knock over crap" with it. He has been divorced for a number of years and lives alone. Maybe it is something that he needs, and perhaps I need to be thinking that perhaps I will need it too in the future. But I think I would need a REALLY BIG tractor..........

I live in Miller County Georgia and it is BIG on farming! Lots of serious tractors here. The county only has about 5000 residents but there's a John Deere dealer and a Ford dealer here along with a hospital. There is a 278 acre field full of peanuts in my backyard. It was planted in corn last year. 66,000 acres being farmed here!

Still looking at tractors. Thinking that getting a cab with air conditioning would likely be a real good idea. Kind of means I need to be looking at a larger tractor though, as cabs are not real common on a sub-compact tractor. Plus only having a 24 horsepower engine might struggle with running the AC and the other stuff I would get the tractor for in the first place.

Par for the course. Nothing is as simple as I wish it would be. And tends to get more and more complicated the longer I look at it.

My brother loves his new Bad Boy with enclosed cab and A/C. Matter of fact he said he was going to use it for all his mowing needs and phase out the big diesel powered Zero Turn mowers over time. He has a grapple attachment too. Keeps him from having to get out to load stuff into a bucket. Never have to leave that air conditioning!

Been looking at the TYM T474HC tractor. Lee's Trailers is a dealer and he is offering one to me at pretty decent price. Little bigger than I wanted, but with my decision to get an air conditioned cab, that kind of narrowed down the field of model options quite a bit. I read somewhere that TYM makes the tractors for the Bad Boy brand.

Yeah, after reading a bit I see they make tractors for a lot of other companies. Reviews seem to be good though.

Was out at Lee's Trailers on Thursday and talked to the guy (Will) who seems to be the tractor guy there. Seems like a decent enough guy. He even told me that when it came time to do periodic maintenance, they would pick up my tractor and then delivery it back to me when finished. I think he may live in Crawfordville.

So I am trying to finalize the options and what sort of attachments I want to get right away with the tractor. Good chance I may be placing an order next week sometime.

Good information to know here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Py4DFSyJV0c

You may qualify to get an agriculture discount and/or a farm tax benefit. My brother gets one but he actually has a commercial farm. (a 113 acre horse ranch actually) He deals with a Bad Boy dealer down around Ocala. I had gotten a quote from the dealer in Tallahassee but my brother was in Ocala and stopped to look at one and that dealer informed him of the discounts. The dealer in Tallahassee got really pissed off when I told him that he was buying the mower down there. I said hey, if you had told him about the discounts he would have bought from you.

I think he got $1500 off his diesel zero turn mower, I don't know what he paid for the tractor though. I'll see him in a couple weeks and I'll see what model he got and what it cost.

85vette said:

Good information to know here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Py4DFSyJV0c

You may qualify to get an agriculture discount and/or a farm tax benefit. My brother gets one but he actually has a commercial farm. (a 113 acre horse ranch actually) He deals with a Bad Boy dealer down around Ocala. I had gotten a quote from the dealer in Tallahassee but my brother was in Ocala and stopped to look at one and that dealer informed him of the discounts. The dealer in Tallahassee got really pissed off when I told him that he was buying the mower down there. I said hey, if you had told him about the discounts he would have bought from you.

I think he got $1500 off his diesel zero turn mower, I don't know what he paid for the tractor though. I'll see him in a couple weeks and I'll see what model he got and what it cost.

Click to expand...

Yeah, I mentioned to Will that our property is zoned agricultural and we have planted pines for harvesting on it. So I will see if that gets me any sort of discount.

What Tallahassee dealer was it that got all pissed off?

B&T Small Engines on North Monroe. He gave me a price when I asked for a quote on their big 72 inch Cat powered diesel zero turn and my brother was willing to pay that for it but when he stopped to look at one in Ocala the dealer there knocked off $1500 and told him he could get him the tax break so he went with that dealer. So I told B&T to cancel the order if he had already placed it and he gave me a story about it was going to cost him $500 to cancel the order. He didn't have any mowers in stock to speak of so we had to order from the online catalog.

I understand that it used to be a good business to deal with but the owner died and this guy (the owners brother) took over and just saw dollar signs. I was told he ran off the old customers because he's greedy. I actually went back to get a set of new blades for that mower and he looked them up and sold me a set. I went to put them on and they wouldn't fit so I took them back to get a refund. He told me that there was going to be a 20% restocking fee because I had ordered the wrong parts. I was quick to straighten him out on that since he was the one that looked up the part number. He told me to tell my brother that he was still pissed off that he hadn't bought the mower through him. I told him that if he had told us about the discounts and tax breaks we would have.

We stopped doing business with him after that. Had some warranty claims on the mower but we took it to a dealer in Thomasville, Georgia to avoid dealing with this guy.

Sounds like a pain in the ass to deal with. I've seen others like him. Always whining and blaming their poor business decisions and attitudes on everyone else but where it belongs: The guy they see when they look in the mirror.

Never been there myself, and doubt I ever will. Lee's Trailers has a bunch of riding mowers and the like at their place if I have felt the need to buy one.

I checked that video link you sent and went to that guy's website. Seems like they really don't want customers, though, as they don't give you any options to buy from them. Or anywhere else, really They claim they have dealers, but I see only 4 or 5 of them, all located in Missouri. I checked one of the "dealers" but he seems to have his online business solely on Ebay, selling toys and T-shirts.

Sometimes I get the feeling that people go out of business for no other reason than they just don't have a lick of business sense and are completely incapable of seeing it.