Restoring Tobacco Road ..

[pa_friendly_guy]

Nice Job Tru. That is a goodly amount of fire wood you got there. With a Rocket stove it should be more than enough. I see that you have mastered the use of the Power Pick for ditch digging. A fellow I knew said a friend of his was digging a new water line into his house by hand and the digging was getting hard. My friend said " That's too much work, let me go home and get my " Power Pick " Of course his friend did not know what he was talking about, so he went home and got his Roto- Tiller. He went down the ditch tilling 2" then shoveling it off, and back up the ditch again 2" of loose dirt at a time. They were done with and water line in no time. I see that you have done the same with your ditch. Its a lot better than a pick and shove. Don't you just love technology.

[TruGrit]

.. one of the first things I picked up off CL when we got this place was a tiller .. needed something to reshape the ground, at least until I can find a tractor .. I do admire those that can do it all by hand, but those days are long past for me, things need to move along much quicker cause I got such a late start .. so, will not be getting any mules or oxen I reckon ..

.. we counted up the other day, and I got 21 gas engines around here .. but only run one at a time ..

[pa_friendly_guy]

Trying to maintain 21 internal combustion engines is a pain. I try to minimize the number I keep, but it is still a lot. I had an electric power washer for that reason, and I keep electric hedge trimmers and an electric blower for the same reason. But I have 10 internal combustion engines at my place, counting the cars.

[GrahamB]

I hadn't thought about how many engines I had around the place until you guys mentioned it. My count is seven but if I didn't have several attachments for my Husqvarna trimmer it would be a few more. I repaired my tiller one too many times last year and now that I'm employing the no till method it has become redundant. What I thought I might do with it is to replace the tines with some meaty wheels and tires and use it for a walk behind tractor. There isn't one spot on my land where I'm not either going uphill or going down. It would be a handy tool to have.

[pa_friendly_guy]

Graham, Why not just look for a good used Gravely Walk Behind. My neighbor has owned several, [ some burned up in his fire, its not that they worn out or any thing, ] He paid between $300 to $350 for them and he normally got some attachments with them. Their 30 in brush hog mower was a work horse, and he claimed that he could mow any where that a man could walk. It might be cheaper, and a whole lot less work than trying to convert your old tiller into something it was never designed to be. Of course you would miss out on all that fun, and miss the sense of accomplishment of making something that worked for you. I am betting that you will have at least $300 in the conversion if not more, and still need attachments. Every attachment that Gravely ever made from 1940 until they stopped making them would fit their 4 bolt system. So you can find Gravely Equipment that you might want if you keep your eyes open. Their Rotary Plow was a real man eater, I never saw the benefit to that attachment, but the rest of their equipment was great.

[GrahamB]

See now you've gone and done it Guy. I have to see if I can make it for less than 300 now I wasn't thinking of running any attachments from it apart from a tow hitch. One job I have in mind is clearing the silt out of my pond. It sits down in a hollow and getting the silt out from there to the top of the bank is nearly impossible without the risk of a heart attack. I was thinking of fitting a tow hitch on the back of the 'mule', use my lawn tractor trailer to carry the buckets of silt up out of there. There is a lot of torque in that old girl and with some tractor tread tires I think it would work.
I've looked on craigslist on a regular basis for one of those Gravelys and they go for a lot more down here. A beat up one would cost you a minimum of 500, and that's when they show up.

[matt walker]

Not to derail Tru's thread, but Graham, look up "dragline excavator" or "drag bucket." My neighbor made an amazingly large pond using a stationary engine and that technique.

[TruGrit]

.. howdy pards! .. well, been busy getting this place in shape, from gathering brush to chip, digging out stumps, mowing the woods, and remodeling the house ...

.. some larger projects are underway as well .. like installing the culvert ..



.. also, making headway on a small park I'm carving out down by the creek ..



.. got a little help when I picked up this 1953 red belly the other day .. runs great and came with a scrape blade and boom pole for $2500 ..



.. hope everyone is well and getting your stuff done while the sun still shines .. Tru

[pa_friendly_guy]

Great job Tru, I like your progress on the place. The culvert installation looks like it should carry the water, the little park-a-lette looks wonderful. That Ford will come in very handy. They were going for around that price 25 years ago, you made a good buy. It looks a bit newer than an 8N, and a bit bigger. I am guessing late 1950's or early 1960"s for age. Ford Tractors have always been in demand around here because of the wide front end, and low center of gravity. They definitely work better on a hill side than a tricycle front end. You bought the right Tractor for your property with your slope, much safer, much less chance of roll over. The back blade will come in very handy for moving and leveling out dirt and your road ways. You might be able to use the hydraulic boom to help pull some stumps. Great job.

[Lollykoko]

Tru, I predict that you will be very happy with your new/old tractor. They come in handy in so many ways! Mine is a 51 Farmall H; so far NAPA stores have been able to get anything I needed to make repairs.