Butch the Tractor

We have a new resident, so to speak, at the Farmhouse. There are several projects in the here-and-now and projects in the future that are beyond the capacity of a push mower, a shovel, and a guy with bad knees. So, in the spirit of go big or go home, we have added a Kubota BX2350 compact tractor to the tool bin. As soon as it was delivered, I started casting about for a more proper name. My brother Ken suggested “Butch.” I have not come up with anything better, so Butch it is. Butch is an honest-to-goodness actual tractor, if admittedly a small one, with genuine hydraulics and power take-offs and available implements and other things that rattle out of farmers’ mouths with ease but rarely out of mine. The owner’s manuals (yes, plural) are a good inch thick.

The guy who delivered it late on a Thursday afternoon was in a hurry. He covered the basics just well enough to leave me with the ability to park it in the garage and wonder how the rest of it worked. With Brenda’s insights we were able to get the mower deck working, and the front-end loader is pretty self-explanatory (and more fun that it probably should be). Unhooking the front-end loader, however, appears very intimidating, so I haven’t gotten to that yet.  The delivery guy’s explanation of “you just set it down and then lower this part and then flip these two levers and make sure that thing hooks there and then unhook the hydraulic valves and back away it’s simple” kind of flew by me. But as I mentioned, there’s an inch of documentation that I’m sure will explain things.

Butch has a seat belt. That seems kind of cute until you hit an unexpected bump while sitting there four feet above the ground, at which point you vow never to use the thing without first putting on the seat belt.

I know someone is wanting to ask if there is a cup holder. Of course there is.

There is a backhoe attachment available. It is quite expensive, and I didn’t buy it, not having a need for a backhoe. Except now I’m can’t help but wonder. Having the ability to dig a ditch opens up possibilities that seemed off-limits before.

The Farmhouse sits on a wedge-shaped property that extends up a slope to our south. There are fun things I think about doing with the south slope in the future. For now, I’m trying to keep it from becoming too overgrown until I figure out my next move. There are a few piles of moldy logs that need to be moved. Butch is up for that. There is a nifty space just right for a large tent that Aaron and Devan like, except it isn’t quite level. Butch is up for that, too.

I planted a tupelo tree on the slope a couple of years ago, and after a rough start it seems to be thriving. Someone before us planted a sassafras tree, or perhaps it is a volunteer, but it is enough of a curiosity that I want to help it along. The sassafras and the tupelo should bring some nice color to the slope in autumns of the future. And I’ve been looking for just the right spot on the slope for the sequoia tree seedling Aaron and Devan gave me for Christmas.

We had a relaxing couple of days at the Farmhouse this past weekend. Aaron joined us unexpectedly, which was a treat as always. Boaters are out on the lake. Mayflies are everywhere. Mama deer are in the fields with their fawns. Strawberries are just now in season at the u-pick farms. Corn is as high as a muskrat’s eye. The air is smoky from the Canadian wildfires, but that is the Earth, wild at heart, reminding us to be better stewards of her gifts. It’s all good.