new toy!
I am sure that I’ve complained about this in past posts, but it is extremely hard to move bed pack with a normal tractor bucket. I have been coveting a manure bucket with a grapple which is really the right tool for the job, but my tractor loader is not currently equipped to use one of these. A grapple is like your top teeth, you scoop whatever you are moving (like with a fork) and then 'bite' down on it. Currently, the bucket moves up and down and it will scoop and dump, but it doesn’t bite. Does that make any sense at all? In order to do this, I would need to have the tractor modified which would cost in the range of $2,000. The manure bucket with the grapple would cost around $2,500, so all together a big investment.
Then I found out that something called a tine bucket existed! You can add a grapple to it later so I thought I might as well give it a try. Worst case, it doesn’t work great and we need to save up for the add on grapple and the tractor fix.
A tine bucket is kind of like a hay spear except with a bunch of spears! I picked short-ish 32” spears because bed pack is heavy and our tractor is light and the back wheels come off the ground if you try to pick up something too heavy. It’s like riding a saddle bronc. When we bought the tractor, I didn’t know that I should have asked them to fill the tires. Apparently they fill them with windshield washer fluid which adds a lot of weight in the rear end and also doesn’t freeze in the winter. I imagine is raises fuel consumption though, so there’s that. One can also put an implement on the back for extra weight, but we don’t currently own any.
Weirdly, the freight driver who delivered it lives just around the corner. He told us that he heard something about a couple from Montana moving in here. The bush telegraph got the M state wrong… it’s Michigan.
Even with the short spears, the rodeo experience is real.
Despite this issue, this bucket is incredible!! What a huge improvement! I feel SO POWERFUL! Just look how hot I look in my sunny day uniform! Like a female farm operator who knows exactly what she is doing and is definitely not making it up as she goes along!
