All according to plan… just not mine
Well, if we learn from our failures.. I am doing a LOT of learning today!
I heard back from the Conservation District, they couldn’t bring the seed drill to me. They however could put me on the schedule to bring an APS15 All Purpose Seeder.
All purpose seeders are more used for lawn care and planting large amounts of grasses like for golf courses, but it can be used to plant pollinators. I accepted and asked it to be delivered today.
This morning I started to get ready for them to drop it off. The first thing I needed to do was take off my snow plow and put on my bucket.
When lifting up large implements off the ground behind the tractor to drive around with them, tractors can have a tendency to pitch up at the front to the sky.
To combat this you need a counter weight. So my bucket weighs about 300 lbs and I put some sand tube bags in for another 250-300 lbs, acting as the counter weight.
But I never really have taken off or put on front implements since I first got the tractor…
In theory it would be very simple… drop the implement to the ground, unlock the latches, tilt the front arms, and slip them off…
And it worked like a charm! Until I realized as I was backing the tractor up I was literally dragging the plow by the HYDRAULICS.
Sorry bout the poop, chickens poop on everything.
So yea.. I nearly ripped apart my hydraulic lines...
Worse yet I couldn’t just detach them, because they were full.
I had to REHOOK the implement on, move it around a bit without power to drain the line, and then take it and the hoses off.
That was almost an expensive mistake. Alright, lesson learned, lets not do that next time!
I hooked on my bucket and tossed the sand bags in.
The conservation district guy, Dominic, showed up with the trailer and seeder.. and thatttttts whennnnn I realized.. OH, he doesnt take it off for me.
He told me most people use their lift arms to lift it off the trailer via straps. O..oh..ok.. NO PROBLEM.
I took off the front bucket again.. got the tractor into position.. he strapped it to the arms.. and with ZERO FUCKING CLUE WHAT I WAS DOING…
I hoisted that thing into the air!
I was as gentle as I could possibly be… slooooowly lifting it… backing up… lowering it
When both of us hear CRACK like a whip… one of the straps failed and the seeder dropped a few feet but was still hanging on.
Trying not to panic slam this down, I quickly but gently put it the rest of the way down.
Just a little adrenaline rush in the morning!
He packed up, told me to call him if I needed anything, and left the trailer here with the seeder.
Thinking I was a seasoned pro at this point having SUCCESSFULLY and PAINFULLY put on my rotary mower.. I thought how hard could this be?
I hooked up the 3 point hitch, IN THE RIGHT ORDER THIS TIME, turned on the tractor, and tried to lift the implement.
It lifted all-right.. but only one side!
Not quite understanding where the problem was. I went to lower the implement… annnnd
It wouldnt lower. That was a first.
I googled, I asked Bard/Gemini, I watched youtube videos.. I did all sorts of troubleshooting.
NOTTA. It wont go down. So I did the sensible thing, I asked for an expert to come fix it.
SO looks like we aren’t quite ready after all. So close!
