Eric Hanson

OK, since this is a post on attachment as well as implements, I will give a shout out to having a hydraulic top cylinder!!  I had been working on this project during summer, and my neighbor and I got the whole hydraulic project finished--it was quite a to-do!  Unfortunately, I bought the wrong top-cylinder--it was too short!  I went ahead and ordered the next larger one and it works great!  Now I can back up and pick up any implement just by adjusting the three-point control and pushing the top-link switch!  Part of me wishes I had purchased this long, long ago.  But waiting was not so bad, I did save a bunch of money, got to understand the inner workings of my tractor better, and my neighbor and I had a great project together.  That said, if I were buying this tractor again under different circumstances, a hydraulic top-link is easily something I should have ordered already installed on my tractor.  If I was building my house again and had this (or any) tractor already on hand, I think that I would (securely) keep it on site, and have a couple of implements that would be useful during construction--a box blade is an obvious choice.  And on my lot, either a bush hog or a flail mower would be a good second attachment to have as well.  I can't tell you how many times during construction I wanted to do some simple alteration or make some simple change myself and a tractor on site would have been perfect.  And a hydraulic top-link would have meant that changing implements could be done in just a few moments rather than making it into a laborious process.  And going forwards, I can see myself using existing implements more often as I might use one for a short, simple operation that otherwise would be a major inconvenience due to the time and effort required to attaching the new implement.


If you are on the fence about a hydraulic top-link, I can just about guarantee that you will NOT regret the purchase!



Eric

I have lived in both coolish and warmish weather and yes, each has plusses and minuses.  If I had to put a finger on it, I would go with a colder climate.

In the United States, especially in the Midwest, a northern location can still get plenty warm in the summer and allow for all sorts of veggies.  I am thinking of my grandmother's garden.  My grandfather, a farmer. would simply use his disk to disk up one row for my grandmother's garden--which made for a huge garden.  Out of that garden she made an enormous amount of veggies that lasted long into the Autumn.

And in the winter, a cold climate can burn wood for heat--I don't know what a plot of land can grow that will cool the hot and extremely humid summers that I have now.

Of course, my growing season is longer and snow removal is a much more significant concern.  But a part of me will always pine for those colder climates!


Eric

Like the title says, there are times when I want to live off grid, far away, have no neighbors and be so remote that I can't possibly have any responsibilities to anyone but myself.  But really I get this way when all of life's other demands pour in on me.  My school year has started--very well I might add--but my time of course is more limited than during the summer and I have to do some tedious chores like planning lessons (administrators like to see these things posted online--it makes them look better).  Naturally I have to grade, which is not so bad, but it is something that I have to do on a timely basis or someone gets tied in knots.  I am not complaining, not one bit.  But the sum total of all the little tedious chores is what grinds on my nerves.  Actually teaching is in fact very rewarding and entertaining.  Disruptions, when they happen, are kind of exciting!  Its the day-to-day that makes me want to disappear into the wilderness and never come back.

But of course, that is a false hope--a daydream that lacks context and ignores the real fact that no matter where one goes, there will be tedium there no matter what.  Chores must be done.  And the reality is that I thoroughly community, especially my wonderful neighbors.  And many of those irksome bills--like power--are cheaper that going through all the hoops to make my house solar--but if you can make yours affordably go solar and want to do so, then by all means don't let me stop you!!  Also, I don't really want to drill a well (though there are times when I want to back up my houses water supply).  And while I still have the rugged dreams of trudging off across wild land, my wife doesn't share these dreams and I am more attached to her than these dreams.  

So in the end, I am very happy with the life I have.  I love my house in the country with 9 acres.  I love being able to use the tractor to care for the land, and I love that I have an absolutely wonderful neighbor who eagerly helps with me in so many projects, especially mechanical ones (we really had an adventure adding in hydraulics to the tractor this summer!).  And while my wife does not want to do the deep forest off-grid homesteading of which I sometimes dream, she is a small town/country girl at heart and we love our home together.

To all those who want to truly go off-grid and make a life of it, go for it!  There will always be a part of me that envies you.  But I accept that while that spirit is a part of me, so is the part of me that needs community, neighbors and appreciates all of the little things that these people bring.  So while I dream of emptiness when I get overwhelmed with minutiae, when the day is done I am really happy with all of the decisions and compromises that I have had to make.  Many of Permies values can be interpreted as a sort of extreme that rejects most social norms that we may forget that these same values can merge, interlace, interact, and indeed, compromise with the values, resources capabilities and opportunities that we all have.  No individual can possibly do everything, but we all can take little steps, be happy and enjoy life's opportunities--and indeed, promote Permies, just by doing what we can with what we have when we have it.

These are just a few thoughts that I had as I was sitting and watching students work on an assignment today and I had a moment to myself.  If these words give you and hope, bring any calm, promote any positive activity for you, then great.  If not, then please disregard.



Eric

How about battery powered outdoor power equipment (Trimmers, chainsaws and the like) that belong to an existing power equipment lines.

Brands like DeWalt, Milwaukee, Makita, and many, many more, have Outdoor Power Equipment that fit their existing battery lines.


Eric

Melanie,

I went out to get some pictures of my living fence.  It might be a little difficult to make out the actual fence from other random trees.  Also, I have not maintained the trail very well in some places and not at all in others.  The ground is rough and not really suitable for a lightweight zero turn mower.  When I get a flail mower, its primary task will be maintaining the trails which are not usable now.

Also, I included a few pictures that I just took.  I will have to edit this post after I find a picture of the fence from 20 years ago when we first moved in.

Here goes:

I want to jump in and say that I love that this old thread became active again.  I have been following it for several days, but school started, summer flew by and life happens.  I finally have a moment.


Regarding comments made by Jay:

It is true that a flail mower really chops vegetation to tiny pieces, which is one of its strengths.  But you are right that environmental conditions are everything.  My experience is that mowing in dry conditions--as I did yesterday--even with just a regular riding lawn mower is a terribly dusty thing which is one of the reasons I was putting it off!  A flail mower might make more dust that my riding mower, but just looking outside after mowing even in the currently very dry conditions, I can see all of the chopped residue from mowing left on the surface.  Sometimes I have heard that a flail mower is a superior mower for the land, and therefore probably for Permie purposes as well, because all the finely chopped debris breaks down faster.  But then I live in the very humid border between the Midwest and the South and we get about 40 inches of rain per year.  So if I were in Jay's situation, a flail mower might perform differently than it does at my location.  However, Jay is correct that a good wind break will drastically slow the wind and make airborne dust and debris drop out of the air,  And a good, well maintained trail next to a wind break also might serve as a fire break.


John Weiland:

I once had a set of Pat's Easy Change adapters and they were amazing!  It is hard to believe how much easier it was to hook up an implement after getting a set of those!




Regarding two-wheel tractors:

These could be the perfect solution to a small land owner's power equipment needs.  In fact, at one point I seriously considered buying a two wheel tractor to augment my existing 4 wheel tractor,  A two wheel tractor runs most of the implements that a 4 wheel tractor does, but it is MUCH lighter on the land and uses a trivial amount of fuel.  However, I found that the implements were not so cheap, and in some cases the price for a 2 wheel implement was actually more than that for a 4 wheel tractor, even though the 2 wheel implement was smaller!  About the only thing that they can't do is operate a loader--they are just too small and light.  Nonetheless, these are amazing machines and are well worth a look.


Trace:

Yeah, I have my eye on a Woodmaxx hydraulic offset flail mower.  My big summertime project was installing rear hydraulics on my tractor so that I could buy one of those flail mowers in the near future.  I am oscillating between a 60" and 72" flail mower.  My tractor is just under 60" wide so a 60" flail mower would cut out my tires and still be a compact implement for maneuverability in the woods and storage.  A 72" would cut a wider path and offset further (a really, really big bonus).  Of course it would cost more.  But I am at the point where I don't want to buy cheap and regret the purchase--buy once, cry once.  I would really like to have it before next summer.


Hey everyone, thanks for updating this thread!!



Eric

Julian,

I am late to this party, but I need to say a word or two.  Firstly, great instincts in thinking about mushrooms and fungi as a way to add overall fertility to your ground.  This method works very well with a no-dig gardening system.  And the results, while needing a bit of time and patience, are well worth the effort.

Regarding your search for chips, if you can’t find 100% hardwood chips, don’t be afraid to try something else instead.  Since you are using Wine Caps—an excellent mushroom for this type of project—you can hardly go wrong.  Perhaps give your chips some straw to really get the fungi growing.


If you are so inclined, I can point you in the direction of a lot of my experiences that I have documented here on Permies.



Good luck!!


Eric

Black.  

I like my coffee very strong and black.  Absolutely no cream, sugar, flavoring or other “adulterants.”  That’s what I call “candy coffee.”  And of course it should be hot.


Other than that, the rest are mere details.




Eric

Thomas,

I might be able to get something to his wife.  But I can’t possibly conceptualize any tool in existence that he doesn’t already have.

Eric

ALMOST done.  

At this point the hydraulics are installed and fully functioning.  All I need to do is get some dust covers for the quick connections and a few other very minor details and it will be done.

So today I added up my time spent on this project which by today has been six days.  The total time: 48 hours.  Actually this is a fairly conservative estimate.  My neighbor spent considerably more time, especially considering that he spent multiple nights up with his mind racing about how to do a series of specific tasks.  He REALLY rose to the occasion and I am trying to think about how to at least somewhat repay him.  Actually he really enjoyed the project as much or more than I did.  Today I had an appointment at noon.  When I got home he called me and told me to go outside.  He was there in his truck.  He had actually opened my mail to get the package containing the hose I ordered to make sure that I was going to work.  Please don’t get concerned, he wasn’t violating my privacy.  He is merely very engaged in the project and if I am the beneficiary of his enthusiasm, then who am I to blame.

On a related note, I have a new respect for mechanics, especially how their work takes a toll on their bodies.  These were some long and arduous days and as I have stated before, I ache and my body needs a break. I really feel for those mechanics who have joint and muscle pain and do their job anyways.  I tip my hat to them.


Eric