I admire you tractor drivers

Help Support CattleToday:

plumber_greg

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 16, 2008
Messages
1,395
Reaction score
26
Location
NW Missouri
My custom haying guy got hurt, and like an idiot I thought, how tough could it be to ride a tractor and mow and rake? Wellllllllll, it's been 25 years since I put a lot of time on a tractor. I put 10 hours on Sat., 12 hours on Sun., and 8 on Mon., on a tractor. I would rather clean a sewer with my teeth than do that again. I'm so sore and tired that I slept till 7:30 AM on Monday. I usually get up at 4:30 and am ready to go. I knew I was out of shape for farmin', but one forgets just how hard a farmer works. I always thought when I retired I would help my buddies farm, but they better not count on that, it's too hard. Kudos to tractor drivers, you have a fan in me. gs
 
thanks, glad someone appreciates us tractro drivers. I sometimes spend almost 20 hours straight in one with some breaks inbetween. It really makes a difference as far as tired and stiff muscles to drink way more then average water and get out of the cab once in a while and stretch, like touching your toes. I also make sure to take magnesium and potassium pills, - I dont know but my old girl friend got me going on that one and she said it was a important element to keep the muscles loose. If i dont do all those things then I get so sore I start walking so stiff and locked up.
 
Once I finish all the hay and finish the winter planting I'll get to ride one non stop 8-10 hours a day for 3-4 monts planting pines. Each year I look forward to it more and more. :help:
 
Jogeephus":3jiyj3eg said:
Once I finish all the hay and finish the winter planting I'll get to ride one non stop 8-10 hours a day for 3-4 monts planting pines. Each year I look forward to it more and more. :help:
Look forward to it the same way you would look forward to having an unclean yak sitting on your face?
 
But don't forget.... that farmer in his ac tractor is not working at all, he's just riding his fancy tractor. Rich farmers have just got it made. :mrgreen:
 
I look forward to it. With the CD player and cold cold ac in summer and heater in winter and the air ride seat. It is almost like sitting in the easy chair at home listening to music.
 
my old tractor nearly 40 years old... some times i want too jump off run and scream ,,, but i settle down and think of all the money that old reliable saved me,,, built me a mini lift for the front end, so i can haul 2 bales with it at a time... give me the big head :cowboy:
 
grannysoo":1teemngb said:
But don't forget.... that farmer in his ac tractor is not working at all, he's just riding his fancy tractor. Rich farmers have just got it made. :mrgreen:
It's the constant bouncing and banging that gets to you after a while. But with the cab it takes longer then the open station one. But the both SUCK after a couple of hours
 
dun":1vilh9rs said:
It's the constant bouncing and banging that gets to you after a while. But with the cab it takes longer then the open station one. But the both SUCK after a couple of hours

Exactly. After a long day of that, I feel like I've been beat with a stick.
 
grannysoo":30drh96c said:
dun":30drh96c said:
It's the constant bouncing and banging that gets to you after a while. But with the cab it takes longer then the open station one. But the both SUCK after a couple of hours

Exactly. After a long day of that, I feel like I've been beat with a stick.

I feel like that before I start, the tractor just magnifies it
 
grannysoo":gfrb9kcu said:
dun":gfrb9kcu said:
It's the constant bouncing and banging that gets to you after a while. But with the cab it takes longer then the open station one. But the both SUCK after a couple of hours

Exactly. After a long day of that, I feel like I've been beat with a stick.


I feel it in my knees and back usually.
 
grannysoo":1k8ss7b9 said:
But don't forget.... that farmer in his ac tractor is not working at all, he's just riding his fancy tractor. Rich farmers have just got it made. :mrgreen:


Far from rich it is just everything I have is paid off. Paid tractor off in a year, paid cattle trailor off in a year, dodge is paid for, wife vehicle paid for, farm, cows, hay, home, all paid for. The only two things that arent paid for are a 08 chrysler sebring that I drive to my day job and the new kubota RTV 500 but that is because I was able to get 0% interest on both so I am going to wait a while before I pay those off. MY credit score is 811 so it is not like I have to pay this off immediately to help my credit score anymore. Plus with the zero percent interest I am using their money and not mine. Also, the payments are low and I like that.
 
I like to sing during a long day on the tractor. No one hears how bad i sound but i like it just fine.
I get tired, sore, and stiff, but love every minute of it. Wish i didn't have a day job so i could do it more.
 
Douglas":mqa1szd8 said:
I like to sing during a long day on the tractor. No one hears how bad i sound but i like it just fine.
I get tired, sore, and stiff, but love every minute of it. Wish i didn't have a day job so i could do it more.
That tune will be different in another 30-40 years
 
dun":2ikyanrr said:
Jogeephus":2ikyanrr said:
Once I finish all the hay and finish the winter planting I'll get to ride one non stop 8-10 hours a day for 3-4 monts planting pines. Each year I look forward to it more and more. :help:
Look forward to it the same way you would look forward to having an unclean yak sitting on your face?

That pretty well describes my anticipation. Won't be any glass or heat cause the limbs and flying lightered knots make this inpractical. Only thing I'll have in the purr of the motor and my crazy thoughts to keep me company. Those chilly bluebird mornings are the real killer though. While peaceful, I have learned that falling asleep while driving a tractor is not what you call safe and it makes for a really $hitty looking planting job. :oops:
 
Jogeephus":27kzs9hl said:
dun":27kzs9hl said:
Jogeephus":27kzs9hl said:
Once I finish all the hay and finish the winter planting I'll get to ride one non stop 8-10 hours a day for 3-4 monts planting pines. Each year I look forward to it more and more. :help:
Look forward to it the same way you would look forward to having an unclean yak sitting on your face?

That pretty well describes my anticipation. Won't be any glass or heat cause the limbs and flying lightered knots make this inpractical. Only thing I'll have in the purr of the motor and my crazy thoughts to keep me company. Those chilly bluebird mornings are the real killer though. While peaceful, I have learned that falling asleep while driving a tractor is not what you call safe and it makes for a really $hitty looking planting job. :oops:
You are right about going to sleep. But have you found a way to stay awake at all times.

You mention lightered knots. I wonder if me and you are about the only two left that embrace that terminology?
I hear "lighter knots" sometimes and that tells me they read it but aint lived it.
 
kenny thomas":163nu42i said:
OK, i'll bite. What is a lightered knot?
You know what a knot of wood is. A lightered knot is a knot from a pine tree that became impregnated with resin (after the knot died but while the tree was still living) which preserves the knot fom rotting and makes the knot very hard, relatively very heavy, and highly flammable- lightered will burn long and hot. The best and biggest ones come from very old longleaf or slash pines, especially longleaf since they live far longer than slash. Lightered is a contraction of light wood. It's called that not because it's light in weight but because of its use for lighting fires.There are also lightered stumps and just plain lightered that comes from the main stem of the tree. "Fat" is often used in conjunction with lightered to indicate the amount of resin in the wood.
 

Latest posts

Top