Tractors 101

Though my family has owned a number of tractors since the day I was born, operating a tractor is not something I would have included on my list of abilities. Luckily, this week was tractor week.

First, I learned how to lay the plastic mulch that we use to plant most of our ground crops. It is a fairly simple device that is pulled behind the tractor that lays out the mulch, but still needs the human touch at the outset and end of every row. Essentially, you tie the drip line (which is being wheeled out behind the tractor with the plastic mulch) to a wood rod, you then pull out the sheet of plastic from the roller to just before the wood rod and then carefully press the plastic with your hands flat against the earth as the tractor takes off making sure not to have your wrists or chin slammed by the equipment. The device works such that the wheels will catch the plastic and through a series of earth moving panels, will tightly bury the sides of the mulch to keep it embedded and flush with the ground. At the end of each row, you must also pull the plastic taught and bury the ends with earth, so the wind is unable to take the mulch away.

I later mowed two fields of cover crops which was certainly a more significant job with the tractor. Again, this being Tractors 101, there was a lot for me to learn. I think the most important though was finally understanding what a clutch does - in not so many words, disengage all the element parts of a engine so that you can add or remove another part. With the mowing tractor the parts included the gears, the rotator take off, and the breaks if I remember correctly.

I really enjoyed being able to operate the tractor and look forward to more complex jobs!