I got my new used John Deere tractor yesterday. I'd bought it sight unseen and it's actually nicer that I even hoped. It starts up and seems to run just great and everything I tried worked. The front loader bucket is straight and solid and barely has the paint worn off it. The backhoe has a smaller bucket on it but I found other sizes for 9" to 36" are available. Isn't that so typical of a guy? I hadn't owned the thing for six hours and I was checking out options and accessories. Did you know you can get a cab with winshield wiper, heater, overhead console, AM-FM cassette, inside and outside rear view mirrors and even an orange strobe light on top? While is sure was fun to dream about that stuff, I'm thinking maybe a brush hog ought to be my first purchase though. ;o)

-- Gary in Indiana (gk6854@aol.com), December 18, 2001

Answers

Congratulations!

-- Cindy (SE. IN) (atilrthehony@hotmail.com), December 18, 2001.

Those extras sure add up!! Glad you got your tractor, I hope you get a lot of good use out of it.

-- Melissa (me@home.net), December 18, 2001.

....you remind me of my husband. He bought a used Massey Harris 44 (?) this fall..his first tractor..and I've never seen him so excited. All of a sudden he was perusing all kinds of stuff on the Net, getting very mechanical. He loves that machine!

-- Cat (catcrazy@somewhere.com), December 18, 2001.

Congrats Gary!!! We had to pay a guy to come out with a tractor and bucket to get us out of our driveway after last years snow storms! Sure can be handy in the winter too!! We live on a hill and a field blows clean and deposits right on our drive. We put up snowfence this year, but those cabs can keep you warm if you have to go "free" your neighbors. :o)

-- notow (notnow@blabla.com), December 18, 2001.

Want to see how good it is on mileage???? If you start now, you can be in Alabama by February or so, just in time to do the garden for us!

-- lesley (martchas@bellsouth.net), December 18, 2001.

God bless you, my son. Now you are a farmer.

-- melina b. (goatgalmjb1@hotmail.com), December 18, 2001.

I learned three things in my first hour on my new tractor today. First, I learned it's not a bulldozer in this Indiana clay. Second, I learned the top speed on it is roughly equivalent to a jog while on my way to put fuel in it at a station about a mile and a half from my office as the gauge was registering in the red when I first got on it today. Third, I learned the gauge reads that way regardless of how much fuel it has after I had to really work to squeeze two gallons into the ten gallon tank. I just had to laugh at myself on each of these things. I'm sure they won't be the only things I find on this learning curve, but they'll probably be among the funniest. ;o)

-- Gary in Indiana (gk6854@aol.com), December 18, 2001.

What model and how old is it? Come on and go guy all the way and talk horsepower too! Glad for ya!

My old red tractor has become a project lately. Since I started doing long neglegted maintenance, I think I broke all the rust loose that was holding things together!?!

-- John in S, IN (jdoofus@hotmail.com), December 18, 2001.

Gary, Merry Christmas to you. I'm glad you got your machine and are happy with it. I'm jealous, I've got one that is coming in after the first of the year. Doesn't have all the bells and whistles yours does but it is just what I'm after. Enjoy your tractor. Polly

-- (jserg45@hotmail.com), December 19, 2001.

don't you mean 'bush hog?'

-- carol (kanogisdi@yahoo.com), December 19, 2001.

No, Carol, I don't mean "bush hog." I mean "brush hog" as I wrote. Bush Hog is a manufacturer (www.bushhog.com) which does make brush hog type mowers among other implements including front end loaders, even. A brush hog is the type of mower which I'd like to have.

-- Gary in Indiana (gk6854@aol.com), December 19, 2001.