This past Saturday was a big and exciting day for us. We finally bought a tractor and had it delivered! We are now the proud owners of a 1975 Ford 4000 with a front end loader. The tractor also came with a bush hog attachment.

We had originally looked at the tractor the previous weekend and Jon test drove it. We made an offer that day and worked out a deal for the seller to also deliver the tractor to our land. The tractor did not come with a trailer. This is a large heavy tractor and we did not readily have access to a trailer to accommodate. Luckily, the seller did and agreed to deliver the tractor to our land which was about 50 miles away from their location. Of course, we had to compensate some, but they were very reasonable. About half of our money we intended to use was in an online savings account where it takes up to 5 business days to make a transfer or withdrawal. It is a little more cumbersome, but the online savings account offers a better interest rate than anything we can find at a traditional local bank. So, we left a deposit to hold it and departed with a written agreement.

As with just about everything we do, Saturday did not go exactly as planned. The seller has a farm too and was trying to take care of several things that delayed the delivery of our tractor. By the time it was delivered to our property, it was almost dark. Unfortunately, Jon did not have much opportunity to play with his new toy. We basically just had time to unload it and drive it to where we are parking it. Our son is a heavy diesel mechanic and gave it a good look over once we unloaded it. Wouldn’t you think we would have him do this before buying it? Hmmm. That just makes too much sense, now doesn’t it? It was made in 1975 and is 40 years old so of course it is not perfect. But all in all it checked out good.

This big guy is going to do wonders for our efforts of trying to clear our land ourselves. We have been saving and looking for the right one. Not too old and decrepit and not too new and expensive. We wanted a large tractor because we do have a lot of cleaning to do around the place. Also, many of the logging roads that lead to the creek have a descent incline. A good heavy tractor will work better there as well. The front end loader will be wonderful! Although we did have a large section of the land pushed with the dozer we rented, we still have much work and left over clean up. We also already needed a bush hog to keep all of the paths clean. There are several logging roads and if we don’t get them cut back soon, they would just be a horrible mess. We don’t have any plows and tilling attachments yet. That will come in time. At least we have what we need for right now and it is paid for in cash with no debt. Our savings looks a little dreadful but it is so worth it. We are so blessed!