My tractor is from the 1950s, an old Massey-Fergueson, and as such it can be difficult to find someone who will work on it because I need someone who will come out to my ranch. Additionally, they must either have been alive long enough to have experience with a 60 year old piece of machinery, or be someone willing to tinker and figure out how it works. It's a relatively simple tractor, but most of the mechanics I've found aren't interested in working on something unfamiliar. My regular guy was busy and couldn't make it out here to assess right away. The hay bale and tractor remained wedged together in the space next to the arena until yesterday.
Once the tractor guy had taken a good look which included disassembling a disturbingly large number of parts, we discovered there was a metal piece in the transmission which had broken. It was the reverse/first fork and needed to be replaced or welded back together. Unfortunately the bottom piece which had broken off was now in the depths of transmission fluid unreachable without some sort of long tweezers or magnet. He closed up most of the tractor to keep its innards clean and we adjourned for the afternoon to see if the local automotive store could overnight us that part. As it turned out the part won't be in for a few days and therefore I probably won't be able to use the tractor until the weekend. It sure was convenient that we could sort of close it back up and leave it for a few days, as opposed to the veterinary surgeries with which I usually assist. With a living animal we have the concerns of time under anesthesia, and we're in big trouble if we get in there and something is broken and we can't retrieve it or fix it in the same day!
Now my conundrum was having plenty of hay but no way to deliver it to the horses. I had a few small square bales (110 lbs each) that I fed them but I blew through those quickly with 10 horses eating them. My hay guy would have brought me more (and could have moved some big round bales for me), but he was snowed in at his ranch with nearly two feet of snow on the ground and more to come. This meant I had to scramble to find some small squares which I could physically move without my tractor, and I needed them in time for Monday dinner.
I called the local feed stores with no luck. I normally wouldn't go through stores because prices are high while quality and quantity are low, but in a pinch I was willing to go that route. I then called some local hay resources I'd used in years past before I found my current (saintly) hay guy. I was able to track down some 50 lb timothy hay bales, though of course they were nowhere near the quality I usually get. That actually worked in my favor, though, because it's safer for the horses to quickly go from high quality to mediocre quality hay than the other way around. More fiber and less rich feed is easier on their digestive systems than suddenly loading them with really high quality forage. That being said, it would be difficult to find hay better than what I usually feed.
I traipsed across the freeway with my truck and I picked up eighteen 50 lb bales which should last until the tractor is functional again. While I was leaving the hay ranch with my load I saw a juvenile bald eagle sitting on the arch over the driveway.
I took some video of the incredible creature as I sat in my truck thinking about how fortunate I am to live in such a place.
https://youtu.be/6rSgnqlH7Fw
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