Battery change

Tractor battery change

There’s nothing remarkable or even that interesting about changing a battery—routine maintenance on the tiny farm—EXCEPT… Today, I finally got around to replacing the battery, for the first time, on the Kubota compact tractor. It was a quick and simple operation that put instant new life into the trusty little tractor. It also made me realize how fond one can become of a MACHINE. I know this is nothing new: for example, car lovers. For me, though, it’s a first. Like, I love my wheel hoe, but it is such a simple tool, the attachment is more to the idea of it than to the machine itself. The complex workings of the tiny tractor, however, are largely a mystery to me. I can maintain it, and fix an increasing number of things, and I understand the general principles it runs on, but mostly, I simply trust that turning the key will bring it to life. And it hasn’t failed me over the years, faithfully and reliably performing its tiny farming tasks, asking little in return (it’s even good on diesel!). So here I find myself, strangely, with a deep affection for a machine… Cheers! This new $100 Mega-tron II battery is on me! :)

2 thoughts on “Battery change”

  1. Ah, small tractor love!  I share this affliction as well.  My little tractor is a 1967 Farmall 140, Painted International Red.  It  starts reliably time and time again, and has been my steadfast partner in turning our land, long abandoned, into a working farm.  Not quite as practical as yours, mind you, as it has neither a 3 point or a loader, and when finances allow (maybe this spring) I’ll be looking for a small Kubota tractor for our farm too.  Then the 140 can be relegated to “glam” tasks like cultivating between the rows, pulling the wagons and a little light plowing from time to time. But even when I’m roto-tilling, mowing or manure spreading years from now on a future tractor, I’ll always remember that the  tractor that helped build our farm up from the bush was a Farmall 140 with a single bottom plough, belly mounted sickle bar and a grader blade, purchased from my grade 6 teacher in the next village down the valley.

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  2. I understand completely. When we bought our farm I purchased a little Bolens/iseki compact tractor. That little tractor did everything I asked and never complained. When I sold it, my wife said I mourned for days. I picked up a used Kubota with a loader after that, and have now made a new attachment for the little machine that works so hard and asks so little. Really enjoy the Blog Mike. We’ve been doing Goat cheese for years now and I just started a future Market Garden last spring. I’m taking this year to get my  practices down, and hopefully go full time Spring 0f 2010. Keep the great info coming.
    Tim

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