Broken again, loosing faith

[beppington]

Now you guys have me looking for bright orange on Bing maps. Looks like a neat place to live.

I don't see any orange, but am guessing this is he:

 

[IslandTractor]

I don't see any orange, but am guessing this is he:

<img src="http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=265728"/>

No, that is the Bacon farm in the central part of the island. I'm in the west coast about half a mile or so to the southwest of the Bacon place.

No orange to see on the aerial photos as the tractor lives in the barn. The road running east west across the middle of the island is Broadway (love the pretense). If you follow the road to the west side, we are the first house/barn/shed on the left at the intersection about 300 yards from the shore. Big field to the west of our house which is now mostly clear other than blueberry bushes but was overgrown with trash trees and briar before TBN.

 

[earljr59]

Congratulations on your deal Kiotiken! Its been an enjoyable and very interesting read.And I have enjoyed the packs cheering and advice! It always helps to hear support from the dugout and the bench of littermates. And Island Tractor I also enjoyed reading all of your posts! Very interesting to learn about your island and its history.Too cool for words. We will forgive the hijacking,unintentional and a good read. This thread has been like a good book,I had to finish before getting on my Kioti and mowing. Have a great weekend guys,and give your wives a kiss.God blessed us with good ones it sounds like. Earl

 

[Depmandog]

Now you guys have me looking for bright orange on Bing maps. Looks like a neat place to live.

I must admit that I did the same thing (sorta felt like a stalker).

 

[IslandTractor]

I must admit that I did the same thing (sorta felt like a stalker).

Hey, I did it too before calling the realtor. Modern life. Aliens have been watching all out little orange tractors running around for years.

 

[murphy1244]

Hey, I did it too before calling the realtor. Modern life. Aliens have been watching all out little orange tractors running around for years.

Awesome story Ed, thanks. You really can write.

 

[beppington]

Hey, I did it too before calling the realtor. Modern life. Aliens have been watching all out little orange tractors running around for years.

More questions!

Do you ever just go for a drive around the island? Or have you seen it all enough times now that it's no longer interesting (ie been there, done that)?

Are the roads paved?

I see a few ponds - Are any of them fresh water?

I see a 1/2 mile long runway closer to the north end, near Potter Cove. Is that govt owned? What are the 2 stone bldgs near it that overlook Potter Cove? Are they still used for anything?

 

[IslandTractor]

More questions!

Do you ever just go for a drive around the island? Or have you seen it all enough times now that it's no longer interesting (ie been there, done that)?

Are the roads paved?

I see a few ponds - Are any of them fresh water?

I see a 1/2 mile long runway closer to the north end, near Potter Cove. Is that govt owned? What are the 2 stone bldgs near it that overlook Potter Cove? Are they still used for anything?

I drive around the island regularly but not every week. Always give guests a tour. The old Navy base is quite a kick. The southern third of the island was an ammo dump during WWII and the old bunkers are still there though overgrown with brush and trees. All sorts of little roads going from one to the other. Big T dock down at the southern tip which is where the ships would unload and reload the ammo. The whole former Navy base is a state park (except for a small marine research station) now but because it is hard to get to (and due to all the Lyme disease warning posters) it is used very little except for fishing off the dock.

There are a few fresh water ponds but most of the water you see in aerial photos are tidal ponds. Some are used as oyster hatcheries. The fresh water ponds were traditionally used to make ice. The farmers would cut the ice blocks in the winter and store them under hay insulation for use in summer.

At the north end of the island is another conservation area but just south of that is Potter's Cove which is a very popular anchorage. Quite a few boaters have moorings there even though they never come on to the island. They sail or power over for the weekend and just hang on the hook. There is a farm, old landing strip and a very weird stone mansion up there too. The mansion is partly burned but it was huge and never occupied. Some guy about a hundred years ago decided to build it as a wedding present for his wife as I recall but she didn't like the idea of being on a island so it was never lived in. It was the size of some of the Newport mansions and bigger by far than anything built before or after on Prudence. The farm just to the west of Potter's Cove is active with horses and cattle. They produce cheese and beef. The old landing strip is private but hasn't been used since the only regular pilot (an island resident) crashed into the water while trying to land in fog a couple decades ago. There are several island residents who commute via private boat from Potter's cove.

There are two active churches today. One multi Protestant and one Catholic. There was at one time an Episcopalian church too but that is now a residence. The old "casino" which was not exactly a gambling hall but rather a social hall with bowling alley burned some decades ago. That was just a few hundred feet from my home.

Prudence has a one room school house that has been in operation since I don't know when but I know at least one 85yo Prudence resident who when to school there before going off to Brown University. Currently I think they have one kid in kindergarten, one second or third grader, one kid about 12 yo and a high school junior. Most older kids elect to take the ferry back and forth to the mainland for regular high school but the school on the island is extremely popular with the kids who do stay. Pretty much like home schooling except they are together in a traditional school house. The students even put out a web based newspaper of island news.

I've posted a few photos of the ferry, lighthouse, old photo of school house but it looks essentially the same today, and a photo of the long gone casino. There are also a bunch of photos of our July 4th parade. I need to explain the parade a bit. The oldest July 4th parade in the country is held in Bristol RI which is where our ferry lands. Partly because the ferry gets shut down during the parade and partly because folks would rather stay home than to go over to Bristol, there has been a tradition of a Prudence Parade at the same time. The Bristol parade is serious and has military bands etc as well as the crew of a Navy frigate and is quite the regional event. Ours is not so serious but gets great participation from all the islanders. The parade starts with our one island cop leading in his squad car siren blaring followed by the volunteer fire dept in all their hand me down fire trucks and then decorated vehicles from pickups to lawnmowers. Kids ride in the dolled up vehicles and throw candy and water balloons at the on lookers. A good time is had by all.

 

[kiotiken]

Well, I stopped by my dealers this weekend (this was a long weekend here) to take a look at the new tractor. WOOOOOWWWW. I thought the specs and pictures make the CK and DK series look pretty close in size, at least to me. NOPE, they're not. I would NEVER have bought this tractor without having moved through the CK30 first, I would have taken one look and had one word for it, overkill. Having maxed out the CK30 and wanting a little more, I'm OK with moving up to the DK, but it's going to take some time to get used to the extra size.

Now for the cab. Well, it's VERY VERY VERY nice!!!!! Firing up the 4 cylinder engine, which I can tell is going to make a huge difference, it is already significantly quieter than my CK cab. Closing the door seals out so much more noise. I can see listening to the radio peacefully without having to turn the radio up to where my ears hurt (it still has 4" speakers, I don't understand why they can't put better ones in). The rest of the cab feels very much like the fit and finish you'd find in a car. My Kioti cab was nice, but nothing like this.

I love the two pedal hst set up and I'm used to it from my JD955, I never really did adjust to the rocker pedal in the CK30, even now I'll find myself pushing the brake wondering why it won't move back! I also love that the brakes are on the left side and they can easily be separated. I used steering brakes all the time with my 955 clearing and flooding my rink in the winter, and it just wasn't possible with the CK30 set up.

The CK30 was a luxury tractor when comparing it to others in the same hp and $ range, the DK addresses all of the issues I had with the CK series and has many upgrades on top of that. In reality, the CK is a much better fit for my property physically, but I look forward to maxing out what the DK can do.

 

[sixdogs]

No, kiotiken, you cannot live in the cab 24/7 no matter how nice it is.