Ed57VA
New member
Hi folks,
Just a short note to introduce myself. My name is Ed. I've learned lots of great information by lurking here for the past few months and figured I ought to join in. My wife and I are less than half a dozen years from retiring. We have a small hobby farm (homestead) raising ducks, chickens, turkeys, and guineas. We raise a good portion of our own food, aside from the birds, we have a productive garden, greenhouse and 2 small high tunnels. I have maintained the property for years with my trusty 1964 Gravely Model LI. Our little 4 acre haven is fairly steep and hilly, with a 60' elevation difference from top to bottom with lots of dips and rises in between. I've blown 2 riding mower engines by oil starvation traversing these hills. The Gravely, having a pressurized oil system has no trouble with the hills. It's a painfully slow way to mow. I've used it to grade our 1500' gravel drive and also for snow removal. I also compost an average 12-18 cu. yds. every year. I push the pile as best as I can with the Gravely, then turn the rest by hand with a manure fork.
I've been trying to convince the wife that I am getting too old for all this hard labor, we need a tractor. Well, the snow gods helped me out his past winter with a snow/ice mix of 14". It took me 3 long days on the Gravely to clear the drive down to the frontage road. As I was soaking my sore body in the hot tub, my wife says "We need a tractor." The next weekend, before she could change her mind, I was at the Massey Ferguson dealer and bought a used GC2310 TLB with only 300 hrs on it. Also got a back blade, which I used to repair winter damage to the drive. Between the hills, garden, fruit trees, and other obstacles on our property, a SCUT was the only choice. It's only been a month now, and I've put another 37 hours on it. So far, I am very happy and the wife loves that I can fill 2 4'x8' raised beds with compost for potatoes in half an hour rather than all day.
I am looking forward to getting to know the good folks here and adding my 2 cents where appropriate. Cheers!
My Gravely LI doing fine in light snow.
The new-to-me workhorse.
Just a short note to introduce myself. My name is Ed. I've learned lots of great information by lurking here for the past few months and figured I ought to join in. My wife and I are less than half a dozen years from retiring. We have a small hobby farm (homestead) raising ducks, chickens, turkeys, and guineas. We raise a good portion of our own food, aside from the birds, we have a productive garden, greenhouse and 2 small high tunnels. I have maintained the property for years with my trusty 1964 Gravely Model LI. Our little 4 acre haven is fairly steep and hilly, with a 60' elevation difference from top to bottom with lots of dips and rises in between. I've blown 2 riding mower engines by oil starvation traversing these hills. The Gravely, having a pressurized oil system has no trouble with the hills. It's a painfully slow way to mow. I've used it to grade our 1500' gravel drive and also for snow removal. I also compost an average 12-18 cu. yds. every year. I push the pile as best as I can with the Gravely, then turn the rest by hand with a manure fork.
I've been trying to convince the wife that I am getting too old for all this hard labor, we need a tractor. Well, the snow gods helped me out his past winter with a snow/ice mix of 14". It took me 3 long days on the Gravely to clear the drive down to the frontage road. As I was soaking my sore body in the hot tub, my wife says "We need a tractor." The next weekend, before she could change her mind, I was at the Massey Ferguson dealer and bought a used GC2310 TLB with only 300 hrs on it. Also got a back blade, which I used to repair winter damage to the drive. Between the hills, garden, fruit trees, and other obstacles on our property, a SCUT was the only choice. It's only been a month now, and I've put another 37 hours on it. So far, I am very happy and the wife loves that I can fill 2 4'x8' raised beds with compost for potatoes in half an hour rather than all day.
I am looking forward to getting to know the good folks here and adding my 2 cents where appropriate. Cheers!
My Gravely LI doing fine in light snow.
The new-to-me workhorse.
