Leslie took a half day vacation in order to come home at 11am to work on his hay mower and finish cutting the hay on the place that's catty-corner to us. I'm off with a hired hand piling thorn bushes to later be burned and get home almost at 6pm. I pay the guy, take a shower, go sit outside and at almost 8pm I call Leslie.
"HELLO!!!" I hear the tractor running in the background.
"How much do you like?"
"I'M THROUGH!" (Never dawns on him that HE'S the one that can't hear with the tractor running and that the person on the other end has no trouble hearing his screaming), "I'M GONNA TRY TO BRING IT HOME THE BACK WAY!!"
Ever come SOOOOOOO close to telling someone not to do something but don't--then live to regret it?
I'm sitting on the back porch enjoying the evening and keeping an ear open for the advancing tractor. It doesn't come...I've just about decided to call him when my cell rings.
"Well," he says in his much calmer voice--there's no engine sound in the background, " I didn't quite make it."
"Did you tilt it over?" I ask in my just-as-calm voice.
"Yeah...."
"Are you okay?"
"Yeah..."
"You want me to come get you on the four-wheeler?"
"Looks like you're gonna have to. Bring the power saw."
I don't question him...I just grab the key and go by the truck and grab the power saw on my way out to the barn and the four-wheeler.
I don't know what I'm going to find when I get there but all the way back there I'm thanking God for his blessings on the idiot who tried to bring the tractor--with a hay mower attached--through the back way where he's gonna have to go through a dry creek, turn and come UP an incline much steeper than most pond banks AND do it at an angle.
I drive across the pasture, turn at the far corner into our woods, drive a crooked path for about 50 or so feet and turn into a makeshift gap...I have to go just a ways more before I spot Leslie standing with a hand on hip, staring down at the tractor that's laying on it's side at the bottom of the incline, contemplating his next move.
He glances up at me as I approach and gives me a sheepish look. I merely look at him. It's true that silence speaks louder than words, sometimes. He takes the power saw and starts cutting small trees and low limbs in anticipation of bringing the tractor up and through the woods. My main concern is not the trees on the path but how in blue blazes is he going to get that tractor upright?!? No way can a wrecker get back there. It's laying on it's right side at the bottom of the incline with the two large back tires not touching the ground...one of the front tires is mashed into the ground and against a tree stob ...the only thing that kept it from going even further was the fact that it had a rollbar and that hay mower..those two things stopped it from continuing it's roll. Had it continued on it's course, he would have been seriously injured as that tractor has a canopy, not a cab.
He finishes cutting a path, puts the power saw back on the four-wheeler, gets on behind me and we head back for the house. We get a couple of chains and the new tractor with the front end loader.
I tell him," You're not going to be able to pick that tractor up with the front end loader--you'll tear it up."
"I'm not gonna use the front end loader."
Okay, I'm figuring he has something resembling a plan in the making so remain quite.
He takes the tractor and drives it back to the corner while I drive the four wheeler with the chains in a bucket on front.
As he gets to the back of the hay field he backs up and picks up a bale of hay, then turns it around and goes forward and picks up another bale...Ah!!!! Weight!
We go into the woods and on down to where the tractor--believe it or not--looks just like it did when we left it ten minutes ago...pathetic.
Leslie gets off and studies the situation a bit more then proceeds to attach the chains to different places, changes his mind, and attaches them somewhere else. Finally satisfied with his situating of the chains he tells me to get on the new tractor, put it in low gear and slowly pull forward-not letting it slide backwards- while he gets on the wrecked one and turns the tires ...okay..that sounds reasonable except the part where he's going to get on the upturned one. It turns out he merely meant to stand on the side and turn the wheel in order to get it headed in the right direction. He then stands to the side and directs me on pulling it up and back onto the path....
It slowly but surely pulled right on up and the rest is anticlimatic but I did let him know that "I" would have had enough sense not to attempt that..I'd already slid backwards with a tractor AND lost a bale of hay at that exact same spot. I'd have taken it back around by the road--even if it did take three times as long.
'Course, I couldn't leave it at that...when we got home and were heading into the house I gave his arm a sharp slap and punch ...in some small way that made ME feel better!
"HELLO!!!" I hear the tractor running in the background.
"How much do you like?"
"I'M THROUGH!" (Never dawns on him that HE'S the one that can't hear with the tractor running and that the person on the other end has no trouble hearing his screaming), "I'M GONNA TRY TO BRING IT HOME THE BACK WAY!!"
Ever come SOOOOOOO close to telling someone not to do something but don't--then live to regret it?
I'm sitting on the back porch enjoying the evening and keeping an ear open for the advancing tractor. It doesn't come...I've just about decided to call him when my cell rings.
"Well," he says in his much calmer voice--there's no engine sound in the background, " I didn't quite make it."
"Did you tilt it over?" I ask in my just-as-calm voice.
"Yeah...."
"Are you okay?"
"Yeah..."
"You want me to come get you on the four-wheeler?"
"Looks like you're gonna have to. Bring the power saw."
I don't question him...I just grab the key and go by the truck and grab the power saw on my way out to the barn and the four-wheeler.
I don't know what I'm going to find when I get there but all the way back there I'm thanking God for his blessings on the idiot who tried to bring the tractor--with a hay mower attached--through the back way where he's gonna have to go through a dry creek, turn and come UP an incline much steeper than most pond banks AND do it at an angle.
I drive across the pasture, turn at the far corner into our woods, drive a crooked path for about 50 or so feet and turn into a makeshift gap...I have to go just a ways more before I spot Leslie standing with a hand on hip, staring down at the tractor that's laying on it's side at the bottom of the incline, contemplating his next move.
He glances up at me as I approach and gives me a sheepish look. I merely look at him. It's true that silence speaks louder than words, sometimes. He takes the power saw and starts cutting small trees and low limbs in anticipation of bringing the tractor up and through the woods. My main concern is not the trees on the path but how in blue blazes is he going to get that tractor upright?!? No way can a wrecker get back there. It's laying on it's right side at the bottom of the incline with the two large back tires not touching the ground...one of the front tires is mashed into the ground and against a tree stob ...the only thing that kept it from going even further was the fact that it had a rollbar and that hay mower..those two things stopped it from continuing it's roll. Had it continued on it's course, he would have been seriously injured as that tractor has a canopy, not a cab.
He finishes cutting a path, puts the power saw back on the four-wheeler, gets on behind me and we head back for the house. We get a couple of chains and the new tractor with the front end loader.
I tell him," You're not going to be able to pick that tractor up with the front end loader--you'll tear it up."
"I'm not gonna use the front end loader."
Okay, I'm figuring he has something resembling a plan in the making so remain quite.
He takes the tractor and drives it back to the corner while I drive the four wheeler with the chains in a bucket on front.
As he gets to the back of the hay field he backs up and picks up a bale of hay, then turns it around and goes forward and picks up another bale...Ah!!!! Weight!
We go into the woods and on down to where the tractor--believe it or not--looks just like it did when we left it ten minutes ago...pathetic.
Leslie gets off and studies the situation a bit more then proceeds to attach the chains to different places, changes his mind, and attaches them somewhere else. Finally satisfied with his situating of the chains he tells me to get on the new tractor, put it in low gear and slowly pull forward-not letting it slide backwards- while he gets on the wrecked one and turns the tires ...okay..that sounds reasonable except the part where he's going to get on the upturned one. It turns out he merely meant to stand on the side and turn the wheel in order to get it headed in the right direction. He then stands to the side and directs me on pulling it up and back onto the path....
It slowly but surely pulled right on up and the rest is anticlimatic but I did let him know that "I" would have had enough sense not to attempt that..I'd already slid backwards with a tractor AND lost a bale of hay at that exact same spot. I'd have taken it back around by the road--even if it did take three times as long.
'Course, I couldn't leave it at that...when we got home and were heading into the house I gave his arm a sharp slap and punch ...in some small way that made ME feel better!
