Finally, a Use for the Leaf Blower

I conquered some small issues on the farm today.

I have been researching stump removal. It looks like the best option, short of paying someone, is potassium nitrate (saltpeter). You pour it on your stump, wait four weeks, and then burn the stump. The saltpeter eats the wood and makes it porous so it will burn quickly.

There are other options which work faster.

I had a few small stumps, and I decided to burn them without using saltpeter first. That meant I had to have something that would keep the fire going. I thought about it, and I figured charcoal would work. I bought some charcoal at Tractor Supply, soaked my stumps with diesel, added charcoal, added more diesel, and lit the charcoal with a torch.

It works. The charcoal keeps the stump hot, and the stump burns. It may not burn like a torch. It may burn more like a cigar. That’s fine. Burning is burning. The only problem is that a stump that hasn’t been treated will not burn all that well, so you may have to use charcoal more than once.

I’ve seen people on the web use steel drums to confine charcoal on top of stumps. I didn’t see the point. It’s not like charcoal is going to get up and walk away.

I realized forced air would make the whole process go much faster. I would like to get a small electric blower to point at burning stumps. I don’t have one, so I did something amusing instead. I took my leaf blower and blew on the stumps. They lit up like the sun. It was really neat.

I’m going to get some saltpeter. They have it at Tractor Supply. I don’t know how to make a dry powder stay on top of a stump in a wet climate. Maybe I’ll have to use tarps or something. Other people do it, so there must be a way.

My other big triumph: I ordered a quick-hitch system.

Tractors use what are known as three-point hitches to connect to implements. The three-point system is ridiculous. It’s proof that no matter how long people have been doing something unpleasant, they may continue doing it stupidly instead of inventing new methods. It’s very hard to get a three-point implement onto or off of a tractor.

One answer is the quick hitch. This is a bulky steel frame that connects to your tractor. It’s a stupid idea. You use your stupid three-point hitch to hook to a frame that uses hooks to connect to implements. The obvious question: why not put the hooks on the three-point hitch to begin with? There is no reason why Kubota and John Deere can’t do that.

The frame will limit the number of implements you can use, because the lower hooks are a fixed distance apart. If your implement isn’t just the right width, you have a problem. Dumb.

Someone came up with an obvious solution. It’s called the Pat’s Easy Change quick hitch. You put two new receiver doodads on your lower arms, and you connect the top link the way you did before you had a quick hitch. Because there is no rigid frame, the width of your implement doesn’t matter.

I have a hay spike, a bush hog, and a ballast box. I’m planning to get a flail mower. I also want a subsoiler. I have to be able to change implements fast. The current system is idiotic. It’s so bad, it makes it seem worth it to have one tractor for each implement. How did we get all the way to a new millennium without confronting the issue? Amazing.

Once the quick hitch is in place, I should be able to move from the bush hog to other implements without too much pain. Then I’ll be able to tear rocks out of my land with a subsoiler. That will be wonderful.

I hate tools I can’t use. Everyone has tools that are so difficult to deal with, they sit and collect dust. If I have to blow a couple of hundred dollars to make my tractor useful, I’m all for it.

I need to liberate my front end loader. I have brush forks on it now, and that’s great for moving limbs and logs, but it makes the bucket useless. I have to find a solution. The forks are very hard to remove. It would be worth it to buy a second bucket or a different type of forks. That’s how bad it is.

If I had the loader working, I could fix up my berm. I could level my cart roads. I could move a lot of dirt. I have to get it functioning.

You wait and see. I’ll get things working the way they should. I’m not going to put up with this crap. Life is too short!

When I get the big rock out of my front yard, I’ll put up a photo. I want you to share my joy.

The rock is going to lose. Watch and see.