The other reason that the grass is getting ahead of me is that I don't have my self-propelled grass clipper and manure spreader on the job 24 hours a day. What this means is that I've been fighting a slowly losing battle against keeping things trimmed on the property.
Last weekend, my friend Mark came down to help with the bridge project, and he trailered along an International Harvester Cub Cadet garden tractor. This was a tractor that he had been given and after doing some basic repairs, was giving me on permanent loan to use here on the property.
I was skeptical, partly because I didn't really want any additional gasoline powered vehicles to maintain and feed, but also because I didn't see that it would be that much more useful than the ElecTrak at maintaining the grass around the house, maybe just a little faster.
Well, it does burn evil gasoline (if only it was a diesel), but it turned out to be a gnarly brush destroying machine! I've been using it to clear the back parts of the yard that have become overgrown with tangles of berries and brush. I've used the ElecTrak to do this in the past on a limited basis, but I've always thought that it was a strain on the machine.
The Cub Cadet has a 12 horsepower Kholer engine with an electric start. The drive train is shaft drive to a three speed transmission, no belts to slip. The mower is 42" wide, mid mounted, and although it's belt drive, I haven't seen any inadequacy in it's performance. The tractor was built in late 1969.
The chassis and running gear is like a large farm tractor scaled down to garden size. There are many accessories (none of which this tractor has) such as a "creeper" gear that is a 4:1 reduction gear for ground engagement, a rear-output PTO with a splined shaft, three point hitch, etc. It would be interesting to get the PTO and pick up on a big rear mounted mower or sickle bar cutter.
Apparently, these tractors are in high demand, not only as working machines, but they are very popular with garden tractor pulling enthusiasts who hop them up and compete at events.
Considering how this thing shreds vegetation, I've been knocking down the back parts of the yard, alongside the driveway, and will probably start working on the pasture down by the creek where the berries are beginning to get a start on taking over the place. Even if I only mow once a year, at least the fields will stay clear. Without some kind of intervention, I'll have 15 acres of sticker bush thickets in a short time.
Its a workhorse for sure!!
