My Mini Green

We have been very fortunate in the fact that we have the ability to get the right piece of equipment for whatever job needs to be done on the farm. Whether it is borrowing something from our neighbor or purchasing it for ourselves we can continue to do whatever work we need to do. Our latest purchase kind of happened by accident. We had a Gator that was acting up and John Deere couldn't fix it. We tried selling it but who wants to buy something that even the dealer is having trouble fixing? So we had a choice to make. Either keep making payments on it and hope it sells or trade it in for something we needed. We hated to purchase anything because we have been able to make do with our current equipment but continuing to pay for something that we couldn't use just seemed stupid. So we narrowed our needs down to 2 things, a grapple bucket and a lawn mower. Before we even got the chance to debate, our neighbor bought the grapple bucket and said we could share it. Doncha love when that happens??!!! So lawn mower it was. Now, I have been mowing with a Sears Craftsman mower for quite awhile now. We only needed a mower for around the house as the pastures and other areas were mowed by the tractor. However, the Sears was almost as old as the twins and every year we had to replace parts of it because it was just falling apart. I was determined to use the dang thing until the wheels fell off but hubby thought that maybe, by replacing it with a mower that mowed evenly and could actually make a right turn (my Sears had issues with right turns!)that I could accomplish more mowing in a shorter amount of time. With the Sears, mowing took all day. The poor little thing only had a 42 inch cut so I had to make pass after pass after pass...We have A LOT of grass to mow! So hubby was on a mission to get the best trade he could. Boy did he ever!!! This is what we ended up with:

This baby is AWESOME!!! Please excuse the dirt and grass, she got used yesterday.  Let me tell you that getting used to the steering is, ummm, a little weird. I am used to a steering wheel. If I want to go left, I simply turn the wheel in the direction I want to go. If I want to go right, well okay I had to get a new mower to go right but you get the picture. This one uses levers. Push them both forward and you go forward. Pull them back, you go in reverse. To go left, you push the right lever forward while holding the left one steady and vice versa for right. Let me just state for the record that backing up is a talent that I do not seem to possess at this time! Seems easy enough in theory but let's just say my execution left a little to be desired. I purposely avoided the long straightaways of our yard until I had figured the steering out because I couldn't mow in a straight line to save my life at first. Good thing we live in the country and there was no one to see me wobbling all over the yard. Or yanking the wood back off the column at the driveway...Ooops~
Anyway, I got it figured out and, instead of taking all day to mow, I finished in about 4 hours. That included time for me to walk ALL THE WAY across the yard to the barn to get a gas can because SOMEONE ran out of gas. Figures, I do it at the farthest point from where the spare gas is kept. I guess Mini Green thought I needed a little extra exercise! So now my yard is all purdy lookin' and I am looking for more grass to mow...just to perfect my technique:)