But, honestly, I'd probably be driving it down the road to pick up the mail more than working around the yard!
LOL..I actually do drive it down our driveway just to pickup mail. I'm currently brushhogging a trail in the back acres to prepare for opening season for deer this Saturday.Sounds like you have a nice setup. I often wonder what it would be like if I had a nice tractor to work with.
Yeah, person protection is a must. The wife now requires me to wear steel toed boots since I am so accident prone.Oh no! Our first pallet related injury!
Well, maybe not exactly the first reported injury related to pallets. Long ago I mentioned that I got a nasty splinter one time by moving some pallets around without using my gloves (because I was too lazy to go get them). Since then, I mention from time to time about making sure you have good leather gloves when handling those pallets. It would be very easy to get your fingers infected by a pallet wood splinter.
Maybe we need to add steel-toed shoes to the protective clothing list as well!?
I got a pair of steel toed boots with a metal plate in sole too. Only problem is the smallest I could find was a size seven and I wear a size 5. I stuffed the toes but they still feel like clown shoes. Sometimes I really need them though.
One of my previous clients, for a Y2K project, was at a steel manufacturing plant and I needed to tour the facilities. They needed to issue me a pair of suitable boots, in place of my wing-tipped Oxfords, and I've had them ever since. Never had the need to use them up until now..hehe.
We have five times as many acres and I only have a riding mower with a trailer. Would I like to have a tractor of my own? Yes. But it's not worth the cost (upfront and maintenance)... yet... We have made the backyard more efficient over the years. We have a no-dig garden which we placed right next to the coop/barn so bedding only needs to be moved a few feet to the compost piles or straight into the beds. Most of the property I leave "overgrown" for the wildlife. Our goats and sheep took care of much of the invasive plant species and left a ton of beneficial wildflowers that I do not want to mow.Well, shoot. Before I was just envious of you having a tractor. Now I am all upset because I have 3 acres of land and only putt around on my riding mowers and/or my small golf cart from the 1970's!
I'm actually in the market for goats and a donkey. The goats to manage the overgrown weeds and the donkey to keep the coyotes at bay.
I will never raise goats again... They are high-maintenance and difficult to keep contained. Good fences and pasture rotation is a must. But I know a lot of people love them and they might be good for you and your situation. If you only have weeds and grass to manage, Katahdin sheep would be my recommendation.
I have a hallow bone in my midfoot from a pitchfork accident years ago. I skipped the surgery because it felt excessive....fused bones and a metal plate. That bone has rebroke ridiculously easy since so I like steel reinforced boots
. Don't know if they actually help but I feel reassured wearing them 
. Just really wish they made good ones in small sizes! I did promise hubby I'd do the surgery if it breaks again, but I've avoided it for...1-2? years now. Better knock on wood before I drop a pallet on it eh. 
Hmmmmmmmmmmmm. How close to I-35 are ya?
I think I am going to have a conversation with Dear Wife about me not having a tractor when other people get all the nice toys, I mean working machines to get stuff done that is really important to get done with a tractor. I think I will demand that we get a tractor, too.
I mean it!
