Billy Goat Brush

The mowing deck on the Bolens Lawn Tractor is in the shop for repairs. A new drive spindle, some bearings, and a new main pulley (heavy, and the most expensive part) will have her all fixed up within a week.

On thinking about how I was making trails before, I realized that I should use the right tool for the job. Yesterday I rented a walk behind brush hog and spent the day clearing some space through the brambles at Pine Grove.

It was $108 for a full day rental, and considering that it's going to cost 4x that amount to have the mower deck repaired, I think that it was worth it. This machine had no problem mowing down the weeds and saplings. Anything over 2" or so it would let me know that it wasn't made for such a task.

The pathways are now ready to be maintained by the lawn tractor, and I will need to build a bridge, because in the middle of the thick brush which is now cleared, I found a pool of water in the creek bed.

In a way it is good to see because it is the creek bed area that I was thinking about clearing out in order to make a pond. However, it's also right at the southern fence line which is where the driveway would be. Well, plans are made for changing I suppose.

Making trails

Making trails

Spent most of yesterday down at Pine Grove. Used around 4 gallons of fuel in the lawn tractor and got about 3/4 finished with clearing out the perimeter.

I dropped a 30-pack of Bush Light at our neighbors porch. I now have his phone number and can TXT him in advance to see how the weather has been and if the gate will be open or not. We're still working on a more permanent way to enter the property. I think that I will ask him if he'd like to trade some firearms or something.

The last part of the day was spent in the brambles and sadly I was out of fuel before I was out of daylight. The brambles are very thick, but it was easy, monotonous work. Move forward a few feet, back up, lower the deck, move forward. Rinse. Repeat.

The 1978 Bolens lawn tractor has been doing a pretty good job. I'm mowing with it through a bunch of little saplings. A brush hog would make the work much easier, but the lawn tractor was only $275 and the brush hogs that I've seen came with a used price of $600+.

I think that with this Bolens being an older lawn tractor, it is much more capable and forgiving than those newer mowers would be.