Stuck

tessiers · Apr 7, 2013

Was moving some baleage around today with the skid steer and found myself stuck in the middle of a pasture. Too house and only help available was my 6 year old daughter. She could not reach the floor pedals for the bucket anyway so I put her in the skid steer. Push to go forward pull to go back let go to stop, simple enough she has been driving in my lap since she was old enough to go outside anyways. 30 hp tractor was handy so brought that out and stuck that too. Up to the 45 hp tractor and got the smaller tractor out but not the skid steer. Hooked up the 22 hp John Deere MC and out she comes, never even hinted at spinning. I told daughter to wait and I would be right back, when I got to the gate with the crawler I heard my daughter coming behind me, drove it right to the barn and parked it where I always do, never missed a beat. That little MC paid her dues today and so did my 6 year old.

RaydaKub · Apr 7, 2013

I'm sure someone will come in and give ya heck for that, but from me, you get a hearty congratulations!

AKfish · Apr 8, 2013

Great story! Your daughter will have some "earned" confidence that will always serve her well in the future! And some lucky guy in her future will be forever grateful, too!

AKfish

Gale Hawkins · Apr 8, 2013

That is a good machine for that age group. They know stick controlling quite well.

tessiers · Apr 8, 2013

I must admit I was surprised to see how well she did, she must have been paying attention all those times she rode with me. I agree joysticks are the norm for kids nowadays so she took to it like she was born there. I guess you gotta look at every kid differently but she has more confidence and sence of control than most hands I have had work here. I would trust her more than any teenage boy I have ever hired, at least she would ask if she wasn't sure about something.

TripleR · Apr 8, 2013

Congratulations, my oldest son studied everything I did from running a tractor to a power boat and as a result, he was able to take the controls easily at an early age. It sounds as though your daughter is a good observer and I am sure you are proud of her.

Ted Summey · Apr 8, 2013

Having confidence in your daughter to help will do wonders for your relationship for a long time. Your confidence will change her life! She will continue to pleasantly surprise you, especially if she's a daddy's girl. Mine do! While 6 is young, you are the best judge of her safety - clearly she handled it fine.

My girls are almost interchangeable with their brother when it comes to helping out on the farm. I say almost because he's a 6'3" 180 pound guy so he is obviously stronger but otherwise there's very little he can do they can't. As a matter of fact my 24 yo daughter pulled a calf about a month ago BY HERSELF! My son couldn't do that!