The Ultimate Tractor Implement!!

[K7147]

Yep! I think I’ve found the greatest tractor implement ever! Do you have a tractor implement with a lifetime warranty and that won’t rust if you forget to paint the scratches? Do you have a tractor implement that is multi-tasking and yet doesn’t ever leak a drop of hydraulic fluid or cause you to use even one extra drop of fuel? Do you have a tractor implement that works while you sleep? Do you have a tractor implement that sharpens itself? Do you have a tractor implement that is self adjusting and requires zero time for a change-over? Do you have a tractor implement that is “cute”? I didn’t think so!

Our heavily wooded property is bordered on one side by almost a mile of “back-woods” river and I headed out along this river path early this morning with the trusty Kubota in order to start accumulating firewood for next year. I try to keep a year or two ahead with the firewood supply as the Vermont tundra will occasionally see temperatures dip below 80F degrees during the winter.

Upon arrival at the site where I wanted to drop some trees for firewood I noted …they were already cut down! Not only that, but the fallen trees had been stripped of all the small branches. There was no brush pile as all the small branches had even been removed from the area. In addition, a nice tractor width path had been cleared to the site of the felled trees. I also noted that most of the felled trees were of perfect firewood diameter. Using the backhoe thumb and chainsaw I made short work of the felled trees and large branches that were transported back to the firewood storage area for eventual splitting.

Yep, those bank beavers that live along our river have got to be just about the ultimate implement for tractor work! You know, if I could lasso a moose and teach him to dig trenches with his antlers……I might not even need a backhoe!!


Ken

 

[Highbeam]

That's great until they use those branches to dam up the river and flood your entire firrewood supply. Another rodent will then deem the area a natural wetland and not let you remedy the problem.

May as well take the firewood now.

 

[Neil L]

Speaking of the other rodent, any body got a solution for the Musk Rat. I don't seem to have luck with traps and high speed lead is a waiting game.

Thanks,
Neil

 

[K7147]

That's great until they use those branches to dam up the river and flood your entire firrewood supply. Another rodent will then deem the area a natural wetland and not let you remedy the problem.

May as well take the firewood now.

Naw! We're talking a "river" here not a "crik"! Besides, I take serious offense to you calling my pals "rodents"! I'll try to calm their nerves and explain you just had your species a bit confused.

 

[weesa20]

My hometown in MA has taken 9 of those rodents with sharp teeth out of one of the culverts in town because they keep blocking it up and flooding the road. Maybe you have some that were relocated from MA!!

W

 

[goaliedad]

Hey Highbeam= you owe beavers an apology- lumping them together with " other rodents" like that, just not nice!

 

[K7147]

My hometown in MA has taken 9 of those rodents with sharp teeth out of one of the culverts in town because they keep blocking it up and flooding the road. Maybe you have some that were relocated from MA!!

W

I suppose it all depends on which end of the telescope you happen to hold close to your eye. From the end that I view I see them as industrious hardworking elements of “mom natures” design. They build a comfortable and sturdy home, they are dutiful parents, they help me with my firewood chores, and their residence predated my tenure by a few hundred years. I figure it’s their land and they just tolerate my squatting rights.

Definitely not from MA! All rivers from this latitude flow north. Course,….they may have sneaked in from Montreal? I’ll listen carefully next time to see if there is a French inflection to their speech.

 

[Nat]

I thought the "other rodent" he was talking about was the EPA. Making it a wetlands area in one year would cause some tree hugger here to sue me for trying to repair the area. later, Nat

 

[goaliedad]

nat- exactly- that is why he owes the beaver an apology!

 

[LeadPoison]

I have battled many a beaver in my day. They don't go down without a fight.

 

[BobG_in_VA]

I have battled many a beaver in my day. They don't go down without a fight.

Got any Pictures??? (LOL) Bobg in Va

 

[ovrszd]

Naw! We're talking a "river" here not a "crik"! Besides, I take serious offense to you calling my pals "rodents"! I'll try to calm their nerves and explain you just had your species a bit confused.

I wish I had a picture with me to back up this claim, but, I once photographed a beaver dam that was 175 feet long and four feet high, damming a constantly flowing river. I often wondered how many there were on that crew!!!!

 

[Thomas]

Morning Ken.
Those beavers are smart little buggers that's for sure,and I agree about the moose (over here in NH we call them swamp donkeys) one power animal more so this time of year...yikes...another animal would be a great helper would be groundhog digging fence pole holes.

 

[jinman]

Morning Ken.
...another animal would be a great helper would be groundhog digging fence pole holes.

And moles to till your garden, then leave and go somewhere else.

 

[K7147]

Morning Ken.
Those beavers are smart little buggers that's for sure,and I agree about the moose (over here in NH we call them swamp donkeys) one power animal more so this time of year...yikes...another animal would be a great helper would be groundhog digging fence pole holes.

Good Morning to you Thomas!

I sure am glad someone gave my furry pals some credit for intelligence. Some people forget that at one time the entire economy of North America depended on those little guys. Over generations the beavers on our river have probably learned that between the swift river current and spring flooding that creating cross-river dams is a futile task. They tend to keep to the river bank…and thus their local name.

I guess my thoughts are that if we did away with the beavers because they build dams, the river otters that occasionally feed in my trout pond, the deer that nip a shrub or two, the moose that tramples my grass, and the squirrels that raid the bird feeders…….We’d lose all our entertainment and a prime reason for living here. Given the choice of watching a bald eagle catching his meal or witnessing highway commuter “road rage”…I’d opt for the feathered guy every time!

Well, off to see how much work my furred pals did during the night. Got to teach them to flatten out those “pointy” log ends so as they are awkward in the splitter…

 

[jmc]

The thing that finally pushed my benevolence over the edge was that they are ringing trees in my creek bottom and valleys.

Good point. I had a creek whose path was stabilized by the trees along it. The beaver moved in, girdled those trees, and now the creek is free to wander all over that bottom.

 

[Tom_Veatch]

...
I can live with it. It reallty isn't costing me anything. But it is quite painful to look across the lake and see what looks like a whole valley that has been poisoned. I'm conservative by nature and the waste in this situation is appalling. and even though beavers are 'natural', there is no real way to look at that sort of waste as good by any standard that I can think of.
...

Now, George, are you trying to tell us that those "natural" critters aren't "living in harmony with nature"? I thought is was only the **** sapiens natural critters that didn't live harmoniously with nature.