I went out to the garage yesterday to assess what my tractor will need before the thaw here. Last fall, one of the wheel assemblie fell off, that will have to be repaired permently (I just put it back on and put a washer on it, it held OK, but needs to go into the shop). It's a Yardman 20 horse power and really does the job of hauling my plants around and mowing. It's not very good for getting through the snow, so I was thinking about putting better tires on it and buying some wheel weights for the rear wheels.

This tractor also has the capability to add attachements like a plow. Given the size of the veggie garden I'm planning for this next summer, I'm wondering if it would be more money saving to buy one?

Susie in MN

Susie, sounds like you are really ready for spring.

We have 2 tractors. One is a very old Long tractor. It's huge and I leave it alone. It's all but worn completely out but Mel still needs it every now and then. We got a new Kubota tractor last fall and it's smaller. It has the scoop on one end and the bucket on the other. Mel said it was mine. LOL I haven't gotten to even sit on it but once. He's always on it doing something. I guess I'll have to stick to my wheel barrow and shovel.

Good luck on getting your tractor ready. Sounds like you already know much more than I do about them.

My DH took this picture of me on my mower when we lived in Williams MN. In it, I'm mowing around our pond:

Well, the repair shop came for the tractor this morning at 7AM. Guess he wanted to have a real challanging day!

I used the tractor last week to mow the lawn with and, as expected the wheel assembly fell off. Left me stranded in the middle of the yard. I hooked up our old Dodge power wagon and towed it over to the garage and pushed it in. Not only did the wheel assembly fall off, it now has 3 flat tires.

I asked the repair man to just go over the entire thing and make sure that nothing else will go wrong with it this summer. UGH! I can just hear the grass growing now!

Susie in MN

I hope it's "healed" soon and you can get back to mowing. Our mowers always end up in the shop at least once a year; usually right when you need them the most.