Workhorse for the Farm

Horses wasn't something that Lon had pictured in his mind when we began talking of our adventure in starting a hobby farm/homestead. At least not the 4 legged kind, that was always my dream. He has jokingly said that his horses were under the hood and had 4 tires. But over the past year I know he has come to love Sassie and her new foal, born this past summer. Otherwise he wouldn't spend time trying to befriend them, despite his protests about their eating habits. But like all men his head turns with the roar of horses of the mechanical kind.

His first workhorse that brought a light to his eyes. Came the day he drove home his present workhorse - his diesel truck, purchased back in 1996. It has faithfully carried out it's duties these past 14 years, transporting him back and forth to work, hauling light loads and pulling our camper on the many trips we enjoyed. The true test of it's metal came when we began using it as a farm truck in it's "old age". We've not been disappointed in it's performance even now. Being put into service to haul large hay bales or loads of smaller ones. Frequent trips to the feed store, carrying livestock and the ever-ending trip back to his home away from home ~ the firehouse. It's seen better days in the looks department, but I understand it's not the exterior that is important but what is under it's hood.

Today his eyes lit up once more when we brought home another workhorse to our farm. It is something he has dreamed about but never thought he would own. Moving to the country and trying to keep ourselves self-sufficient it had become very evident that our need for this workhorse would one day have to be dealt with. We have been using firewood to help heat our home since moving to the farm. There is an abundance of trees on this place, ready to be harvested. As we have areas we want to clear that will offer us lots of logs for our hearth. We were even blessed with a few free loads this year as well. But the job of splitting the large logs for use was a back-busting one. We are not as young as we once was, who is? So the need to find an alternative was being pushed to the forefront of our priorities. The question became how though. Every year Lon earns a holiday check for working the holidays throughout the year, that most people who work get to take off. It's both a curse and a blessing for us. One day we look forward to being able to celebrate the holidays like other families do, something we've never been able to do in the 35 years he has been a firefighter. So this year we decided to use the money to invest in the farm and his back.

Our newest workhorse rode quietly behind the truck all the way home from the store. It didn't speak a sound that is until it was called into service. We both became giddy as it roared into action and we saw how easily it took care of a chore for us. Just like a kid with a new toy, Lon was smiling from ear to ear. It blessed my heart to see him with his dream. Unfortunately it became dark too quickly for us to play with it much. But you can see from the pictures it handled even the largest logs we fed it.

The fun begins . . .

The workhorse didn't even bat an eye at the size of logs we gave it. These pictured were from a sweetgum we had taken down in the backyard. Sweetgums are known for their rubbery pulp and had bounced the wood maul right off of it's surface. It met it's match today!

The log laying in the front is but just half of the 22-24" cut that was split so easily. A piece that would have taken a lot of back muscle and time to split. Fell apart in less than a couple of minutes. Talking about saving time, what would haven taken a half to a full day of work. Can now be reduced to a couple of hours!

Merry Christmas to us ~

Deborah