Sometimes it just works ...

The dreaded auger

Last Friday was a huge day. When we bought the tractor, Cath managed to squeeze an  extra implement from the dealer as part of the package. In addition to a rear-mounted flail mower, we also received an auger for digging holes. We felt that this would help us plant lots of trees in our orchard and be invaluable if we ever tried our hand at fencing. Now an auger sounds inoffensive enough but it weights upwards of 250kg and is very awkward to store in an upright position. When it arrived the agent helped us lash it to an upright in our shed and there it stayed – until Friday when we decided it was time to unmount the flail mower (a cool 450kgs) and mount the auger.

 

I have to admit being a little unnerved by the auger. The general feng shui of whole scene isn’t exactly facilitated by the fact that the contraption has “Danger -- imminent death!” signs stuck all over it. Some days earlier  I had watched a few YouTube videos on how to deal with the beast, and the general consensus was that you needed a stand that kept the auger upright and also held it firmly in place while you mounted it to the three-point hitch at the rear of the tractor. (Never in my wildest dreams would I ever have thought about dropping “three-point hitch” nonchalantly into something I was writing!)  I then had a number of fanciful notions about getting a stand made and, while Cath was up north visiting her mum for a couple of days, I travelled around the neighbourhood talking to various folk about it. My last stop was a rather battered looking agricultural services shed. Inside were a group of white haired old men who all walked bent over as though they had spent their lives looking underneath tractors.  Swallowing my pride, I blurted out my question about a stand for an auger etc. etc. etc. The oldest and most gnarled of the men looked at me with something akin to enormous pity (well I am interpreting the look slightly in my favour, others may have read something else into his expression.) “Mate,” he said, “you dig a hole, set a post and then you take the auger outside and lash it to the post!” I think Shakespeare would have penned something like “Exit stage right, in haste” to describe my next move. Anyway, I dashed home, found the largest pole in the shed (so thick and heavy that I had to use the front end of the tractor to carry it outside), dug a bloody great hole and stuck the pole in it. Tests afterwards confirmed that the post wasn’t going anywhere in a hurry, so I felt reasonably comfortable that it would support the weight of the auger. 

 

On Friday morning, after a ritual second cup of coffee, we did a bit of preparatory internet searching. Of course, Cath managed to find the one video that ranked the auger as one of the 5 worst rear attachments for a tractor. Undeterred but apprehensive we then strode off to do battle. Things got off to a good start. We managed to carry the auger outside by tying it to the front loader on the tractor and we then secured it upright against my post. Stage 2 was a little more tricky. We had to unhitch the flail mower. This manoeuvre took longer and was more difficult than expected. We finally triumphed using a bit of brute force on some of the linkages. I think we both secretly dreaded the idea of putting the mower back on again!  

 

At that stage we had another coffee and then marched back to the shed to look the enemy straight in the eye. To our complete surprise, mounting the auger proved far easier than we had imagined.  In no time at all I was drilling holes all over the place. Well, not quite. The auger cannot penetrate rock and our place is extremely rocky, so there were a few false starts. The only really hairy moment was when the auger was digging beautifully but not straight down; in fact it was pushing the tractor over to one side in the direction of the slope on which I was perched. I felt distinctly unnerved for minute before jerking the auger out! After drilling a few more holes I reversed the tractor up to the post and we unhitched the auger and left it lashed upright for the next time. Amazing! Even more amazing was that we then re-attached the flail mower with a minimum of fuss. There were more than a few high fives at that stage! Sometimes everything just comes together and there is a real joy in sharing a small triumph. The afternoon was spent very pleasantly planting trees in all the holes we had dug.

 

The day had more to give, however, as we tried out our locally made fire pit with a barbeque attachment. A small engineering firm nearby which previously specialised in making food vans had been forced by the Covid pandemic to “pivot” in order to stay liquid. They came up with the idea of fire pits and other bits and pieces for outdoor living. It felt really good to support local industry by buying one and nothing beats the feeling of owning something that is both stylish and extremely well made. As the day drew to a close we made huge fire and then cooked steak on the plate and potatoes wrapped in foil in the coals. We sat in front of the fire in perfect harmony for a long while,  drinking (far too much) wine and watching as the sun faded over the valley ... 

Fire pit with a view