[AT] Red tractor day

[jtchall at nc.rr.com]

Certainly a bit of geography to be considered.  I'm a little west of Spencer 
but still not in the coastal plain. We've still got ample hills and wood 
lines to keep the wind in check. To put it in perspective, I have a friend 
from Ohio, he used to farm there back in the 60's. He was at our farm shop 
one day and commented He didn't have 10 feet of elevation change on his 
entire farm. We must have 20 feet between the shop and dad's house. There's 
got to be 8-10' just in the 1 1/2 acre field in front of my house. He didn't 
mention windbreaks but if it was anything like I saw the one time I traveled 
to Iowa, they would be a good idea. I'd just prefer something without the 
thorns!

Regarding the orange trees, dad has told me several times of a spot just off 
a 2 lane road nearby that had some sort of orange tree in it when he was a 
kid.

The farm I got my Titan from had some sort of tree with HUGE thorns. They 
were around 1-2" long and very stout. It was rather overgrown around the 
tree so I didn't get too close for fear of stumbling into it. I've looked at 
pics of all the trees you guys have mentioned here and none appear to be the 
same. I swear that thing was so menacing a squirrel wouldn't want anything 
to do with it.

Across the highway from me was a farm that has been turned into a 
subdivision. It was tended back in the 50's by a fellow form Europe, England 
I believe. Anyway he planted some kind of thorny bush/brier/rose in every 
fence line. By the time the fence posts rotted, nothing bigger than a rabbit 
could get through that stuff. In places it grew to 8 foot tall and very 
wide. I worked for the subdivision as a grounds keeper for a few years. They 
had built some nature trails that ran with the fence line in places. It was 
fun trying to push this stuff back with a little Deere 670 and 5ft bushog. 
At times I would back as far into it as I could without getting scratched to 
pieces and still couldn't get to the base of the plant. Miraculously I never 
did any damage to the tractor or the bushog, but I did wind up a bunch of 
barbed wire around the blade once.


John Hall


-----Original Message----- 
From: Spencer Yost
Sent: Saturday, January 03, 2015 5:38 PM
To: Antique tractor email discussion group
Subject: Re: [AT] Red tractor day

As any of you who have been around my part of North Carolina know, there's 
no reason to plant wind breaks or hedge rows. Any fallow field will be a 
field that can't be bush hogged because of tree saplings within four years.

However I am lucky enough to be the proud owner of the only Osage Orange 
track I know of in the area. I hate that stuff.  To add insult to injury, 
blackberries love to live around the edges. By the time you were done 
attempting to clear; you are a bloody mess with ruined clothes.

Has anyone noticed that Osage Orange branches hang exactly at tractor 
operator height?  Just sayin....

The only upside is the handmade bow makers in the area love it and I have 
been able to sell a few pieces.

When you were done with yours Dean, please come down and get mine too. 
Thanks!

Spencer
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