Heavy Equipment Operator?

 Yesterday was filled with the mundane.  I actually had to do laundry while trying to figure out what I needed to get packed in the rig.  I don't remember who it was that said to put the tag on the sheets in the bottom right hand corner, but thank you ... THANK YOU!  You have made my bed-making life SO much easier.  No more twisting and turning the bottom sheet, trying to get it on the bed the right way.  

One more thank you to whoever said I should get air fryer liners.  I think it was Mr. Ed that sent a link to me that has changed my air frying forever.  No more cleanup .... except for bacon, I don't think these will work well for bacon, but for everything else, they are GREAT!!

At the same time, I ordered a jigsaw puzzle to mindlessly wile away the hours while Mr. Cooper heals up. I see Patsy doing puzzles on her blog all the time, and we have even shared puzzles in Quartzsite, so I thought I would give it another try.  

So here we are back at the ranch.  There were no cell phones back in the day, so there are no personal pictures.  I just grabbed these off the internet. As I mentioned, once the fields were burned off, the real work began.  Those fields that didn't produce much were ripped again, breaking up the soil so it would soften up enough for the seeds to embed themselves in the mud.

Once the fields cooled off from the burn, we began discing in earnest for the next crop.  I would literally do ANYTHING not to be in the house.  Let the pestering begin.  I had run the smaller cat plowing fields for grain ... please PLEASE let me operate the D9.  

My Dad was hesitant since none of this equipment was ours.  It was all owned by the rice mill.  It was transported all over the county to fields they had leased to provide enough rice to fill the overseas contracts.  

Lucky for me, one day the driver didn't show up.  I can do it .... PLEASE let me drive the cat!!  And so began my heavy equipment career.  SO MANY LEVERS!!  Your hands and feet never stop moving the entire time.  There were two clutches for tranis, two brake pedals (one for each side), a hand operated throttle and the biggest lever ... that actually put it in gear to go forward or reverse.  You definitely had to think on your feet.

Add to that the levers behind you that controlled the plow.  One hand had to be on those the entire time.  We made one trip down the field to the end, where everything went into warp speed to make the turn.  You couldn't turn right without first turning left and getting the tractor far enough over that when you turn BACK, you are in the exact right spot next to the last row.  I was in Heaven!!

This picture is just to show you how big these rigs are.  When we got back to the start of the next row, my Dad got off.  "I've got work to do ... I'll come back when you get stuck in the mud".  As you know, I do love a challenge, especially when it comes to operating equipment.

I spent the entire day on that Cat, going through muddy section after muddy section.  The trick is to use your ears.  It's the same with any piece of equipment with an engine.  You listen to the engine noise every second.  It will tell you when it's hit a muddy spot because it lugs down a bit ... meaning you better lift the plow quickly or you will be buried.  As soon as the engine's normal sound returns, you lower the plow back down.  

Boy was my Dad ever surprised when he came out much later in the day and not only did I not get stuck, but the field was done.  Sadly the main operator came back, but I had many more chances to run this baby around the fields over the next few years.  There's just nothing like the feeling of making this huge piece of equipment do exactly what you want it to do and NOT be a stick in the mud.

We grew rice for several years, making enough money to pay off the ranch.  I never did get the cat stuck!  

We all kept our outside jobs just in case.  You never know when it's all going to go south.  And go south it did ... but that's tomorrow's story!!