Opinion

The Johnson Grass War

Sunday, October 8, 2006

One of the most popular pictures during the time I was growing up was of an Indian sitting dejectedly on a horse with the sun going down in the background. The portrait was apropriately called, "The End of the Trail." That portrait, along with "The Lone Wolf," still hangs on my wall, but I am thinking about adding a picture of my 1952 Allis Chalmers D17 tractor because, as of late, appears to be going the way of the lone Indian and the droopy horse.

One of the first calamities occurred while mowing under low lying limb and breaking the muffler and exhaust system off of the manifold. On a temporary basis, I solved that problem by wearing 25-cent foam ear plugs while I'm working with the tractor. I expect we make so much noise now that probably all of the deer and turkey have fled to a quieter environment or it might explain why my birddogs fail to hear me at times.

The second blow came when the hydraulic system decided to go onthe fritz. The ancient disc now sits among the trees, unable to lift itself up so it can be moved or even used.

The final blow came when I was finishing mowing the Johnson grass. All of the sudden there seemed to be a lot of play in the steering wheel and, sure enough, I could turn it all I wanted. Something had broken that had been repsonsible for turning the sheel one way or another. Meanwhile, the tractor kept running and mowing but, by now, in a somewhat random manner. The only good thing was I wasn't mowing near the edge of a cliff, so by using the brakes on each side, I managed to get the tractor and bush hog halfway back up the lane where it finally decided to veer off to the left and coudn't be coaxed out of a shallow ditch. Now, I've made plans to drag the tractor up on a tilt-bed truck and take the entire rig to the tractor doctor.