Kubota 8540 Narrow Tractor

There is something new around the farm, a Kubota 8540 narrow tractor!

The New Toy

I got a new toy!

It is one you probably would not expect me to buy!

But, I did.

I even went  and talked with the salesperson by myself.

Now, I’m not sure what you have guessed my new toy to be but, if you guessed shoes, purses, clothes or a new kitchen gadget, you would be wrong!

Here is a big hint – take another look at the photo.

If you guessed “tractor”, you would be right. To be specific, I bought the Kubota 8540 Narrow tractor. Narrow means it can go down our vineyard rows – that’s important!

For those of you who have been reading awhile, you know that my favorite color is yellow. But, unfortunately buying a tractor is not like buying a car – you don’t have color choices. If there was a choice, I would have bought a yellow one  😉

I guess I shouldn’t say that there is “no” choice. There are choices with the most popular two being green or orange. Green means you bought from John Deere and orange is a Kubota.

Thankfully our harvest was so good this year that we could upgrade from our 1958 Ford tractor which was given to us and has served us well. But, after harvest, the boys were mowing around the vineyard and it died – dead in the field dead. After an exam by Dr. John, the diagnosis was a new starter was needed and the carburetor needed  to be rebuilt. Since it is so old, parts can be hard to find and as you might guess, this was not the first time that the tractor had to be towed back to the house.

The Old Tractor

One of John’s favorite sayings is, “use it up, wear it out, make do or do without”. In this case, we wore that old tractor out! So, I decided it was time to invest some of the profits from harvest and buy a new tractor.

Can I drive it? Yes. I can even back it up and raise the front loader up and down!

Do I want to do the work of mowing and scooping that is done with it? No – I would rather be inside cooking and telling you what is going on around here!

I am very generous with the use of my tractor and I have two simple rules – Don’t scratch it and don’t get it dirty!

We will see how long that lasts!

For more vineyard posts, check out the links below!

Fall Vineyard

Montepulciano Harvest 2020

Roussanne Harvest 2020