…
It made me think about our own equipment, here at Granite Glen.
Now we are part of a pretty well-run enterprise … but I’m not sure that our general machinery is, well, cutting edge. Sure we have the latest computerised gadgets for weighing and scanning and identifying cattle, cause that’s our business. But the everyday maintenance of the property is often taken care of with items of a less impressive degree of shiny-ness.
…
For example, for as long as I can recall, we have had a grader here to take care of the many kilometres of dirt and gravel roads through our paddocks. Not everyone has a grader, so really, we should be happy we actually own one. Trouble is, not everyone exactly had their hand up to drive this particular vehicle.
If you could really call it a vehicle…
Hello Grader… Hello Dad, the grader driver… Hello SSB the driver of the tractor pulling the grader… Yup, that’s it on the left: no engine, no shock absorbers, lots of elbow grease required!
The operator is required to frantically pull the big vertical metal wheels to lift and lower the blade as it passes over the road, requiring some pretty good co-ordination between tractor driver and grader driver (both of whom have to watch where they are travelling as well as shout over the noise of the tractor to each other!).
…
So as Dad’s workforce increased and his joints began to protest more at the jolting ride our antique equipment offered, he ‘got rash’ and lashed out.
He bought a new grader!!!
‘Not’, he said, ‘that there is really anything wrong with the old one. Still works. Be nice to have one that I can drive on my own though. Leave you blokes do the hard work for a change!’
…
We all gathered to see the spanking new addition to the Granite Glen machinery shed.
There were arguments over who would get first ride in the cabin alongside Pagi…
Dash won and we all watched breathlessly to see the new grader in action…
Hmmmmmm… Dad gets a feel for the gears and Dash gives us the one-finger salute (the nice one!).
Well it IS more recently painted than its predecessor, it doesn’t require a tractor
and it has a windscreen! A
major upgrade. When asked if he didn’t think he should have found a vehicle with actual air-conditioning, Dad replied:
“It IS bloody well air-conditioned. The NATURAL way – just open the blinkin’ window!”.
And with that, he was off. Happy as a lark, purring along in his new old grader, grandson at his side. You couldn’t have made him any happier by handing him the keys to a Ferrari. I imagined what his response might be if you did such a thing:
“For heaven’s sake – what use is that thing to me? It’d just get a bloody stone chip!”
And that would be that.
And the old grader??
Having an honourable retirement in a scenic paddock, drawing curious glances from passers by.
Oh, we say, that’s the OLD grader. You wait til you see the new one!
Hello Grader… Hello Dad, the grader driver… Hello SSB the driver of the tractor pulling the grader… Yup, that’s it on the left: no engine, no shock absorbers, lots of elbow grease required!
10 Comments
debby
Oh, your pa seems like quite the charactor! And the grader in the scenic paddock will certainly provide camera fodder for a certain woman we know with a fondness for old things!
Jayne
Love the sculpture you’ve made from the old grader 😉
Yep, I was the same with air-con – “open the bloody window, ya mug” lol 😉
jeanie
ha ha – I remember when the old grader was a newbie!!! I also remember when that Chamberlain was the new tractor – we are getting old(er)!!
Bush Babe (of Granite Glen)
Deb – my Dad is a rough diamond. A good man. And I just cannot get away from the old stuff, can I??
Jayne – I have a story about my Dad and air-con which I will share soon. He’s a funny man!
Jeanie – NOBODY is old enough to have been around when that grader was new… certainly not you (being two years younger than me, an’ all!)!!!! Must’ve been a previous life…
BB
debby
BB – I am the oldest ‘child’ in my family. I have a saying that is known amongst the siblings. Not one of them will moan about being old in my presence because I fix them with a look and say, “You’re not old. You’re younger than me. If you’re claim old, that makes me older. So not one of you is old until I give the word.” I’m not old yet, ergo, neither are they. It’s a good system.
jeanie
You forget that it was once “new” for us – of course, it probably had a few years on the clock when Dad bought it, but we were in existance when he did. We went to somewhere near Langley in the Red Truck.
Now, trips in the Red Truck (not the one from the photos, Deb) would be worth a post.
Bush Babe (of Granite Glen)
Deb – I hear you sistah. I like to say: you’re only as old as the man you feel… of course, that only works when you have a toyboy (check!).
Jeanie – I hope everyone can see by now just how very loosely we use the word “new”. The thing is a blinkin’ antique. Not that there is anything wrong with that! (Eh, old girl??)
🙂
BB
steviewren
What do you do with a used grader? You recycle it! This is recycling at it’s best…not thrown away, not dragged to the dump but turned into yard art…gotta love it!
Congratulations on the improved model.
debby
ROFL! You’re only as old as the man you feel! Unfortunately, though, that still makes me 51.
My father used to say, “I plan on living to be 100. Then some young jealous husband is going to shoot me.”
Karen
I think I would’ve liked to have seen your father and hubby running the grader in person. Sounds very entertaining! All we have here is a Cub Cadet garden tractor – which is basically a glorified riding mower. *grin* Of course, it’s better than trying to mow 7 acres with a push mower …