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Hi Rich , You may have missed my point . I think a person should be able to make a good living by working 40 hours a week . HAVING to work 50-60 a week to make a living .... !*&^!@# !! It doesn't leave much time to work around the farm or wherever . Also leaves me exhausted at the end of the week . Remember , I'm more than 25 years older than you ! I work for a small company , we have about 10 employees ( changes all the time ) I've been with them the longest ( 17yrs in July ) I'm a foreman or super or laborer or operator or anything that needs to be done at the moment . We sometimes build bridges , right now we're working on a wastwater plant and a jail , sometimes we rebuild swimming pools for small towns . We do whatever the owner bids on and wins . But I got to say that there are much better way's to make a living . Like Go To School ! And I guess I missed your point on the tractor thing . Your right about the weight issue , maybe I should do a little more thinking on it . OK I'm done . I'll just put the smaller tractor on the sickle and the rake and use the big tractor for the baler ! Maybe get a super h for the rake and a super m for the sickle ? I'm getting lazy in my old age , I got that idea from the farmer down the road , he has a tractor for every implement ! So he doesn't have to change them ! seriously ! He has about 10 large tractors , all shedded , all hooked to whatever they pull all the time . Then he has a 1655 OLI ( That looks like it's fresh off the showroom floor ) that he uses for the hay racks, grain carts and general chores because it's got a loader on it . Dreamer ! I live over by Clarksville . And you live near DM ? Not that far , about 1-1/2 hrs . Good luck with the CDL ! Get the book from the DOT and study it . It helps . Better yet call the university and see if they offer a weekend driving course . It doesn't cost that much and they give you the driving test right there . If you're going to do it go ahead and take the air brake test . Doesn't cost a thing if you fail it . Most places won't let you drive till your 21 , sorry . 45 degees on a dozer isn't that bad . You have to do it at an angle to the slope . There is always the possibility that it'll slip sideways , but you have to use reason when you get on a piece of equipment . Experience helps a lot too ! Gravity doesn't EVER take a vacation . You can't cheat it . It'll win every time . You remember those three things while your on a dozer and you'll do fine . Same goes with any piece of equipment . It's mostly about how things like to go to the ground . ( gravity ) It's only our knowedge of physics that allow us to do the things we do with equipment . To be a good operator you have to understand some basic physics .( see above ) Figuring rollover points on a machine is a matter of more or less guessing the center of gravity of the machine . Some operator manuals show this in there specs . Cranes put it in their load charts . ( % of tipping ) Excavators put it in their capacity charts above ground line . I learned it over time by doing a lot of off-road driving in the mountains in a lifted 4-wheel drive Chevy yrs ago . If you've ever pulled to hard with your tractor and the front end came off the ground then you learned something . ( don't try it for fun , VERY dangerous ) Things happen very fast . And being able to anticipate what's going to happen next is mighty important , as is knowing what to do when it happens . So make whatever you do fun , just be safe too . Pushing the envelope a LITTLE at a time is how experience is learned . Pushing it A LOT is how pain is learned .
Been there - done that ! Still have the pain - though I also have the experience ---NOW . Good luck and take care ...Randy
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