Lessons I Learned from My Farmer

I have learned many things from my Farmer over the years while living here on the farm. Some of the best advice and lessons learned from him involve driving. In fact, I feel that they are such important lessons, I’ve decided to share a few. These are lessons I learned while driving our farm equipment. I know not everyone gets the chance to drive a tractor or a field truck, but these lessons may come in handy driving something else. I’m thankful for having learned them.

Do Not Panic

1……Do not panic. Panicking only causes more problems. This is good advice for when driving and not driving. Do not panic is actually very good advice for life in general. This is hard for me, as I am a really good panicker (person that panics). It could have to do with my control issues, but probably not. (I am not going to admit to having control issues). Here are a few moments I can recall that my Farmer gave me this piece of advice.
Panic moments remembered….
I am driving a truck (10 wheeler spud truck, loaded) up a hill, I try to stop, the brakes don’t work, and I start rolling backwards down the hill. (and yes, I had pushed the clutch in. Refer to #2)
The tractor I am driving jumps out of gear as I am going down a hill. (Believe me, you can not just push in the brakes on a tractor and stop like you can a car)
After both of this incidences (and many more) my Farmer told me to remember not to panic. Then he added these calming words of wisdom…..Remember, our hills are small. You will come to a stop when you get to the bottom. So he says.

Don’t push in the Clutch

2…..Don’t push in the clutch when driving down a steep hill. This is a little habit I had and I have learned that it can get you in a lot of trouble real fast. When driving a tractor, or truck, pushing in the clutch allows the tractor to travel at a free speed, for lack of a correct term, and then when you let the clutch out……well, let’s just say that it is not good.
My Farmer explained this to me and I always remembered this bit of advice, but never really experienced what would happen. Until that one time, and then I learned what he meant. It was one winter day and we were feeding the cows on a slick, snowy covered hillside, which, yes, I was panicked about. Which I am sure, is what caused this learning experience. (refer to #1) As I was heading down the hill, I felt that I was going a bit to fast, so to slow down, I pushed in the clutch, and then started to hit the brake. Wrong move. The tractor went into “free speed” and brakes do not work on slick hills. We started traveling faster down the hill, and then when I let the clutch out, the tractor went into a skid mode. It was like the tires on the tractor had became runners on a sled. Total Panic moment! So I’m sliding down the hill with the tractor, my Farmer is behind standing on the wagon, wondering what the hell!!, everything seems to be starting to slide sideways, I think the wagon was starting to pass the tractor and then I become aware of the swamp at the bottom of the hill. Complete Panic! As my Farmer said, the hills are small on our farm. In no time at all, I was at the bottom of the hill, back in control of the tractor, the wagon was again behind the tractor and yes, all before I hit the swamp. Lesson learned.

Loosen Your Grip on the Wheel

3…..Do not hold onto the steering wheel when you turn to look behind you. It seems that when you turn your head to look behind you as you are driving, you also turn the steering wheel. Go ahead, try this. Try it sitting still though, not while driving. It’s safer that way. Doing this will make a crooked row in the field, cause you to cultivate out a lot of potatoes (yep, done that), or worse, it could cause you to drive off the road (may have done this when my boys were little, but once again, NOT admitting to anything). I have learned to loosen my grip on the steering wheel when I turn and look behind me. Do not let go completely, as that would just be dangerous. I remember watching my Farmers grandfather sit on the side of the tractor, which is totally not safe, but it’s what he did, as he was working in the spud fields. I’m sure he did this so he could easily watch what he was doing behind him without turning his head, which in turn would turn the steering wheel, which in turn would make him drive out of the straight row. And a nice straight spud row is very important.

Use Your Mirrors

4…..Use your mirrors when backing up. This is one of the best ones that I have learned from my Farmer. When backing up, use both side mirrors and the rear view mirror (if it is not broken off). This way you can still keep an eye on the front end of the vehicle while watching behind you as you are backing up. I had to learn this when I started driving the field trucks and the semi truck, as you can not look out the back window (mostly because there isn’t one). This did take a lot of practice, but I can do it, very well in my opinion, even with a trailer……most of the time. There is a small dent in our pickup caused by me backing up while hooked to a trailer, but we won’t discuss that. It really wasn’t my fault. I just forgot there was a trailer hooked up to the pickup.

Ok, fine. We will discuss it.

We had been gone all day delivering hay, my Farmer driving and me riding along. As we got back to the farm and pulled into the driveway, we seen the were cows out. My Farmer halts to a stop, we both jump out of the pickup, then he tells me to drive over to the house and get the 4-wheeler so we can chase the cows back in. So I jump into the pickup, behind the steering wheel, and proceeded to back up and get turned around. I used my mirrors like he taught me. Then, crunch. Damn. I forgot about the trailer that was hooked to the pickup. In my defense, I sat so low in the pickup and the flat bed trailer was just the perfect height, that I could not see it in my mirrors. Plus, had I been the one driving all day, I’m sure I would have remember there was a trailer. Well maybe not, as it was one of those dang panic moments. (refer back to #1…again!)
I do remember one other time I put a dent in my Farmers other pickup. I was backing up out of the spud field, driving one of the spud trucks. My Farmer had just told me days before, that when backing up these trucks to give myself lots of room. Instead of trying to turn one around in a small area, doing a 50 point turn around, use lots of area make it a 3 point turn or less and it’ll be easier. So, as I was backing up, I decided to keep going, so I’d have lots of room. Using my side mirrors, I was watching and backing, and I was just about feeling that I had enough room, when all of a sudden in the mirror, I see our dog jump out from behind the truck and take off running. I stopped and got out, and sure enough, I had backed right smack into my Farmers pickup, which the dog had been laying under. I hadn’t seen it at all. From this incident, I added to my Farmers lesson when backing up……take time to look what’s behind you, take note of objects around and where they are. I learned some times your vision is obstructed.

So there you go. A few important lessons and words of advise that I learned from my Farmer that I am passing on to you. I have learned many more lessons that I may someday share. Actually, as I was reading this to my Farmer, he rattled off a bunch of other “lessons” that he would like me to tell share with people regarding driving. Maybe, someday, I will also blog about them.

I’m thankful for all I’ve learned living here on the farm, and I look forward to learning more. That’s one of the best parts about this life, I am always learning while I am Livin’ the Life, the Farm Life that is.