Taking the tractor out for the first time......

Yesterday, I took my new John Deere mower out for its first test drive. There is nothing like driving a tractor/John Deere. When I was a kid, I got to ride on tractors on my grandparents' farm. Lots of fun. My in-laws have a tractor or two, so I'll have to take my child out on a tractor so she can get that opportunity as well.

I did have to read the directions to figure out how the heck to run the thing, but once I got going, it was oh so nice. It has five speeds (and reverse). It has a nice mower deck with a side discharge. Comfy seat and handles like it's on rails (ok, maybe not on rails, but it handles pretty well)!

My main problem right now is figuring out the turning radius and what is the best way to mow the lawn. Every time you mow a given lawn, there's a certain pattern that you generally take to make sure that you cover the entire lawn as efficiently as possible. It's a very fine art mastered only by the greatest mowers of all time. I felt like I was going in circles a lot trying to get the entire yard mowed. I'm going to have to work on my pattern.

I still managed to get the yard mowed in about 40 minutes. Another bonus with a riding mower is that you don't get dirty like you do with a normal push mower. I just got off the mower and headed in to eat dinner with no shower needed. Definitely a plus for both me and my clothes/shoes that would usually end up grass-stained by the end of a trip around the lawn with a push mower.