Planting is Done. Time for a Few Repairs

I'm pretty proud of my repair on the 4020 lift link (the arm that lifts the 3 pt hitch).It was bent many years ago,which made it very hard to remove from the tractor. I had to lengthen it in place by turning a threaded casting, but it was frozen. A combination of hardened grease and dirt. Plus 50 years. I soaked it with brake/parts cleaner then made an improvised vise to hold the shaft while I put a big wrench with cheater bar/pipe on the casting. It slowly turned. Now I can set both lift arms to the same height, ensuring that future passes with the rotary hoe and row cultivator will be done with the implement level (and the implement will dig down to an even depth across its entire width.)

(Click on an picture to make it bigger)

I also had to fix the rotary hoe stand, which slipped through its mount on the hoe while I was using it a few days ago. (When not attached to a tractor the stand has the flat plate on the ground. When using it behind a tractor, I invert it and put it in the same sleeve.) I didn't hear a thing, and am lucky that it didn't wipe out entire rows of corn. Fortunately it bent in such a way that it didn't hit the implement either. The culprit was a faulty cotter pin, which came off allowing the hitch pin to work itself out. Then the stand hit the ground.

I took the bent stand off the rotary hoe and made, then installed, a new one.


Dad and I got all the grass waterways and buffer zones, around 8 acres in total, planted on June 1st. A handful different types of grass, either alfalfa or clover, with oats to act as a nurse crop.

My 61 acres of organic corn is up, it looks like I've got good germination. The rows are pretty, the little plants are 1-3 inches tall, and the weeds are almost non-existent.  I'll rotary hoe it 2 more times in the coming weeks, timing my field work as the rain and weed pressure dictate.