The Mighty 1025R John Deere
April 2, 2024
Nothing runs like a Deere! Last month we purchased a new tractor for our farm. We always knew it would be a John Deere, we love the color, the history, the ease of use, the available attachments, and that the tractors are made by an American company. We chose the 1025R because it is very practical for a small farm. With the right attachments we can mow the grass, plant our trees, and make improvements to the land. This mighty machine will do the heavy lifting for us while we move forward with our planting schedule this summer.
We have had the tractor for about two weeks now. It is very easy to operate and a key feature for us is the drive over mower attachment. Each week we will need to mow about five acres of our property, significantly more than we mowed last year, as we plan to keep the back fields mowed while we work on the installation of our four horse paddocks. This will reduce our orchard grass yield, but we should have enough to keep our goats happy for most of the summer!
The tractor is a very solid machine and while it does feel top heavy at times, it does not feel like it could tip over when working on the slope in our back field. We are quite impressed with its overall capabilities and solid build quality. The only concern that we have is that when the ground is wet the tractor tires damage the grass. For now, we are fair weather mowers, and we will see if this becomes more of an issue as we move into the warmer months!
This month we will start planting our orchard! We have been receiving shipments of apple trees and staging them in the house to keep them from freezing. As the weather has improved and trees are blooming and giving us a glimpse of what living in an orchard will be like. Here is a photo of a Jonagold tree blooming on my back porch – just beautiful!
We are also picking back up on the home improvements. We have started to repair the home’s original stone stack foundation, circa 1780s. It is messy work! We are pleased that our home is so solid, absolutely no water damage in the cellar which we plan to update as a laundry room. The stones are in good shape, just a few minor repairs and then replacing 4 inches of new mortar. We are hoping that we do such a great job at this work that the wall will be a masterpiece and we will keep the exposed stone! However, we are total novices at masonry, and if the job ends a bit rough, we can plaster the walls over for a fresh clean updated look!
We are not sure about the cellar floor. Currently the floor is a mix of earth and poured concrete in places. It is very uneven so we will need to dig down a few inches, level the floor and then decide if we want to concrete or install cobblestones. It is a small space so having cobblestones would be a great look but a lot more time and expense. We did find a source for historical York cobblestone pavers so we would have the opportunity to add another historical feature to our remodel. I am inclined to take our time and incorporate all the historical features that we can! It is really fun to do architectural research, try me carpentry skills, and restore a beautiful farm cottage!