With a loyal lawn tractor out of action and lumpy paddocks to tame, Roger Field is on the hunt to find a successor. Illustrations by John Bradley
There comes a moment in many a life when a person finally says “Enough.” My mowing ‘enough’ moment came last summer, prompted by our loyal, 20-year-old Westwood sit-on lawn tractor. Having had its annual service, during its second foray into our ever-more lumpy paddocks, it went over yet another hole/bump and, blades screaming in agony as they chewed into something uncuttable, went silent. Something had damaged the array of rubber belts and pulleys that comprise the underside of most sit-on lawn tractors. Add to this breakdown an apparently unfixable battery issue that meant recharging it from the mains to get it started. Then, top all that off with our mower people telling us that we would probably see three changes of home secretary before a repair slot became available. And I said “Enough.” Very quietly, however. My own Montana Don bought that tractor and is mighty possessive of it. I’ll be on the transfer list long before it is.
Time to consult my farming chums – any excuse for a trip to the pub. Their conclusions were as…
