I have a long, long, LONG, list of things I need for the farm. Some expensive, some not so expensive. When starting up a farm from nothing, this list is very daunting. I have to prioritize, not by expense but urgency or need. Winter is coming (I've been saying this a lot lately and beginning to feel like a character in The Game of Thrones) and that is my first concern.
After the move, Farm Girl remained at her job which meant she has a two hour commute both ways every day. Last winter, she worked ten minutes down the road. We hired a farmer we rented some land to in exchange to plow our laneway. If there was an issue at school or the boy got sick, all I needed to do was text Farm Girl and she would drive into town to get him. That never happened thankfully, but that was the emergency plan. In the end, the winter went very smooth for having just the one vehicle. We only got the van stuck once at the end of the laneway all winter. Those odds are good for a Canadian winter out in the country.
But this winter will be different. As I said Farm Girl will be a hour's drive away. The school my boy will be attending is 25 minutes north of the farm so add that onto Farm Girl's commute if there was any emergency. I also am concerned about the winter drive for Farm Girl. She's a fairly new driver and though she has done one winter in Canada, you need to have many behind you before you're considered a good winter driver. Plus, the van's heater is broken. She spent most of last winter freezing her fingertips off and that was only for a ten minute commute.
The other issue we are facing this winter is the laneway. I could hire someone if I could find someone and I may still do that, but having horse boarders, we have to ensure the laneway is clear all the time. I've thought about buying an old tractor (and at my price it would be OLD) but I know nothing about mechanics and if anything went wrong with it, I'd be out a winter plow. My other option is to purchase a lawn tractor/compact tractor that could double as a lawn mower which is also on my list. My concern about that is our laneway is huge. Actually, if it was just the laneway, I'd probably get buy with this option, but we have to plow past the house to the barns and the arena and plow the "parking lot" down there. So, I could be at it all day which will cost me in gas, abuse on the machine, and let's face it, who wants to be outside in the cold that long!
So, I looked at my next option. Attaching a snow plow to an old farm truck. The plows are bigger than those on a lawn tractor or an ATV which I also considered, and if anything goes wrong with the truck, I can take it to a local mechanic to get fixed. Plus the job will be done doubly fast and I get to stay nice and warm inside the cab. This looks like the option I'm leaning to. Then I got to thinking about the other items on my list. A truck is pretty high up there, but far above my budget. Since my van seems to be working fine and we don't have any lambs to haul to the livestock, we are getting by with the van, the truck was pushed down the list. But with everything I mentioned above, it suddenly was soaring to the top. Having a truck would provide a second vehicle in case of winter emergency. If road conditions were really bad, a 4x4 would get Farm Girl to work safely or if she got into trouble on the roads, I could drive out and get her or haul her out of a ditch. We do have CAA but still this was added protection.
So now I began to think the snow plow truck could have many advantages. But my initial idea of it being an old beater upper raised the requirements slightly. But I still have a very tight budget and limited funds.
Now I have a firm belief that everything will work out. It's been proven to me over and over again so that is why I truly believe in this. Call it faith, alignment of the stars, law of attraction...I don't know. It just does. My faith in this carries me through some difficult times, let me tell you. Every Christmas while my ex would stress nonstop about money, I'd simply tell him to stop worrying. It always works out and the kids get their Santa presents. Since my marriage ended, it seems I've been faced with more issues than I can count. But every time, something happened and things would be fine.
This present dilemma has been no different. I went into my bank account and discovered a large sum of money. Now large being in the eye of the beholder and where it might not be much to others, it was a godsend to me. When I separated from my ex, we did not report it the government but when I went to file my return, I reported it on there...a year later. As a single mother I guess my child tax benefit payment should have been higher than I was receiving, so they reimbursed me for the difference. Now it wasn't enough to buy me a fancy new truck, but a decent enough one to fulfil all the requirements I was looking for.
I searched the kijiji ads and those stars were in alignment again. There wasn't a whole lot of selection, but not more than ten minutes away, someone was selling a Chev 2500 series truck. Now I had done my research and new what I wanted. I definitely wanted a 2500 series or higher as they have the best towing power, an extended cab with four doors as those pocket doors are a hazard just waiting to happen for any passengers in the back seat, a long box as those shorter ones always seem to be just a tad short and those couple extra inches would come in handy as they help with weight distribution better when towing, which hence it needed a trailer hitch, preferably a gooseneck but figured that was pushing my luck.
But there it was, my truck. It had everything I wanted. The extended cab, the four doors, the long box, and even a gooseneck hitch. The body is in okay shape, some surface rust but no holes yet. The guy had spent $1500 on it to get safetied two years ago but has since barely driven it. It did not come safetied, but he thinks it shouldn't cost a whole lot as I mentioned he barely drove it since.
Now it may sit for a while before getting the safety until more money magically appears but I have my truck! I am super excited about that. This was one of the bigger ticket items on my list. It feels good going into winter with this tank on the farm.
I've never named any of my vehicles before but felt this one deserved it. Meet Hank the Tank. Yes, I know, not very original but Hank it is. He looks like a Hank.
