Peace, Quiet and Regular Maintenance

(SPONSORED CONTENT) — Life in the country. Let’s face it: we’re out here because we love it. Even those of us who go to work in town choose to come home to the peace and quiet of a rural lifestyle. It’s not always easy. Maintaining our acreage takes work, especially this time of year. But the toughest jobs on your land are made simpler when you keep up with basic maintenance.

The Tractor: A Small but Mighty Tool

For instance: that tractor. We love and depend on our compact tractors. They’re tough, easy to operate and have just the right amount of power.

A compact tractor can make easy a project that would have been a beast for our grandparents. For many of us, that small tractor is the most important tool in the operation, and that’s why we have to take care of them.

Ongoing Maintenance Keeps Projects Moving

Back in the spring, you followed the maintenance recommendations in the manufacturer owner’s manual for your tractor, so you’d be ready for the season (right?).

Well, the season is here, but the maintenance doesn’t stop. Keep an eye on your fluids – coolant, oil, hydraulic fluid. Check your tires and belts. They might have looked good a couple of months ago, but a broken belt will stop a project in its tracks.

UTVS: Tools That Changed the Game

We depend on our small tractors. But we wonder how we ever survived without utility terrain vehicles (UTVs)?

It’s true, the farm pick-up truck holds a special place in our hearts, with random tools bouncing around the bed and dog footprints on the seat. But the UTV is a more efficient tool (and sometimes a toy), and that’s why we take proper care of them.

The summer heat will be kicking in, so check your fluids regularly, just like you do the tractor. You don’t want it to overheat when you’re out on “the back 40” working (or just mudding).

Get Implements Ready Before You Need Them

Now that your tractor is chugging along, and your UTV is ready to haul or ride, how about your implements?

Is your brush hog ready? Blades sharp? Every nut tightened and every zerk greased? The brush hog is one of those implements that doesn’t get a ton of use, but when you need it, you want it to be good-to-go. And, because a new model will set you back a couple grand, you want to take care of it. Following the maintenance recommendations in your manufacturer’s owner’s manual, will pay for itself on the back end.

Don’t have a brush hog? No problem: put Gordon’s to work. Brush Killer for Hard to Kill Brush is formulated specifically for tough brush like mesquite, multiflora rose and the ever-invading kudzu. It’s great for hedgerows, ditches and other non-crop areas.

And for the weaker-but-meaner brush like poison ivy, poison oak, poison sumac, thistle and black locust, Gordon’s Brush Killer for Large Property has you covered. A concentrated formulation developed specifically for larger properties, it’s ideal for use along fence rows and property lines.

Control Weeds With Precision

Speaking of maintaining the land, how are your pastures looking? Even if you don’t have livestock or horses, you’ll want to keep them clean. A nice, natural plot of grass is wonderful, but there are some poisonous weeds that we can do without.

Put Gordon’s Pasture Pro Herbicide to work. Pasture Pro controls 125 of the toughest broadleaf weeds, including many that can be dangerous to livestock, such as nettles, hemlock and pigweed. When used alone and the spray has dried, Pasture Pro is also an efficient worker: applied per label directions, one gallon treats two to four acres with no waiting between treatment and grazing.

Got Lawn Weeds? Meet Your New Guy

How about your lawn? Do you have someone who kills the weeds? Because we have the answer: Trimec Platinum All-In-One Weed Control Concentrate. Trimec Platinum is a selective herbicide that eliminates more than 250 weeds in just one formulation. That includes the most common broadleaf weeds, like dandelions, clover and chickweed, and the toughest grassy weeds, like foxtail and crabgrass. Trimec Platinum even controls yellow and purple nutsedge and kyllingas.

And unlike a lot of weed guys, Trimec Platinum goes to work immediately, and you can see results in hours. Plus, it can be applied with a pump-up sprayer, a hose-end sprayer or a tow-behind sprayer, and one quart treats up to 5,000 square feet.

This article barely scratches the surface of the work it takes to live out here. When you choose a life in the country, you’re choosing a life with a little more peace, a little more quiet and a few more chores. And that’s why we love it.