The Coolest Thing Dad Has Ever Bought

An excavator. I think every man that enjoys heavy machinery wants one of these. We have a landlord that had a big tree job to do, and I've got a bunch of work to do around my place, so Dad took the plunge. We have a lot of farms that need some work, so it will come in handy. We have also talked about potentially turning it into a business, as it's really hard to find farmland to rent and it's almost impossible to buy any at current land prices.

That's a cedar tree in its jaws. You just clamp down on the suckers and they pop right out.

I've only operated it for a few minutes just to figure out how it works, but it's pretty awesome. I can't wait to get it over to my place next summer and start taking out trees and buildings.

Dad also bought a truck to haul it, which will also give us another truck to haul with during harvest. I'll be buying a grain trailer sometime before next fall. Anyway, it's an '87 Kenworth T800 with a 3406 Cat and a 9 speed. It has a re-manufactured engine on it with approximately 150,000 miles, so it should last a long time. It needs paint, but my brother went to school for paint and body, so I think he'll be painting it next summer.