During a wet winter, continuing to use a tractor can have some impact. Before you know, you could face torn up earth and mud piles you have no idea how to get rid of. It’s a common occurrence, and one you’ll face every time winter comes around. That’s why we’re going to look at a few ways you can lessen that damage.
In a typical household, it isn’t unusual to close the backdoors on your yard when winter comes. Until the sun starts shining again, that outside space may well get no use at all. Such is the curse of cold weather and mud. On a homestead, however, shutting up shop isn’t an option. The work you face doesn’t stop when the weather changes. You still need to get outside each day and feed the animals or care for your land.
For the most part, you probably knew that when you signed up for this. Homesteading isn’t a sunny-weather hobby, after all. What you might not have realized are the issues you’d face while continuing to work through the winter. Namely, the impact this ongoing work would have on your land.
How To Stop a Tractor From Tearing Up Your Homestead
Avoid heavy equipment in the worst weathers
Obviously, it won’t be possible to avoid using a tractor all winter long. You have jobs to do, and you’re going to need your tractor to do them. Still, it’s worth avoiding heavy equipment like this after or during heavy rains. The chances are that you’ll always have other jobs which need doing. By focusing on those, you can give the land a chance to dry out. This will lessen the damage caused when you do turn to your tractor.
Try to use different routes
Speaking of lessening the damage, it’s also worth using different routes wherever you can. If you drive your tractor on the same piece of land, it’s no wonder those tracks are beyond repair by the end of the season. You’d be much better taking new routes every day, or working in different areas while land recovers. That way, you’ll avoid doing severe damage in one area. That alone should mean that your land can repair itself fast when spring rolls around.
Plant new grass
Speaking of spring rolling around, you can always help your grass along a little by turning to a planting method like hydroseeding come spring. This is a fast and easy way to spray seeds onto damaged areas. Even better, the growth rate is an estimated 1-2 week’s. As such, you could well see any tracks covered over the moment spring settles in for good. There’s no use doing this during the wet season, of course, as you would just churn that new grass up as well. But, by holding fire, this could be the ideal way to get your land back up to scratch.
Before you hop on that tractor, then, always spare a thought for your land. If it’s wet, know that you could do more damage than good if you aren’t careful.