Author: Phil Brown, Broker/Partner
I have been blessed to own several different properties. As an absentee landowner here are some simple lessons I learned the hard way over the years. I share them in the hope that they will save you both time and money.
- The first piece of equipment you should buy after closing on your farm is a good compressor. There is nothing worse than sprinting to your property on a Friday night to work all weekend and find flat tires when you arrive.
- Contact your local ag service provider and get a gas tank and/or a diesel tank on your property that they can fill for you. Hauling 5 gallon gas cans gets old really quick, and the ag fuel is more cost effective.
- Don’t leave gas engines such as ATV’s idle for a long period of time if you don’t have a stabilizer in the fuel system such as Sea Foam. The little bit of money spent here will be saved ten fold over going to the ATV dealership because nothing will start due to the carburetors being varnished from bad fuel.
- Use pre-mix fuel on your chainsaws and weed eaters. For whatever reason it just works better.
- Use chaps, safety glasses, and a helmet when running a chain saw. It is not a question of if something will happen, it is more like when something will happen. This investment is much less than a trip to the emergency room.
- Always wear your seat belt on a tractor, and have the ROPS bar up. Tractors really do roll over.
- Never get in a deer stand without a safety harness, and install life lines so you are always attached once you leave the ground.
If you were wondering if there is a story attached to each of these tips you would be correct. They all sound so simple, but we get in a hurry, or think something bad won’t happen to us. I encourage you to be smart, be safe, and remember that haste makes waste. Slow down and enjoy your property and always use your brain!