Posted By FarmerJ on April 24, 2009

Meet Wilma!  She’s a White Garden Tractor powered by a 22hp engine and sports a 50″ deck ~ and she’s loaded with all the important luxuries a girl could ever want…and she’s a blast to ride around the Farmstead!

I will admit that when Darling Husbie made the executive decision to purchase Wilma, it was difficult for my frugal mind to accept this sort of investment.  But after a few minutes, I had to agree.  We needed a garden tractor capable of being a true workhorse and one that will last throughout the years ~ and, Wilma fits the bill! [Thank you, Lovie!  Mwah!]

I’d ridden Wilma around the Farmstead a couple of times previously, always under the supervision of Husbie.  Not so much that I needed the supervision as much as he was available to come to my rescue should I find myself in a peculiar predicament!

So on Monday, my Darling Husbie kissed me goodbye before leaving for work and told me to give him a report on Wilma’s performance.  This was to be the first real test of her true function ~ mowing.  [I find it rather strange that two weeks ago it was snowing and this week the lawn needed mowed, but hey, this is Nebraska!]  With that, Husbie waved as he left the driveway ~ why did I feel like he was leaving me to my own demise?!

I’m capable.  I can do this.  Come on, Wilma, let’s go!  I put on my stylin’ National Guard safety glasses and my pink leather gloves, grabbed my cup of coffee and away I went.  There’s lots of grass to mow at the Farmstead, so I thought I’d better start in an area with some wide open space so I could get the feel for how Wilma maneuvers and a feel for that 50″ deck.

After a few passes in the open range, I decided my seven minutes of experience qualified me for the more difficult areas around the maze of trees, patio and flower beds.  What could possibly go wrong?

As I mentioned, Wilma has some neat features and luxuries.  Here are some of those features and what I quickly learned about those features while cruisin’ around and…shall we say…’testing’ them out.  After all, Husbie said he wanted a report, right?

1. Wilma has a cup holder. I learned that one would be rather prudent to close the lid on her ‘go cup’ while mowing, lest her coffee becomes contaminated with grass floaties.
2. Wilma is hydrostatic, meaning the more you push down on the gas pedal, the faster she will go.  Likewise, if you let off the gas pedal, she will stop. I learned that there is a definite disconnect between my brain signals and my leg muscles.  I knew I was coming up to those little tulips that, for some reason, were popping up outside the flower bed area.  Yep, I’ve got a tally on ‘em.  It’s time to slow down and go around them.  Well, the tulips look kind of cute with a buzz cut, and since the flowers hadn’t come up yet, I’m sure they’ll be just fine.
3. Wilma has that wide 50″ deck. I learned that the spindly legs supporting the second story deck on the house are really stronger than they look.  I also learned that Wilma’s 22hp is actually quite a bit for a machine so small.
4. Wilma has a safety guard protruding from the edge of the deck where the grass shoots out. I learned that there are a lot of earth worms living under the landscape timber marking the west perimeter of the large flower bed between the front of the house and the patio.  I also learned that just because a tree is small, that doesn’t mean it’s not strong.
   
5. Wilma has a parking brake. I learned that one should really use said brake when parking on a downward slope while momentarily getting off Wilma to pick something up.  Otherwise, Wilma may not be in the exact spot one left her when she turns around to get back on Wilma.
6. Wilma has a ‘kill switch’ safety feature ~ it’s connected to the seat. I learned that Wilma’s engine will quit when one falls out of the seat head first.  I also learned that it’s probably better to utilize the aforementioned parking brake and gracefully remove oneself from the tractor to pick up debris rather than trying to lean over far enough to reach it from the comfort of the tractor seat ~ it won’t work if your arm isn’t long enough.  Additionally, I learned that there is an approximate 2.5 second hang time from the moment one’s rear end leaves Wilma’s seat until one lands on her head.
7. Wilma has cruise control. I learned that it would behoove one to wait until she can overcome the disconnect between her brain signals and her leg muscles before she just lets Wilma cruise.  Many catastrophes will surely be averted this way.

There are just a couple of features Wilma lacks that I wish she had.  One being four-wheel drive; that would be extremely helpful when her front wheel gets swallowed by a hole the size of Delaware compliments of Peanut the Beagle mutt.  Or when one of her rear wheels falls in a rut and she gets high centered on her deck. The second feature I wish Wilma had is a seat belt.  A seat belt would keep one from bouncing out of the seat if, for some strange reason, she goes too fast over a few bumps, thus keeping Wilma’s engine from cutting in and out due to the safety kill switch located under the seat.  Also, a seat belt would certainly eliminate any future hang time experiments from occurring.

Wilma also has a cute little hitch.  She pulls my little utility trailer around with style!  I just have to sharpen my back-up skills a little ~ “Turn the wheels the direction the back of the trailer is going to straighten it out,” Husbie tells me.  Yeah, I’m still working on that.  Fortunately, should I find myself in a peculiar predicament with Wilma and my trailer, I can just do a quick disconnect of the trailer hitch and move the trailer by hand ~ well, I’m guessing that’s what I could do…I’m in no way admitting I’ve actually had to do that, by any means.

So, at the end of a very adventurous and hysterically funny day at the Farmstead, the report is in.  Lovie, Wilma is great!

Putt, putt…vroooom!  Watch my dust ~ and grass blades ~ fly…

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