03/14/13

Today at lunch I took some measurements of the bed of the RTV. I plan to to build some side panels that I can install to add height to the bed, which will allow me to haul more volume of light material, such as leaves and grass clippings. After taking the measurements I began building a model in SketchUp, which helped me to put together a plan.

I had originally planned to spend the evening removing some bushes and small trees from across the road, where I mowed yesterday. Instead, however, I decided that mowing had gone so well that I'd stick with that. I pulled the mower over to the old house on the property, and then again hooked it to the front of the RTV. I didn't mow that area at all last year, so it was very grown up. There was also an area beside the house that I had never mowed that was badly overgrown with briars.

One reason I hadn't mowed around the house before is that, before I bought the property, the neighbor had began the process of tearing the house down. He didn't make very much progress, and left quite a bit of debris around the house. I was worried about running over a nail, so had avoided getting the RTV too close. With the mower hooked to the front, however, I was able to get the mower in close without risking a punctured RTV tire.

I was able to mow most of the area I wanted. I should be able to get in close to the house now and pick up the debris scattered about, allowing me to mow closer next time. I'd love to disassemble the porch soon, because there are a lot of good concrete blocks there that I could reuse.