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Writer's pictureSarah Brenner

A lull before the storm

I get the sense that there will be some BIG activity around the farm this summer as Farmer William has a new toy. He assures me that this behemoth will make taking down trees in precarious locations and painting the barn much easier. Of course, when I see something like this in the yard, I wonder how it can help to increase my leisure time, like why not add a COW YARD CAFE to the top of the broken black and white checkered silo while we're at it! Think of the Lake Views we would have perched atop that locale!

To all my similar-minded friends who ask, "What is a lull?" Well, you might know them better as a telehandler, or telescopic forklift, or all-terrain forklift...or not - you just might not know this machine! If you haven't heard these names in your lifetime, you've likely seen them, quite subconsciously, I am sure, at large construction sites, or next to tall buildings where work needed to be done on the third floor. Just like bulldozers are common-place on a farm, so too, is the lull. A city comparison might be the sight of a foldable step ladder perched next to the porch when festive Christmas lights get festooned around the balusters. Oh facetious!

Part of the fun on a farm is a welding project. I secretly wonder if the lull wasn't purchased just to create some shop fun for Benny and Bill! Here you see Benny welding a steel cage that will create a work/walking platform. More practical than lifting a grain cart is the idea that a human can be safely lifted to do work on some high-off-the-ground location.

The fork lift tines you see on the lull will have slots to slip into on the bottom of this cage so it can be securely lifted, and for those of us who suffer great fear of heights might not suffer such a cacophony of butterflies in the tummy when rising to the work location. I've never been one for those cool extension ladders that can hoist a guy up to forty feet. The way I see it, a person like me, severely lacking in upper body strength, could not even lift then extend such a cumbersome thing. If I did manage to right and extend it, once I got to thirty or forty feet, how could I get any work done when I'd be too busy holding on for dear life?

Maybe if you're out here this summer, you'll get to see the L U L L in action. Until then, see how many you notice out in the real world - you might be surprised!


The farm store is OPEN Saturdays from 10-2. Our chickens are laying once again, the weather is warming, the maples are registering it will soon be time to pull minerals from the soil, and BIRDS, BIRDS, BIRDS are on their way back to us.


Sending love as I marvel at the changes,


Sarah



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