The Lo-Tech Farmer

By Donna OShaughnessy AKA The Midlife Farmwife

Although the initials behind our farm name are "LLC" standing for limited liability corporation, we're not all that corporate around here. We've never worn suits to milk cows, neither of us own a Bluetooth Headset and we take only cash or checks in our little farm store. And, like so many other small family farms, financial resources are limited and, therefore; items needed for daily operations are often borrowed, bartered or built.

Take for example my Gator, pictured above, minus the wheels, and the engine and a seat and a few other accessories.  Since we do not own any of those 3 or 4 wheeled devices of the same name, which are great for smaller chores but out of our budget,  we invented this modern marvel, the Milk Mobile, out of materials on hand. The materials list went like this:

     1. Discarded plastic sled
     2. Old clothes line for pulling

 Fairly simply to operate, which comes in handy since the operator herself is fairly simple; one loads the milk bottles into a crate to avoid tippage, then positions herself in front of the purple plastic piece, PULLING towards the area of desire. PUSHING is possible but impractical since the sleds back end is knee high to a raccoon.

The sled was rescued by my husband Keith years ago while on a road trip. He was driving by a dumpster when the abandoned mini-toboggan called out his name, and the rest is purple history. Annoyed once again, (I am the tosser and he is the collector of fine farm art) I ignored the additional inventory until the first snow following its acquisition. Seems the designer of said sled knew of what he was molding. The dang thing slid well through the snow even with a very full load of two  quart calf bottles; certainly much easier than this Midlife Farmwife dragging her rusty red wagon through the drifts.

Not only will it haul calf bottles, it can also be used to take 2-3 bales of hay or straw out to distant hog hutches, horses in the front pasture or to the same group of calves now finishing up their bottles of warm milk. Being as it does not possess an engine, the  nifty device does not require a garage for protection but can be stored neatly in the narrow space between the chicken house and the feed shed.

Absent of tires, there is nothing that can go flat or that will require rotation. Missing its dip-stick, oil never needs to be checked or filled and the only stain left on the ground underneath it will be water from the melting snow. In addition, once the animals have been tended to , children and adults can climb aboard for a quick ride down a nearby hill.

Maybe not its intended purpose...but nonetheless, it works,