I had a harrowing experience the other day, (well, I thought it was at the moment) and it made me recall a few important lessons my Farmer has taught me over the years. I thought maybe i would share them. These are lessons I learned when driving our farm equipment, but have used them many times out side of the farm life.
Do not panic. Panicking only causes more problems. This is hard for me, I am a really good panickier (person the panics). Especially when i am going up a hill, try to stop, the brakes don't work, and i start rolling backwards down the hill. Or my tractor jumps out of gear as I am going down a hill. I just have to remember our hills are little and I will stop at the bottom....so my Farmer says.
Don't push in the clutch when driving down a steep hill. If you do, you can get in a lot of trouble real fast. Your tractor starts going faster in a hurry, and when you let the clutch out......well let's just say that it is not good, especially if there is snow on the ground. My Farmer taught me this on bare ground, but I learned from experience on snowing ground.......not good......totally causes a panic moment.
Do not hold onto the steering wheel when you look behind you. It seems that when you turn your head to look behind, you also turn the steering wheel, which in turn makes a crooked row. So I learned to loosen my grip on the wheel, when I look behind. I do not let go completely, just in case I might need to grab it quick. (Could be my controlled issue kicking in too)
Use your mirrors when backing up. This lesson is one of the best he has taught me and has came in handy many times. When backing up, use both side mirrors and the rearview mirror (if they are not broken off). This way you can still keep an eye on the front end of the vehicle. I had to learn this when I started driving the field trucks and the Semi Truck, as you can not look out the back window (mostly because there isn't one). This did take a lot of practice, but I can do it, very well in my opinion, even with a trailer......most of the time. (there is a small dent in my pickup caused by me backing up while hook to a trailer, but we wont discuss that).
So those are my important lessons learned from my Farmer that I am passing on to you. I'm sure I will learn more to share someday, cuz I am always learning while I am Livin' life, the farm life that is.
