{"id":2634,"date":"2005-04-27T02:04:00","date_gmt":"2005-04-27T06:04:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.kitfoster.com\/carport\/2005\/04\/spring-plowing\/"},"modified":"2010-12-30T12:02:05","modified_gmt":"2010-12-30T17:02:05","slug":"spring-plowing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.kitfoster.com\/carport\/2005\/04\/spring-plowing\/","title":{"rendered":"Spring Plowing"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Model<\/a><\/p>\n

The snow has melted in Southern Connecticut; the frost is out of the ground and we’re finally able to do our spring plowing. My trusty tractor, with which I prepare my modest vegetable garden, has magneto ignition, a two-speed planetary transmission and its oil level is checked with a petcock. “Aha!” you say. “It must be a converted Model T Ford like the one on your page.” Well no, it isn’t, nor is it a Fordson<\/a>, the agricultural evolution of the T (with a gear, not planetary, transmission).<\/p>\n

My tractor has a 6.6 hp T-head engine, full pressure lubrication, two speeds in reverse and only two wheels. It’s a 1958 Gravely Model LI<\/a>, and it’s equipped with the miraculous sod-busting rotary plow<\/a> that deep-tills the soil so well you can sift it in your hands.<\/p>\n

Benjamin Franklin Gravely<\/a> was a West Virginia inventor who adapted a hand cultivator with an Indian motorcycle engine to create the Model D<\/a>, an odd-looking machine with the engine inside its single wheel. In time this evolved into the Model L, later called the Convertible<\/a>, with a one-cylinder engine at the rear and implements mounted on the front. The four-foot snow blade<\/a> will push more than a foot of powder, and the sturdy rotary mower<\/a> makes short work of any grass – and small trees if the 3\/8-inch thick brush blade is installed. There’s a whole myriad of attachments and accessories<\/a> available, but the plow, mower and snow blade meet my needs completely.<\/p>\n

For a while a division of Studebaker Corporation<\/a>, Gravely tractors are now made by Ariens Company<\/a>, and the L and Convertible models are no longer part of the mix. The old Gravelys have a loyal following<\/a> however, and parts<\/a> are readily available. My garden is now plowed<\/a> and partly planted, but I’m going to keep my Gravely forever.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The snow has melted in Southern Connecticut; the frost is out of the ground and we’re finally able to do our spring plowing. My trusty tractor, with which I prepare my modest vegetable garden, has magneto ignition, a two-speed planetary transmission and its oil level is checked with a petcock. “Aha!” you say. “It must….<\/span>
Read full article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2634","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.kitfoster.com\/carport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2634","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.kitfoster.com\/carport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.kitfoster.com\/carport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.kitfoster.com\/carport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.kitfoster.com\/carport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2634"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/www.kitfoster.com\/carport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2634\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3440,"href":"http:\/\/www.kitfoster.com\/carport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2634\/revisions\/3440"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.kitfoster.com\/carport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2634"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.kitfoster.com\/carport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2634"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.kitfoster.com\/carport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2634"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}