Rode the Tractor Instead of the Trike Today

I planned to take a decent leg-powered ride today but thought I should put in some time on the old 1962 Ford 2000 Tractor to push some dirt and rocks around in efforts to repair some of the damage to our private goat-path road we have to maintain ourselves.  Last month's gully-washer monsoon rains really did wash some gullies across and down our road.  I thought to put in at least a couple hours first on the tractor and then hit the newly graded road with my recumbent 2-wheeler.
Trouble is, the road sucks up a LOT of time and effort.  I worked till sundown and did NOT finish the work.  It's almost a mile of ruts and rock and way too little sand and gravel.  I must "rob" dirt and gravel from areas that have filled with gravel below the roadway, and much of the time I'm forced to use plain old dirt to fill ruts and holes in the road.  Usually the 'borrowed' dirt and gravel is not close to the desired rut needing filling so it takes multiple trips to scoop up material with the front bucket and dump it into the roadway and then use the blade on the 3-point hitch in the rear to scrape it, level it, and push it back and forth to fill and refill the ruts and holes.
I don't think I've spent this much time in one session on the tractor:  It's almost like riding a horse.  It looks easy from afar (Riding a horse) but to make the most of it you have to put some leg effort into the ride.  If you try to ride a horse by just sitting there on his back or in the saddle it will be a very rough ride unless you just plod along at a snail's pace.  Trying to just sit there when trotting will beat your behind to death.  Just sitting there while the horse is loping at a decent pace will likely result in your falling off, since it takes effort to match the movement of the horse while in motion.  Standing partially in the stirrups and working your knees to rise and lower with the motion of the running horse results in not only greater speed and security but FUN being able to really eat up the miles..... but it does tire you out.
The tractor is not a smooth ride either.  Mine has power assist steering but it takes a lot of arm strength to turn and control it while loaded and climbing.  After an hour or so of continuous operation I got off to throw some rocks out of the material I was spreading and my knees were almost locked up..... and SORE.  I need to learn to deliberately stop and dismount every half hour or so to stretch my old legs and get the circulation going again.
Anyway, I got a lot of good progress done on our goat-path.  There are 5 households that use our road and currently we are the only ones financing or otherwise participating in its maintenance.   We DO have one of them who only recently moved in and they are at least promising to help.
But it's certainly more fun riding the bike or trike....