Dude, you are waaay out of my league in the farming deal. Our largest tractor is 85HP but we do have 4 and I think I have represented every brand made at one time or the other. Right now I have a new Kubota M6800 4WD w/ FEL, Ford 4600, 930 Case, and International 424, oh and a International Cub. It's always been a weekend deal. I grew up in the city but every weekend as long as I can remember I went down to the farm/ranch. We've raised just about every kind of farm animal there is, actually farmed maybe 75 acres but never sold any of crops off of it. Used to sell hay but it's been so wet the past several years everybody is in the hay business. Not really a hobby farm but also not a full blown operation.
I would have rode the bench under Rocky Felker. I played strong tackle both ways in HS but at the college level was short about 30-50 pounds. I also was not quick so I would have never made it at linebacker so I was recruited for hopes of maybe adding the size by my senior year and of course keeping the team GPA up.
A significant point in time (in hindsight) was, for me, in our Jr High state football title game. I use this story in talks I give and it's related to proper preparation and missed opportunity. It was the last seconds of the game and we were ahead by 3 and were on defense. They had driven to goal line and we held them for 3 plays inside the 5 but it was 4th and goal on the 2. Before the snap I had pumped myself up and had put thought into the offensive right tackle, who would become all-state in high school, and how he had played the whole game. I knew they would either run the option or just run off-tackle and was figuring out how I was going to get around this tackle to make the stop. I put every thought into it and knew that he fired off the ball very hard and since this was the last play of the game and the whole enchilada boilded down to this play, that he would come off the snap extra hard. I figured I was use that against him and instead of plugging the hole, just shed his block so that I could either deal with the fullback or make the tackle. Anyway, all of that thought paid off. He did indeed fire off hard and I slid him off to the inside and was standing 3 yards into the backfield unblocked. I stood the tailback (who had the ball) up at the 5 yard line but just didn't finish. I missed the tackle. I didn't wrap up well and he shook me off and trotted into the end zone through the hole left by me as the horn sounded. Game over.
The point I make in my talks about this is that I put all of this concentration in how I was going to beat the tackle so that I would be there to make the play and that was my sole thought process. Well, it worked great but that was only half of what was needed and I simply did not wrap up, missed the tackle and lost the game and the championship title because of it. Moral? You have to prepare and execute for the entire job not just the hardest part. It's the simple things that will jump up and bite you in the rump.
But, really. I would go with the leather.
