Spending Money and Making Money on Apples

Spending Money and Making Money on Apples was Originally Posted on May 4, 2012 by lavarock

Yesterday I became the proud owner of a receipt for a down payment of $500 towards a Honda ATV tobe delivered in a few weeks. Yeah, it’s not as exciting as it may seem.

We are fighting a coffee borer out here that can devastate the coffee crop. One solution is to spray the trees with a solution amde up of mostly water and a small amount of expensive material. Because of the high amount of water needed, it is not effective to use a backpack sprayer.

I already own a large towable sprayer but need something to tow it with. Thus, the ATV. It will amke the process a lot more efficient and ensure it gets done.

Although I have a tractor, I would have to remove the mower and making turns would be difficult to maneuver. I also would not be able to maneuver the truch around between the coffee rows, because it is too wide.

A few years ago I traded a riding mower for some work on the farm and now regret not keeping it. It would have been a pretty good choice for spraying, even though the mower part of it was less than useful.

I looked for a used ATV and did not find one that would do. A used one had mechanical problems and I don’t want to start out fixing things.

At the dealership I found a Honda Recon but it had a manual transmission, making spraying and driving and shifting difficult. For a couple hundred more there is a similar ATV arriving about the 20th of the month. It has an electronic shift, similar to the type I use when I run the dogs at a friends farm. It will amke the process a lot easier.

The ATV is agricultural equipmet and will be used for the crops. It will be depreciated along with the tractor and mower and most everything else here.

The only part of the $4400 cost that is a bit bright is that $3200 of the cost is what could be called “free money”. I invested in some Apple stock a few months ago, and although it lost a few hundred dollars before I decided to sell, I did make $3200 profit on the deal.

By the way, the ATV I’m getting will be bright red, just like an apple!