Suckers

The tractor is back from hospital so this afternoon we pulled out a few gum suckers. They are pretty things but if not culled we would have a forest instead of a farm.
We get the smaller ones sprayed but it's better to pull the big ones out. They need a lot of spray and then it's only effective 50% of the time.
Pulling them up is not as easy as it sounds either. My job is to fasten the strap around the tree and the tractor. Sometimes it just rips off all the leaves and other times gets caught so tightly it's difficult to undo. Our technique is improving with practice but it can still be a bit hit and miss.
It was nice to get out and do something useful even if we are both hobbling around like a couple of old crocks.