Thread by @JeffAndDonkeys

I just spent two hours out in the 90° sun detaching and reattaching my hay mower to the Little John, a 3 cylinder Japanese compact John Deere tractor. 3 point hitch. 5 foot mower.
I'm not done, but I had pushed myself so close to heat injury that I had to come in.

2. I've been in about ten minutes, shirt off, A/C on, standing under a ceiling fan on medium.
I'm still producing new sweat. Haven't shed my excess heat energy yet. Getting closer.
"Easy" 3 point hitch tractor technology.

3. Here's the first half of hitching a team to a wheeled load. This is a cart, but a mower hitches exactly the same.

4. Here's the second half. Green broke team. If they were solid broke this would be easier.

5. When I moved to the country, the first thing I did was buy a small old 3 point hitch tractor. Then a slightly larger, slightly less old, 3 point hitch tractor. In about 4 years I bought an old team of Amish work horses.
And I said, "Holy shit! Nobody ever told me how easy!"

6. And these were big-ass horses. Donkeys are way easier. (1989. Me. Amanda and Sherry. Sherry nearer to viewer. Amanda in the furrow.)

7. If you look at farms, even small farms, you'll notice they tend to have one tractor per regularly used implement. It's such a pain in the ass to switch them around over time people just buy dedicated tractors. I almost never switch out this mower.
I can switch a team in 2 mins

8. Everything about high energy machines forces large scale production on the user. Lots of wasted space just for machines and turnaround room. Everything about animal power encourages productive use of every square meter.
I'll be so happy if I can get donkey mowers. Good chance

9. The reason I had to do all this crap today was because I had the mower installed in a poor configuration, which wasted energy and worsened final product.
It's not done yet, but enough that I can finish after the shade covers the tractor but before dark.
The other way...

Part 2:1 Evening sun puts this work area in the shade. Where I had the tractor.

2:2. Finished up putting the chains on and hooking up the PTO (drive) shaft. Hooked the hydraulics back up. All done.

2:3. Went out and mowed two passes of hay. 5' knife, 10 feet down. That will rake into one windrow, about 3 cart loads. I can pick that up with the girls in an hour, hour and a half. It'll feed them a week or ten days. How I do it. A little, steady, as I goes along.

2:4. Tractorland. North side of barn. Donks on south side, hay inside and on south side.
Both of those tractors are outfitted for jobs the donkeys could do. A little slower, but not a deal breaker.