When preparing a field with ground contact implements (in my case a 6’ two row serrated disk); drive like tractors are finicky buggers. Because they are. Align the tractor in the direction you want to go (like a “row”), lower the implement to engage the ground, drive forward doing all sorts of ripping/tearing/flipping as needed, then at the end of the row lift the damn implement out of the ground. You may be tempted to take the turn with the implement engaged. Don’t! Turn around with the implement safely in the air, aim up, then drop it and start tearing the soil again.
It’s slow and boring but tractors are God’s way of teaching us patience. From now on I’ll try to be more Zen while disking.
The good news is that the damage was minimal. A small pinned bracket on the 3-point harness got bent. All I had to face was a frustrating delay while the parts were acquired (they weren’t too expensive) and a few minutes to drive the old mangled pin out of the old bent bracket. I replaced the bracket, slid in the new pin, scraped my fingers installing the cotter pin (every mechanical job requires a small blood sacrifice), and was ready to roll in under 15 minutes. Well, it was 15 minutes if you ignore the week of downtime. Anyway, it’s good as new and I feel redeemed.
Lesson learned. Actually less like a lesson than proof that bad choices have consequences. I already knew what I ought to do. Now I’ve learned to fuckin do it. It could have been worse!