You are probably wowed by high-tech precision ag technology — multi-hybrid planters, robotic tractors, unmanned aerial vehicles, rapid nitrate testers and a host of other similar things.

I like those, too. As a content director for Dakota Farmer and DakotaFarmer.com, it’s my job to keep up with new ag technology. Seeing what’s new at the Farm Progress Show and Husker Harvest Days is always fun.

But in my personal life I’m wowed by old technology that is new to me — like quick-attach tractor attachments.

Man, what a time- and back-saver. What took me so long to discover them?

QUICK CHANGE: New-to-me technology, like quick-attach attachments for a John Deere 4710 utility tractor, turn a 30-minute job in a one-minute joy.

I have lived on a 9-acre farmstead near Fargo for 30 years and have used a 1943 Farmall H with loader to plow snow, cultivate the shelterbelt, haul dirt, pull pumpkin trailers and do about every other outside job on the farmstead.

The H has been in my family for 73 years and has been a great workhorse. My grandfather farmed about 200 acres with it. He used it to plow, plant and cultivate.

Since I’ve been entrusted with the tractor, I have put a new engine in it and repainted it, using a paintbrush. (It was a sorry restoration job compared to the experts, but at least the tractor was red.) My son, who is much more mechanical than I am, converted it to a 12-volt system and put in an electronic ignition, which put an end to the H’s starting problems.

A year ago I decided to retire the H. It really wasn’t a safe tractor for me anymore. It didn’t have a roll bar or lights. Though our acreage is as flat as a dinner plate, there’s always the risk of running up against a tree trunk or over a stump and tipping over. I was worried about slipping and falling as I climbed up to and down from the tractor seat. The axle and three-point hitch arm were always slippery with hydraulic oil from leaks that we could never seem to stop.

So about a year ago I put the H in the shed and bought a 2003 John Deere 4710. It came with a loader. Just the other day, at my son’s urging, I bought a pallet fork attachment for it. I was reluctant to buy the forklift. Taking the bucket off the H was a pain in the you-know-what. You needed the patience of Job, a heavy hammer and a couple of big bolts you could pound on to push the bucket pins out of the loader armholes. Getting the bucket back on was even harder since the loader arms were even after 70 years of use. I didn’t want to have to go through that with the John Deere.

But changing attachments on the John Deere is a breeze. It has a quick-attach mount and bucket. The aftermarket forklift was a quick-attach attachment. No hammer needed to take them on and off. No pushing and pulling required to get the holes on the arms and the attachment to match up. No sweat. It took all of about one minute to drop off the bucket and put on the forklift.

I thought I was heaven. Farming heaven, anyway.

I’m not going to wait so long to buy the next new-to-me technology.