First of all, to TCHOTCHKE. This is a Yiddish word that originally came from a Polish word, czaczka (Polish cz is pronounced like English ch in "church"). My dictionary says it means "cheap trinket." It's one of those words you might hear around NYC, but probably not much elsewhere. As to judging, well, I'd be happier without the competition. I love the parades where people get to show their work without worrying about who is the best and shaming those who don't make it to the top. Still, for those who love the competition, why not? As to using a tractor versus keeping it for show, that's a matter of personal preference. I'd rather use one than keep it in the garage except for a few weekends in the summer when it is trailered to a show, but again, there's nothing wrong with either approach. I have a few things around the house that I love for themselves. They are useless to anybody else, but I sometimes just look at them, run my hands over them, admire them. The other half of this household doesn't really understand, but she humors me (I know that's not always the case with wives, so I've heard, anyway). If I had a really beautiful tractor, I'd want to look at it, admire it, look again to see how the mechanical problems were solved (well, or not so well, as with most machines), then do it all over again next week. But then, I'd want to DRIVE the beautiful tractor, so it'd get dirty and wouldn't look so beautiful, I guess. But aren't tractors supposed to get dirty? Aren't we all just farmers at heart, even if we don't farm any more?
Speaking of looking at how machines are made and mechanical problems solved, if you are ever near Windsor, Vermont (in eastern Vermont, on the Connecticut River, about an hour north of the Massachusetts state line), go and see the American Precision Museum. This museum houses numerous old machine tools, of the kinds used in factories as far back as (maybe) 1825: lathes, milling machines, drills. The museum is small--you can walk around fifteen minutes, or spend a day if you like to look very carefully at how people solved problems many years ago. Admission is a few dollars. The museum is closed now for the winter, but you can check out the hours by looking up American Precision Museum. Few people go there, and you will be welcomed by the attendant. Pictures are allowed.
I am going to post some comments on another museum of interest to guys like us. I'll call it Ford Museum.
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Today's Featured Article - Choosin, Mounting and Using a Bush Hog Type Mower - by Francis Robinson. Looking around at my new neighbors, most of whom are city raised and have recently acquired their first mini-farms of five to fifteen acres and also from reading questions ask at various discussion sites on the web it is frighteningly apparent that a great many guys (and a few gals) are learning by trial and error and mostly error how to use a very dangerous piece of farm equipment. It is also very apparent that these folks are getting a lot of very poor and often very dangerous advice fro
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