Posted by LenNH on January 17, 2013 at 12:42:30 from (75.69.100.76):
In Reply to: First IH or Farmall posted by Ed Junior on January 14, 2013 at 17:45:00:
Might's well add something, if only to reminisce. Started "driving" my father's '32 Chevrolet 1-1/2 ton in the fields when I was 7, in 1938. Couldn't reach the pedals, but could steer in the fields picking up hay with the loader. Somebody jumped on the running boards to reach a foot in to step on the clutch! Then "graduated" to my father's almost-new '38 F-12 on rubber. Same story. I was "bound, bent and billy-be-damned" to drive (that's the way my father put it). In a year or so, I could slide down and reach the pedals, and after that I couldn't be kept off the tractors. I even helped the hired man shovel out the barn by hand, just so I could go spread the manure. One time, there was snow on the ground and I didn't see a hole made by a washed-out underdrain. Naturally, I was going full-bore, like most engine-happy kids, I guess. Bam! Front wheels in the hole and the entire stalk just snapped off. Lucky I didn't get thrown off, because the front of the tractor dropped like a rock and skidded along until it stalled.I went back to the barn and said to my father, in a very quiet voice, "I broke the front wheels off the tractor." He never said a word, but the next afternoon, I came home to school to find a new stalk on the tractor. My grandfather had a 30-something F-12 on full-steel, and I got to drive that in the summer, disking up potato fields after the harvest. What a difference rubber tires make! A neighbor of ours had had a steel-wheeled F-12, and once borrowed ours (mostly, I think, because I had the nerve to go borrow his "Regular" a couple of times, just to get to drive a "big tractor"--that's another obsession of tractor nuts, I suppose).The neighbor was amazed at what our '12 could do. We pulled a 2-12 Little Genius in heavy sod in second, with no trouble. A low-compression H my father bought later wouldn"t do much better. "Graduated" at the age of 10 to our steel-wheeled 10-20. Music from those big cylinders--at a 1000 rpm, you could almost count the explosions. A hard-steering beast, but I loved it. We used it for 22 years, with no trouble and very little maintenance. The ride on pointed lugs on a gravel road was so awful that you couldn't stand to go much faster than a low idle in second gear, but on sod or plowed ground, it wasn't too bad. For its day, it had pretty good operator comfort--a platform, room for the feet, steering wheel in a comfortable position, good visibility. Other tractors used over the years: An F-20, two H's, a Super M, an A and a B, a Ford 2N, and an Oliver H-P Row-Crop (about 1930--now THAT was a real beast to steer). Had no real use for farm tractors for years, but three years ago I noticed a "need" for a tractor to cut a good-sized plot of grass. Saw a Ford 1100, complete with a nice King Cutter rear-mounted deck. Ran great, still does. It's tiny, but it's definitely a real tractor, with independent hydraulics, PTO, 10-speeds forward. PTO is not independent, so the tractor is a little behind the times, but so am I and I don't mind. Once a week, it let's me play farmer, just enough to satisfy the craving to drive a tractor again. My wife doesn"t quite understand, but she smiles tolerantly. I"m sure you folks understand.Right? Or maybe I shouldn't talk about Fords here?
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Today's Featured Article - Talk of the Town: Winterizing Engines - To Drain or Not to Drain? - by Russ Berry. What is this strange attraction I have to equipment and machinery? How did I get this way? I came from the suburbs and own a small horse farm in rural Loudoun County, Virginia. You can call me a "weekend farmer." The local farmers do. Does it bother me? No. I am just happy to have their friendship. At least the word "farmer" is in my title. But what is the attraction? How can I explain the sensation and exhilaration I feel when I turn the key and hear the engine come to life (most
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