[Farmall] Hello

[Stan Bass]

Bob,
Thanks for the story! A good read. Sorry about my slow responses, life
stays busy. I'm a '61 model ;) and first experiences were with an early
Cub in the mid 60's that was later traded on an H. Dad had cousins up in
MI with a dairy farm that used 2 H's and an M since the 50's, that
memory guided his choice. Memories of the Cub are thin (I was a little
young) believe it was an early model (tri ribbed hood) with hydraulics
and several implements (I remember a belly sickle bar). The H was also
an early model (remember it had the 1-1/8" PTO) that we knew very little
about. Back then we didn't even know that 3 pnt kits existed. We used it
with all pull type implements. I remember getting curious one day and
just trying every knob or handle I could find to see what it did. Knew
about the PTO, found the belt pulley, and some other handle that would
load the engine hard but I couldn't see anything move? Asked my Dad and
brother later, stumped them too! One told me probably something broken
inside the tractor so don't use it ;)  We didn't have a clue on how to
use the hydraulics or that it even had the pump! Obviously never saw an
operators manual, much less any of the other info available to us these
days, Oh well...

When Dad decided he needed to modernize with a 3 pnt, I remember reading
the tractor ads with him trying to figure out what they were. We saw a
AC WD-45 and we joked back and forth until we somehow came up with, 'It
must be an Allis Chalmers that went out in '45, and W.D. couldn't fix
it!' :)   We ended up with a Ford 800 and later a 3000 diesel. We kept
that H around for years afterwards as a backup, it was always considered
'old reliable', but temper that with the fact that it's permanent
parking place was on a hill (always coast started it).

After I got my place and the bug hit me again, I started with a C around
'91 or '92, have fixed up several different A/B/C series tractors,
currently  running a Super C, SH & SM; all with live hyd's and saginaw 3
pnts. Also have a 230 project that some one turned into a utility but
cobbled several things (like rear hubs held on by muffler clamps!) then
eventually ran it out of oil :(  I thought it was rather unique though,
so I'll finish it as a Utility just for fun. 
Stan(VA).

Bob Jacobs wrote:
> 
> Hello Stan,
> 
> The dealership was in Pinconning, Mi.  20 miles north of Bay City.  I was
> hatched in 1951 and basically was brought up at the dealership.  My dad was
> the owner and mom kept the books so most of the "free" time as a child was
> spent running around the store/shop and pestering the mechanics.  I have
> very fond memories of those days and learned much about basic mechanics and
> some advanced things as I aged, from their mechanics.
> 
...