[AT] McCormick plow

charlie hill charliehill at embarqmail.com
Wed Aug 20 06:19:59 PDT 2014


I always went to school, my dad would ride the tractor 
during the day and I'd run it in the afternoons and on 
weekends.  We managed not to have to plow at night.
I've gone in the field many a Saturday morning at the 
first dawn and come out at night with my way lighted
by the blue flame coming from the top of the exhaust stack.

I enjoyed it too for the most part.  Sometimes in the mid morning
it got very monotonous but as the day goes on and you get 
tired you kind of get immersed in the work.  Or at least that's the 
way I remember it half a century later.  My biggest regret is that
I didn't stick with it after my dad died.  I've tried about every kind
of work there is except the kind I really always wanted to do. 
No one encouraged me or offered to help so I gave it up.

Charlie

-----Original Message----- 
From: Ron Cook 
Sent: Wednesday, August 20, 2014 2:14 AM 
To: Antique tractor email discussion group 
Subject: Re: [AT] McCormick plow 

Charlie,
     Pretty much the same here.  Just larger tractors and larger farms.  
Same hours.  We had to plow in the fall before freeze up and after corn 
picking.  Around the clock for a couple weeks.  I rather enjoyed sitting 
on a D4 Cat  come sunrise after plowing all night and wave at the school 
bus as it went by the field.  They went to school and I went home to bed 
for awhile.  The Cat belonged to an uncle, but when we were getting late 
into cold weather it came into play on our farm.  I was usually on a 
John Deere A and later a John Deere 70.  But when the ground was 
freezing, the wheel tractors ran out of traction and the D4 could run a 
little longer.

Ron Cook
Salix, IA
On 8/19/2014 11:44 AM, charlie hill wrote:
> Ron, I've told this story here before I think but I'll repeat it
> since it's on topic.  I grew up with a kid who was the son of
> a share cropper.  They had two tractors, a worn out Super A and
> an even more worn out A.  They tended I'm guessing about 150 acres
> with those two tractors including about 15 acres of tobacco (very labor
> intensive).  Around here everyone plowed in the late winter as soon as
> possible.  Usually in late Feb.  When it was time for them to plow the
> old man, my friend who was the youngest son and which ever ones of the
> other two sons were available worked in shifts, 24 hours a day until they
> got it all plowed.  School had to wait.
>
> Charlie
>

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