[AT] This old tractor hobby

[Indiana Robinson]

I sometimes wish that I had a few wheel barrows full of money to shovel at
my hobbies like some of those guys they show on "Classic Tractor Fever" on
RFD-TV where the guy walks along from building to building opening doors
and saying things like "There are 40 or 50 in this building" and they pan
across a big building full of fully restored trailer queens all sporting 4
new tires...
Getting back on planet Earth... One of my bigger nemesis is rear tires. For
the most part new stuff is out of the question. I used to buy some new
tires when I was still farming but then I could balance them against income
produced. I don't like to say this out loud but I really only truly "need"
one small chore tractor these days... Dang, it hurt saying that...
I have accumulated 17 of them ranging from basket case someday project
tractors to a couple restored and others in between. None are super special
big money stuff. The need for some tires is increasing quickly. I told
Diana that I might have been smarter to have specialized in steel wheeled
tractors. I have accumulated a few cheap rear tires. Not very good but at
least hold air. Cheap tractor rears at auctions are getting pretty pricey
these days.
Batteries are also a problem but at least I can shuffle batteries around.
That is pretty tough to do with tires.  [?]  The last rear tire I changed
took me a year. I had a new rear tire that came with a little VAC Case I
had bought and I decided I could change it in the fall of 2013. I jacked
the VAC up and removed the old tire. That rim was a different width than
its mate but I had a real nice one the right size. I mounted the new rim on
the tractor and gave the inside of the tire part of it a good heavy coat of
paint and left it to dry a couple of days. During that time I had some
"events" and that was when I found about about my dicky ticker. This last
October I finally got the tire mounted and the tractor down off of the
jack. I swear that the jack let out a sigh when I let it down.  [?]
My TO-20 Ferguson tires are showing some weathering but I believe will last
for a while. It's the tractor I use the most. I have a couple of 8N Fords,
neither running yet but they both have good rear tires. My little Allis C
has pretty good rear tires. Years ago George Willer gave me a pair of well
worn tires that he jokingly called "turf" tires, that he had taken off of
his SC Case. I installed on my MM-R and ran them for some time and one is
still on there. The other one failed but I ran across another one that is a
good  match. I haven't tried to change it yet but maybe this spring.
Tire prices are getting so high for some of these things it can at times be
cheaper to buy a whole tractor with a problem or problems but with good
tires.

Still rambling...

Still checking the grounds.


.

-- 


Nothing will teach you patience like a horse. Rule #1, the horse is rarely
wrong...
If you want to get inside of a horse's head love is the key, not anger or
impatience and never revenge. Pet it, groom it, feed it, water it; and only
then ask it to work with you as a friend.

Francis Robinson
aka "farmer"
Central Indiana USA
robinson46176 at gmail.com