[AT] After 10 years it still runs

Mon May 30 10:43:14 PDT 2016

Hi Dean and Henry,
 I have a bond like that with my grandfather on the Juranek side.
Great Grandpa had a John Deere a which I still have, and then he also
had Olivers.
 A few years ago, grandpa said that I could have the Oliver 88 that he
taught me how to drive in 2013 or so. Although it now needs all new
gaskets in the rear end, and a seal between the engine and rear end, I
had an agreement with him that the only reason I'd sell it is if my
family was starving.

 Grandpa now has talked about selling all of his Olivers. One of which
is an Oliver 66 that has probably been at his place since Dad was a
senior in high school. My grandma drove it, so did dad, and now I
drive it when I go there. Grandpa has used it to run an 8 inch auger
for many years. So I told him that if he ever sells the 66, I hope
that his FAVORITE grandson is first on the list at the dealership...
 Lol.
 I always tell him that I want to make sure that that 66 stays in the
family after he is gone.
 I think he likes that idea...
 Thanks again for both of your stories.
 Take Care,
 Tyler Juranek

On 5/30/16, Dean VP <deanvp at att.net> wrote:
> Henry,
>
> That is a great story. Memories of when the 1st antique tractor started do
> not go away. Especially a family tractor. I suspect you have captured the
> memories prior to your birth fairly well with one exception you might want
> to ask fellow family members about. Typical threshing machines are a bit HP
> hungry. I don't recall seeing a Threshing machine small enough that a 1939
> B
> could handle. But maybe there is. All the threshing machines I was around
> as
> a kid usually took a good sized steam traction engine or something like a
> big Rumley Oil Pull or a JD Model D.  So I would just check that little
> piece of memory and see if it still fits.  I'm now getting to the age that
> one needs to question my memory too.  Maybe there were JD B sized combines,
> I just don't remember seeing them as a kid.
>
> My Dad and my Uncle co-owned a threshing machine and we had a threshing
> ring
> of about 10 farmers.   Lots of fond memories of what went on during that
> time. I think my first experience of driving a tractor by myself was to
> pull
> the Bundle wagon while the farmers loaded it.  Wasn't all that big a job to
> stay aligned with the row of shocks and the speed was quite low in case I
> needed to be rescued. I'm sure I was between 5 and 10 years old at the
> time.
> Probably closer to 5. But the best part of threshing was the annual
> Threshing Picnic after all fields and farmers were done. A full day was
> devoted to a celebration that the crop was in.  All kinds of family
> activities and the women would put on a food feast that never ended.
> Threshing Picnics are in the top 5 memories of growing up on the farm in
> the
> 1940's.
>
> Family tractors are great to own. I've never been able to find any of my
> Fathers tractors but I do have the 2 bottom plow we plowed with in the 40's
> and a 2 row cultivator. Not worth all that much but I hauled them all the
> way from Iowa to WA state just to save them as family treasures.
> Unfortunately, my children were born and raised in the city and my children
> and grandchildren really don't identify with farm life as much as I would
> like. But I've lead them to the water. It is up to them to decide to drink.
>
>
> I really enjoy reading about how others and their families who have been
> able to keep the family history and traditions alive.  Thanks for the
> memories.
>
> Dean VP
> Snohomish, WA 98290
>
> It's better to be judged by 12 than carried by 6.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: at-bounces at lists.antique-tractor.com
> [mailto:at-bounces at lists.antique-tractor.com] On Behalf Of Henry Miller
> Sent: Monday, May 30, 2016 9:16 AM
> To: at at lists.antique-tractor.com
> Subject: [AT] After 10 years it still runs
>
> This story starts about a dozen years before I was born, so I probably have
> some details wrong. I think you will enjoy anyway
>
> In 1962 my Grandpa was at an auction and saw a 1939 John Deere B with a
> cultivator that nobody was bidding on. He could use another tractor on the
> farm and wanted to try a John Deere cultivator so he bid on it and bought
> it
> for $200. My dad drove it home as an almost teenager. They used it on the
> farm for a few years, but the 8n and Ford 860 were the main work tractors.
>
> I have seen pictures of it running a threshing machine on the belt, judging
> by the age of my uncles in the pictures I was probably a baby at the time,
> but of course I don't remember it. I remember it sitting by the barn as a
> kid, sometimes I would climb in the seat, but as far as I know it was never
> used. Grandpa had rented out the land and quit farming by then
>
> Eventually my Grandpa retired, brought it up to the shed, painted it and
> got
> it running. I got to start and drive it 20 years ago, just for the fun of
> it.
>
> In the fall of 2005 grandpa put new tires on it, winterized it and parked
> it
> in the shed. He died that January and so it sat.
>
> While cleaning up my uncles wondered how much they could get for it, and I
> said if they were to sell it I wanted it. At the time I was working a
> temporary job 100 miles from home and couldn't really do anything about it.
>
>
> 5 years ago I got a job with John Deere, got married, bought a house, and
> had a couple kids. Somewhere along the way my uncles told me I should come
> get it. Last weekend I had a wedding to go to, so with a rented trailer up
> we went to get it.
>
> When I got up to the farm my uncles had pulled it out and put water in the
> radiator. Despite pulling it all over with a tractor they couldn't get it
> to
> start: no spark. So we pulled it on the trailer and after the wedding I am
> pulled it home. Monday night I got a friendly neighbor to help push it into
> the garage.
>
> Thursday I filed and gaped the points and got spark (this was my first
> experience with points instead of electronic ignition so I was nervous).
> Saturday it rained, so I did indoor work. Today dawned bright and clear, so
> I pushed it out of the garage, greased the zerks, put fuel in and set out
> to
> remember how to crank the flywheel over.
>
> It took a while to remember the tricks and figure out the right choke
> setting, but after a good workout it fired up and ran. Enough to make it 15
> feet where I ran out of gas. fresh gas and it started right up. I had a
> great time driving around the front yard! I still have a silly grin on my
> face as I write this.
>
> I had to run at half choke, and oil drips out of the compression release
> valves, so there is work to do. That can wait a weekend or five to
> investigate.
>
> I figured you guys would enjoy the story.
>
> --
> Sent from my Android device with K-9 Mail. Please excuse my brevity.
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