[AT] Old tractors and old men

Dennis Johnson moscowengnr at outlook.com
Fri Feb 3 11:49:03 PST 2017


David,

I have been blessed by God with reasonably good health. I will be 67 next month. I still can do a lot, just not as fast or as long as I used to do it.
Last trip to Okla, I installed soffits and outside lights on the cabin I am building, and set a steel post in the ground on a shop building I am building. Used small electric jack hammer to get through the last few inches of sandstone in the bottom of the hole I dug, because a steel bar was too much work to break the rock. Started the shop over 10 years ago, and took a while to get round tuit's working. Plan setting 2 more posts next trip, and installing combo A/C heater unit in cabin wall so it then can be insulated. It is still enjoyable and relaxing to go there and be able to do what I do. I am not in a race!
I feel a little bit like my IHC 2504 - missing on 1 cylinder, but for small projects who cares. Has a fuel issue where it runs good for a while, and then needs to stop and set a bit for the fuel to refill the carb bowl. It is not in shape to do 8 hours of heavy loading, but neither am I so the tractor and I match well.

Thanks
Dennis

Sent from my iPad

> On Feb 3, 2017, at 1:08 PM, "tmehrkam at sbcglobal.net" <tmehrkam at sbcglobal.net> wrote:
> 
> You guys are depressing.  It sounds like you are in about the same shape as most parts Tractors. :-{
> 
> I hope things pick up for you. I do not like seeing where I am going.
> 
> 
> 
>      From: David Bruce <tractor57 at gmail.com>
> To: Antique tractor email discussion group <at at lists.antique-tractor.com> 
> Sent: Friday, February 3, 2017 12:11 PM
> Subject: Re: [AT] Old tractors and old men
> 
> Not there yet but still dealing with the effects of a stroke in 2002. 
> Spent 10 weeks in ICU and rehab. Had a meeting with my maker but decided 
> my work here was not done. The outcome is a lot of my plans were 
> derailed but I wake up every morning with an appreciation of the day.
> 
> Today we have cows in the backyard - not my cows but from my pasture 
> which I rent. My dog is NOT happy - things not in place.
> 
> David
> 
> NW NC and happy in my briar patch
> 
> 
>> On 2/2/2017 8:19 PM, Greg Hass wrote:
>> This will be somewhat of a ramble and may wander so bare with me. Lately
>> it seems some have hinted at problems so I suspect I am not alone. At 69
>> much of what I thought would be the fun in life has left. Many of the
>> things I looked forward to enjoying are going by the wayside. My brain
>> is at about 35 years old but my body says go to he- double hockey
>> sticks. A few months ago I found out my back is shot and can not be
>> fixed.  It started 5 years ago while planting spring crops, every night
>> I ran a small fever and in the morning I was fine only to run a fever
>> again that night. After about 3 weeks I went to the doctor who ran some
>> tests and found nothing. A week later the fever spiked and I went to the
>> emergency room about midnight. More tests were run which showed nothing.
>> The doctor said it had to be hiding somewhere and ordered a cat scan. A
>> couple of hours later the results were in. For at least a month I had a
>> ruptured appendix. That was bad enough, but come morning, they told me
>> one of my kidneys had cancer. Six weeks later, I had surgery and they
>> removed my appendix and my kidney. Fast forward to late fall; at the
>> last checkup for the surgery, they told me I had prostate cancer. 50
>> radiation treatments later I was moving forward but had lost the
>> interest to do a lot of things. I have the best shop of my life to work
>> in. It is only 24 x 24 but is heated and I have some nice tools such as
>> a bridgeport  mill, torches and 3 welders plus other tools but have lost
>> the go to it to go out and work plus my back is always sore. As someone
>> has mentioned, if I get down on my knees I must get a hold of something
>> to get up. Also for the last 4 years I have not enjoyed the 3 tractor
>> shows I like to attend each year because of the pain in my hips only
>> lets me walk about 200 feet at a time so I don't see much. I thought it
>> was bad muscles but now know it was my back. For this year I hope to
>> enjoy shows more as I bought a small electric handicapped scooter. None
>> of our shows allow golf carts or 4 wheelers of any kind. 3 years ago I
>> took my Polaris Ranger to one and it was great, but someone  else with
>> one "bumped" someone and they sued the tractor show and that ended that.
>> Handicapped scooters are allowed as they only hold one person and are
>> slow moving. I guess the purpose of all this is how do some of this list
>> handle problems and work on old tractors and such. I farm 110 acres and
>> only have 2 pieces of equipment under 40 years old.  I used to look
>> forward to getting  up in the morning and working on equipment.  All my
>> life I have enjoyed working on mechanical things but now I still want to
>> do it but I can't get the will power to do it. It's not the lack of time
>> as I have lots of that but no getting it done. How do others on the list
>> with health problems get it done. I don't want to sound like I'm
>> complaining as I have much to be thankful for, however , not being able
>> to work without pain and even then taking all day for a 1 hour job does
>> get me down. I hope my thoughts are sort of clear and are not to off
>> topic as these problems affect old iron in a big way.
>>                   Greg Hass
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>> 
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