[AT] A day off

[John Hall]

Not exactly antique tractor related, but old/antique tractors are all we 
have to use,so....

We have been blessed(and cursed) with a dry fall. Obviously made for 
great harvest weather. I only waited 1 or 2 days for corn to dry after a 
shower of rain, other than that we have been busy doing something every 
day here on the farm. As I began, all the machinery here is old--2 
working tractors date to the 40's, the newest is a 1972 IH 454. In 
addition to harvesting and hauling corn, we ground up all the stalks, 
cut and square baled the hay, and reseeded the hay fields as well. 
Yesterday I put away the bushog, hay rake, combine, and sickle mower. 
Earlier in the week we put away the tedder and the baler. Got the offset 
harrow hooked up so I can cut some corn stalks in the 
ground--fortunately its going to rain this week and soften the ground. 
We'll only harrow the fields I'll sow wheat on--the rest can wait till 
March.

  The older I get the more I am appreciative of my farming memories. One 
you don't think about often is the great smells of the crops. This 
afternoon the hay we baled last week had a really strong aroma to it. 
Most of the smell of the corn fields has subsided, but I remember one 
Sat night we came in from going to eat supper and rode to the back to 
check on the combine (always scared of fire). The moment I opened the 
truck door, the smell of fresh combined corn would take your breath. I 
ventured back 35 years to playing in the back of a grain truck while it 
slowly dumped the corn into the dryer (no danger of getting caught in an 
auger). Last fall my son and cousins boy were goofing around in the 
truck wile I was cutting corn. Nothing like watching kids make their own 
fun.

To top off the weekend, I would up on the Vintage Aerial website, 
searching for photos of our farm over the years. I found one from the 
fall of 1990. There, right in front of the houses was parked the 
family's 4430 Deere with offset harrow and grain drill hooked behind it. 
Evidently it was just "swinging by" the house while moving between farms 
planting wheat. I probably should order me a copy of that photo, as the 
next year the real farming operation was shut down and most of the 
equipment was auctioned off.

Sorry for the ramble, the list just seems a little quiet. I have plenty 
of needed tractor repairs to chat about over the winter.

John Hall