[AT] A day off

[Dean VP]

Thanks for the memories.  I think the first time I was ever allowed to driver a tractor was when the men were loading Oats bundles, taken from standing shock's on to a bundle wagon. I was tasked with keeping the tractor alongside the row of shocks aa the men loaded the bundles on the wagon.  No stopping or starting just a measured speed at which the men could keep up. I think I was allowed to not only steer but to change the throttle as needed to keep the proper pace.  I do not know now how old I was at the time but I suspect it was well under 10 years of age. I do remember not being able to stop as I wasn't strong enough to pull the clutch lever and my feet would not reach the brake pedals. But I knew how to turn corners as necessary and the land was relatively flat. I suspect I was kind of slow turning around but that gave the men a little break. I'm thinking 6 or 7 yr's old maybe. I was on top of the world on that tractor and had come of age. My Mother told of an instance where she was driving a tractor in the barn yard,  she never did so I don't know why she was, and was inadvertently headed into a haystack and panicked. I guess I was between her legs on the tractor and somehow had the wherewithal to pull the clutch. I have no recollection of this so I had to be quite young.


Dean VP
Snohomish, WA 98290

-----Original Message-----
From: at-bounces at lists.antique-tractor.com [mailto:at-bounces at lists.antique-tractor.com] On Behalf Of Kenneth Gene Waugh
Sent: Monday, October 9, 2017 2:24 AM
To: Antique tractor email discussion group <at at lists.antique-tractor.com>
Subject: Re: [AT] A day off

Yes, John, thanks for your recollections!  As I age, memories become more and more important.  Memories of sights, sounds, the odors you speak of.  A couple of my favorites are my grandfather’s unstyled 37 JD G and the old radial aircraft engines.  

I “became a man” at the age of 10 - 11 when I got that G started by myself the first time!!! I still remember scooting under it to close the far-side compression release petcock rather than walking around it.

Yes, thanks for your memories!

Gene Waugh
Elgin, IL

Sent from my iPhone

> On Oct 8, 2017, at 7:32 PM, John Hall <jtchall at nc.rr.com> wrote:
> 
> 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
> 
> _______________________________________________
> AT mailing list
> http://www.antique-tractor.com/mailman/listinfo/at

_______________________________________________
AT mailing list
http://www.antique-tractor.com/mailman/listinfo/at