"Tractor Story Page!"
One day, many years ago I came across a small tractor (My Oliver Ind. "70") She was in rough shape, but I can restore anything if I have a mind. So I asked, but the elderly gent would not sell. Ok, I thought, it's his tractor afterall. So the years went past, and it just sat there. It was at a house on a street corner next to the road. Every year, the snow and sand were pushed atop the "Little Ol' Tractor". By Christmas, it could not be seen. In the spring, it would have another several inches of salt/sand deposited on it from the melting snow. Soon, the tractor was 1/3 burried.
The sand and salt just ate away at the "Little Ol' Tractor", and soon it was a pile of junk, but I could restore anything if I had the mind. So, I went by and asked again, this time I asked the son as the father was not home. He said, "that old pile of junk? I was going to haul it off to the scrap man next week", but I would still have to ask the father. As we spoke, the father was returning from his appointment, and we talked about the "Little Ol' Tractor". He was still going to fix it! Or was he? His son interupted the father (who was well into his 80s and not in the best of health), and they chatted a while on the side. I took this time to give the "Little Ol' Tractor" a good once over. Finally we all looked it over together, and decided that it was beyond repair for the elderly gent, and I bought it.
I knew I could only use 70% of the original tractor, and would have my work cut out for me, but I took it home anyway. It took me half a day to cut off the welded junk, and wash all the sand from it. There must of been a ton of sand in every spot there possibly could be. Then I got a good look at it for the first time. My neighbors couldn't believe I would even attempt a restoration on it, but I was determined to do a great job. After all, I could restore anything if I had the mind. I could just visualize what it would look like when finished.
Now, for the disassembly, It would take more than I expected. Almost ever bolt broke off as the salt/sand rotted them that badly. I had to retap 1/3 of the holes, the engine block and crank were the only part of the original engine that could be used. The rims were rotted off, and the tinwork was almost non-existant. Lucky for me, they had it partly disassembled, and some of the tinwork was in the garage. The transmission had 6 gallons of water in it, and it's a wonder the housing hadn't cracked from freezing. I replaced every bearing in the transmission, the bull gears, and diffrential. The transmission gears were good.
For the next 10 weeks, I was a man posessed, working on it from 6 am till 9 pm, stopping only for some nurishment and,.... well you know ("Nature Calling"). My wife had to come outside to see me, and my son (Who was just 1 year old) came out and grabbed everything greasy. Made my wife extremely happy !!!!! Finally, the "Little Ol' Tractor" came together, and I showed it the first time in August of 97. It was an eye catcher for sure. There are a lot of the "Row Crop" versions out there, but not many industrials.
We just happened to be driving by the place I bought the "Little Ol' Tractor", and we stopped in. I had the photo album of the restoration with me, and I showed the success I have had with it. The father had tears come to his eyes when he saw I had finished the "Little Ol' Tractor". He told me, "You can restore anything, If you have the mind!" You also can see this "Little Ol' Tractor".
Anyway, it goes like this,..... Her hubby has become interested in "Tractors". First off it was just going to the fairs, then the pulls, then they didn't miss any. It started innocently, but soon snowballed into an obcession. Soon his life was consumed in "Tractors".
It was getting to the point that their marriage of 40 years was beginning to suffer. So she did the next best thing. She bought him a old John Deere, (Which was like putting fuel on a fire). Not realising, this was the beginning of the end. He turned their garage into a Tractor repair shop. Disassembled and restored the old girl. (The Tractor I Mean!)
After 4 months of almost never seeing her husband, the Tractor was finally ready. Now what to do with it? So, he bought a new truck and trailer to haul it to the shows, which wasn't what she had planned on how to spend their "Nest Egg". Anyway, soon after that, he aquired a diffrent project. So, now had a new bigger garage built to house the finished Tractor while he worked on the new project.
Talk about "Madder than a wet hen!" He was slowly, but surely chipping away at their "Nest Egg", just to satisfy his passion that was becoming a "Obcession". Another 4 or 5 months went by, and the second one was finally done, to the cost of damaging their marriage to the point that she really needed some of his time, or else.
She finally showed him the error of his ways, (So she thought) and he took her on a second honeymoon to Australia, (They always wanted to visit the land "Down Under") So, off to the land of "Roo's" and "Kawala Bears". But, wouldn't you know that "Antique Tractor" restoration is just a popular down there as in the States.
They wern't there 4 hours and he noticed a "Tractor" show and pull advertised, and off to the show he went with his wife of 43 years still in the hotel. This was "The straw that broke the Camels back!" She got a return flight home and left her "Obcessed Hubby" half way around the world.
He frantically tried to get home before her, but was 2 days behind as there were no flights available for him. When he did finally arrive, needless to say, the "Dog House" was the best he could muster. (Literally).... She had locked his garages, changed the locks, even had his Tractors towed off to a storage facility till they worked things out.
After a few days of working things out, with friends and family and their pastor helping, it looked like they would survive. (Not So)........
Another week went by, and a large truck pulled up and had a very unusual tractor chained to a skid on the trailer. (She was away shopping at that moment) They were unloading it on the lawn when she returned, and that was it.
He had bought a very unusual tractor while in Australia, and had it shipped to his home to the tune of almost more money than they had for a "Nest Egg". (In other words, He blew all their cash!)
Needless to say, after 43 years, he threw it all away for the love of a Tractor rather than the love of his Wife.
There is a moral in this story, and we all know what it is. This is a true story with a un-happy ending, but hopefully it may help others avoid this tragedy. I know I will never put my "Tractors" ahead of my wife and family, but "Tractors" are a close second.
God Bless.
All my life, folks have been good to me, and they lend a hand when needed. The Lord even comes through in a pinch to help me work out a problem. I just wish to give back to everyone in this way. I have had people ask for my address, only to find a check show up in the mail with a letter of thanks for the advice and ideas I have given to someone.
One such example is of a elderly gent, (Locally) about 100 miles away who had a Farmall Regular. He could not get spark from the magneto, and the dealers couldn't help him. Many dealers believe if it's more than 20 years old, it's not worth bothering with, or maybe they just don't want to be bothered. Anyway, we E-Mailed back and forth for a week. I took him step by step on how to check and rebuild the Mag. I sent technical bulletins and scanned pictures. We finally got it running, and he was extremely happy to say the least.
A week went by, and I recieved a check for $20.00, with an exceptional note. It seens that he had brought his tractor to the dealer, and they tried to repair it once before, and could not, and he still got charged over $200.00 for their effort. He said I should go into business doing repairs on these things, but it's just like any other venture. Most folks like to do it themselves, or pay ungodly amount and have a dealer do a repair.
I tried to return the check, but he would not accept it, and said I saved him a lot. He said would of given me more than just a token amount if he had it. This was in the spring of 98 when I just installed my Web Pages. Since then, I have had many E-Mails and letters of thanks, and some letters even had a few bucks in them. Folks know that in this part of the country, (Northern Maine) life is hard, and showing appreciation is common place.
Now, I don't expect to be paid for my services, nor did I start this venture to get rich. I pay for it out of my own pocket, and try to be as informative and educational as the "Commercial" pages.
So, to everyone who has helped out,.... Or who is going to help out in the future,...
THANKS !!
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Last updated on Tuesday, June 29,1999
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