HAT TIPS
Hello,
I guess the first tractor I ever ran was a JD 70. It was one of those two-cylinder John Deeres that eventually ruined your ears with the oomm pah pah they pounded out all day. I think we had an A John Deere, and the 70, and the big guy, the 80.
You could pull a four-bottom plow with the 70, and a five with the 80. When Dad upgraded to the 730, it was like hog heaven for a young boy switching to the 730 with power steering!
Man, you look at a quarter section field, or maybe larger, with a four or five bottom plow, it is a daunting task ahead of you. We had a neighbor who didn’t really care for farming. He seeded his oats with a four-bottom plow and a pony drill behind. He’d farm a while, and then take a little time off. And his crop grew accordingly. But he said it worked out well, because he didn’t like to hay steady either. That way, if a rain happened to move in, all his hay wouldn’t be ruined.
Nowadays, tractors come with cabs, air, radio, computers, auto steering, and too many buttons for an old cowboy to dare touch. I’d be afraid I might be hitting the eject lever!
But one nice touch is the buddy seat. I remember the first time I saw one. I asked the combine operator what that extra seat was for. He said, “It’s for the banker that owns the combine!”
I took my youngest grandson in a ride in a tractor with a buddy seat yesterday. I set him in there and fastened the seat belt. Yup, it had a seat belt. For the first time ever, I fed without him hitting every button and lever he could find! I can’t believe it took this long to figure that out.
Did you know that Ole and Lena were the inventors of the buddy seat?
When they first got married, they were joined at the hip. You didn’t see Ole without Lena. Or Lena without Ole. They snuggled up when driving the truck to town. And to be close while Ole was going around that quarter section with that four-bottom plow, they welded a buddy seat on that Old Minny Moline tractor.
Over the years the romance faded, and the buddy seat wasn’t used anymore. And things kept getting worse. Finally, they decided they would split the assets and go their separate ways. They agreed they would split the land equally, the machinery equally and, although Ole was against it, they would split the money in the farm account equally.
So, up to the bank they went. Just as they were getting up to the teller, a robber burst into the bank! He fired a shot into the ceiling and screamed for everyone to get on the ground.
As he turned to demand his loot, his mask slipped down off his face. The teller recognized him, but before he could say anything, Bang! The robber shot him.
He pulled his mask back up and turned to the customers on the floor. “Did anyone else see my face?”
Ole quickly raises his hand. “I didn’t see you, but I’m pretty sure Lena got a good look!”
Aw, heck. I made that last story up.
Later,
Dean