woodlandfarms
Super Member
- Joined
- Jul 31, 2006
- Messages
- 6,117
- Location
- Los Angeles / SW Washington
- Tractor
- PowerTrac 1850, Kubota RTV x900
Thought you guys would get a laugh at my expense....
Flash back to 38 years ago and my folks bought a Mongomery Wards roto-tiller. Brand new. My parents where those mother earth reader types, and decided to lower the grocery bill (which given my fathers paycheck he probably couldn't afford anyway) and start a 1/2 acre garden. Another element to all of this is while my father was raised in a farm setting, some things just sort of missed him. Also, my family was against anything gas powered if a human could do it. We cut firewood by hand, with the old 2 man buck saws. Neighbors always commented, but man was I in great shape in high school.
OK, back to the story. We got the machine home, started it up and my father started to till. It worked, not well, but better than using a shovel, and soon I found myself every year behind this machine, getting the snot knocked out of me.
Well, flash forward to last year and my father sells his farm and sends me some gear. One thing in the truck is the old tiller. I get a carb kit, do a quick rebuild and it runs as good as new. So off to the garden we go. And it shakes and shakes and shakes and just doesn't like the clay soil we have.
So towards the end of the 1st pass I decide to just give the machine the once over. Maybe I can sharpen the tines to help...
It takes a moment to let the vision of the tines sink in. Something is not right. The more I stare the more I realize the **** I have been through with this machine has been for naught. It is clear that the dealer back in 78 installed the two outboard tines holders on backwards. If only all 4 had been backwards then I think we would have caught on. I called my dad to make sure he had never removed them, he had not. Well. the old bolts were more than rusted on. I cut them off, swapped left for right and started it again.. WOW, what a difference. They **** I went through with that machine for so many years. And now it works like it should...
Anyway... Stories....
Flash back to 38 years ago and my folks bought a Mongomery Wards roto-tiller. Brand new. My parents where those mother earth reader types, and decided to lower the grocery bill (which given my fathers paycheck he probably couldn't afford anyway) and start a 1/2 acre garden. Another element to all of this is while my father was raised in a farm setting, some things just sort of missed him. Also, my family was against anything gas powered if a human could do it. We cut firewood by hand, with the old 2 man buck saws. Neighbors always commented, but man was I in great shape in high school.
OK, back to the story. We got the machine home, started it up and my father started to till. It worked, not well, but better than using a shovel, and soon I found myself every year behind this machine, getting the snot knocked out of me.
Well, flash forward to last year and my father sells his farm and sends me some gear. One thing in the truck is the old tiller. I get a carb kit, do a quick rebuild and it runs as good as new. So off to the garden we go. And it shakes and shakes and shakes and just doesn't like the clay soil we have.
So towards the end of the 1st pass I decide to just give the machine the once over. Maybe I can sharpen the tines to help...
It takes a moment to let the vision of the tines sink in. Something is not right. The more I stare the more I realize the **** I have been through with this machine has been for naught. It is clear that the dealer back in 78 installed the two outboard tines holders on backwards. If only all 4 had been backwards then I think we would have caught on. I called my dad to make sure he had never removed them, he had not. Well. the old bolts were more than rusted on. I cut them off, swapped left for right and started it again.. WOW, what a difference. They **** I went through with that machine for so many years. And now it works like it should...
Anyway... Stories....