What age did you start driving tractors?

[pjbci]

At what age did you let your kid start driving tractors on their own? How old were you when your dad "turned you loose" on a tractor?

Growing up on a farm, my dad had me raking hay at the very early age of 8. I was doing simpler task before that. I am raising 2 sons now on the same farm. The oldest is 11 and I have pretty much completely turned him loose with most everything. He runs my 180hp tractor and 21ft disk like a champ, he is also getting good with the dozer. He has been driving the same 135 MF that I learned to drive on since he was 7. My 9 yr old is a completely different story. He just doesnt pay enough attention to be operating anything other than the lawnmower without my help.

So, tell us about the age of youself and your kids starting to drive tractors.

[rsewill]

Not a farm kid. But I would spend two weeks in the summer on my uncle's farm and was first running a Fordson at age 12 hand picking rocks. Except I was doing the easy part - driving the tractor - while my two cousins (1 and 2 years older) were doing the hard work. I'd ride with them on the big Masseys as they did field work but they never let me run the them, even when I was 16 when I quit going to the farm.

[JDgreen227]

Was plowing with my Dad's Jubilee at the age of 12....

[David Wayne]

I was turned loose at 8 working ground while dad planted in the same field. I dont remember how old my kids were but my oldest grandson started learning to drive the 8N at age 7. We dont live on a farm and that sure has a lot to with it.

[GGB]

I started at age 9 or 10 on my Grandpa's farm doing simple chores like pulling a hay wagon or grain cart with a Ford NAA tractor. Each year he had me do a little more.

My younger brothers didn't seem to have the same interest in tractors as I did, so they started a year or two later than me. But that may have been because I ran the tractors every chance I got and they may not have had a chance to learn as soon as me. My cousin who grew on his folk's farm probably started at age 8.

Our nephew started at age 10 or 11, and is a natural, but his younger brother just didn't have the same interest in learning to operate farm equipment.

Just be careful.

[Deere Dude]

Driving tractors, Ford 8n and Allis Chalmers WD something around 11. Driving cars around 12. Cars were not on the road but racing around some fields on a farm. My dad would buy cars that ran and let us kids drive them until they wouldn't run anymore out in the fields. Then we would strip the cars apart with the tractors and sell to the junk man. I loved it.

[dmccarty]

My first job was on a farm and one of the things I did was run a MF 135. I was 16.

Last Friday was a Big Day. Our oldest at almost 12 has finally grown enough to reach the pedals on my 4700. She has sat on the tractor many times while I showed her what lever did what and she has sat in my lap to steer the tractor. Last Friday she drove the tractor for the first time.

It is all she has talked about since then.

We had to move an old basket ball goal at the neighbors house and she was very helpful operating the tractor to get the goal into the FEL bucket.

This weekend she will get to run the tractor some more.

Later,
Dan

[jinman]

I was a big kid for my age and probably did a lot of things I should not have because people treated me like a much older kid. I drove our tractor (Fergie TO20) when I was 9 yo and even did plowing jobs for a neighbor. I drove cars/pickups around the place too.

Once I borrowed the neighbor's pickup to haul some stuff out of our barn. I backed the pickup down the slope to the barn and jumped out to open the barn door. I heard something and looked around in time to see the pickup rolling backwards toward me. I got out of the way just as the truck hit the side of the barn and pushed in the wall about 6'. The pickup wasn't hurt at all, but my pride and rear end sure were when Dad got home from work.

EDIT: Oh yes, my grandson loves to use our riding mower, but his eyes just can't see the difference between cut grass and non-cut grass. He leaves slivers of uncut grass all over the place and has to go back to cut them. He can see the tiniest detail on his Nintendo DS screen, but can't see where the edge of the uncut grass is from his last pass. He's gettin' better, but I constantly have to tell him to slow down and pay attention.

[shortthrow50]

Growing up where my family owned a trash company and landfill, I beleive I was about 11 when I started running d8 dozer and also running mack and peterbilt trucks moving cans around yard and dumping in transfer trailers. Had a very fun childhood. I don't beleive kids these days that I know of have the smarts or maturity to do what I did at that age to be safe at all. I say again " kids I know of". Just so I don't get yelled at by some of you

[nue2farm]

I got a late start also. I was 15 when a man hired me to help out on his minnow farm. He had a Farmal Cub and a 49 Mercury. I drove both of them. More or less taught myself to drive in that Merc. 3 speed on the collumn......