Reflect.

[Thomas]

Can you recall 35 plus years ago when Farmall,John Deere,Ford,Case,Olivers etc..replace the oxens and horses for more horse power and ease?
Four wheel drive tractor were heard of but very few could afford one.
Todays tractors have a glow plug,but back than a glow plug was consider taking the spark plugs for the tractor and heating them up in the stove or by a torch,for that was one of the many ways to get the tractor started on those sub zero days.
Hydraulic were around in those days,but mostly your hydraulic were call armstrong. )
3 point hitches seem what ever one could design.
If you had a front end loader than you were something,and you always didn't use it for farm...helping friends.
Attachments now a days makes project so much easier,not like chaining tires to a log than hitch to the tractor to level the ground,or mowing area w/ a sickle bar when in a matter of moments one can hitch up different types of mowers.
Transmission from the GST but mostly the HST gives the operator one less thing to think about when operatoring.
Safety into today tractors are so much better,but common sence is still needed.
Optional such as a/c & heater thats was up to mother nature to decide,and music...one learn to hum and think alot,and if you wanted a comfortable seat you sat on pillow or you shirt,for it was better than those steel seats. I grow up on Farmall 1940 H & 1950 A (we still have the H) and I will admit my 1995 Kubota also the attachments has indeed spoil me.
Reflecting from the past I'm greatful of those times,and looking toward the future I can only wonder what the tractors will look like also there fuctions.
So take a moment and reflect your tractor pass,and I'm sure there are some of you can add to this post. )
Take Care.

 

[Bird]

Yep, I remember farther back than that; I remember watching my dad plow with a team of mules. And our first tractor was a 1938 to 1940 John Deere, 2 cylinder, gasoline, hand cranked machine, and our only implements were a turning plow (moldboard), middle buster, and disc.

Bird

 

[PaulB]

I had a bit of a revelation a few weeks back. I stopped by the local JD dealer just to look at the used tractors on his lot, and sitting side by side was a new 790, and a ford 8N. I was shocked at how similar in size the 2 machines were. I have read about how great the 8N was, how popular, how it revolutionized american farming, and here it was, no bigger than what would nowadays be considered a modest or moderate compact. When you add in the fact that our tractors are 4 wheel drive, diesel, power steering, etc, it is apparent to me that we, homeowners or modest landowners at the most, have at our fingertips machines that would have literally knocked the socks off anything our fathers could have bought for any amount of money to run their farms. To me my tractor is 90 percent toy and 10 percent helper, but 40 years ago even my little 1700 would have been a marvel. something like the 4310 or 4600? - that would be like an F16 in the days of the Sopwith Camel. It is humbling, and gives me added respect for how our fathers managed to do all that they did to make america the breadbasket of the world.

 

[MChalkley]

I'm not old enough to have honestly come by the privilege, but I've walked behind a mule team a little myself, as a small kid. Quite enjoyable, since I wasn't old enough to know it was supposed to be work.

I used an old Ferguson for years and years - my dad still uses it. I'm sure they were a help when they came out, but I wouldn't take 30 of them for my L4310HST, not even if there were some way I could use them all at once. Not everything that's changed has been for the worse.

Mark

 

[Roy]

Often thought about my older brother cut the grass with a reel mower, I cut with a gas push, and my son uses a tractor. What's amazing is that given the equipment cost and average wages, my Dad's first gas mower was like us buying a L&G tractor (% of income). Makes me wonder what my Grandchildren will own, if anything? (Who knows, genetically engineered turf that never needs cutting, always stays green, and chokes out all weeds).

 

[W5FL]

First tractor I drove was a 42 Farmall one row. Hand Crank gasoline engine. Hand brakes for the rear wheels and no power anything EXCEPT it had a hydraulic lift for the plow. Not a three point but just a lift that you could fasten the plow that would allow you to lift it and turn at the end of the rows. Used a steel harrow to make a baseball field level. It was the first motorized vehicle that I could drive on the streets to the gasoline station. I was 12 years old./w3tcompact/icons/blush.gif

 

[Anonymous Poster]

>>gives me added respect for how our fathers managed to do all that they did

I agree...before I bought my first tractor (which wasn't that long ago...I didn't grow up with them, this is an adult fascination for me)..anyway, I was talking with the dealer about a used 2WD tractor that was for sale and I was resistant because I really felt I needed 4WD, and couldn't imagine doing any real work with a 2WD...until he pointed out the obvious to me that 4WD had only been around for about 20(?) years and that farmers for the last 200+ years had mangaged to not only farm with 2WD tractors (or less..like a horse or OX) but they also were the ones that manage to make the farmlands out of forest in the first place...does make you think about how spoiled we have all become.

 

[Bigfinn]

I couldn't agree more with ejb. The land I bought last year was first farmed in the first decade of the 20th century. I am amazed at the amount of work my fore fathers ( and mothers I'm sure!) had to do in order to clear the fields of not only large white pine stumps, but the massive amounts of rocks that had to be piled up. These 10'x 30'x 3' high piles every 100 yards or so are a testimony to the hard work these pioneers simply accepted as a way of life. The land has not been farmed for about 30 years now, and has been logged off. But as the new steward of this parcel my tractor and me will leave it in much better shape than it is now. But every time I see a rock pile I realize how much easier my work is!

 

[PBMAX]

Maybe by the time we get to old ,(some of sooner than others/w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif),to climb aboard a tractor and play..uhh..do our chores they will make remote controll tractors with on board cameras.So we can sit in our rockin chairs and still play...uhh keep on doin our chores....Shucks they already have remote control lawn mowers and even selfcontrolled lawn mowers "no operator needed" just setem up and watch em' go.../w3tcompact/icons/cool.gif I mean if ya ganna be spoiled be really spoiled....../w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif....Just thought one of us young wipper snappers ought to pipe in /w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif..

Lil' Paul

 

[Roy]

Lil Paul;
They probably will be robotic, and it will take all the fun out of life /w3tcompact/icons/frown.gif. I fear the day that my tractor will have hookups for my laptop with e-mail, and then I will be expected to literally work 7 x 24! My tractor is one of my last technological escapes. Never carry the pager, nor a cell phone when on it. It is my refuge.