Kids using tractors

[Redneck in training]

I think to start them young is good for another reason. When they are young you have control over them. You determine what and when and how they will do. When they get older they do as they please. So it is good if they have already some experience. When I was young we got DL at 18. When we got hands on a car we always drove faster than we should. I scared myself many times. If we would have been started early driving a car wouldn't be a big deal and we would not push the limits. Sometimes I wonder how we lived trough the craziness.

 

[ultrarunner]

My opinion is many kids are too coddled by well meaning parents...

Safety is always number one... that said, childhood is a learning time and these shared learning experiences will be treasured in later years...

It always amazes me to see very sheltered kids grow up and take up sky diving, white water rafting or mountain climbing... almost like they are trying to make up for lost time.

Each year, as far back as I can remember, we would hike to the top of a little rocky out cropping in view from my grandparents farm... they even have Easter Services there each year... one of my brother's kids have never been... their mom had visions of them falling so that was it.

So far... my niece's and nephew can sit on my tractors with the motor off...

 

[mmurphy]

Thats gonna lead to Zackly syndrome. As in thats zackly how I started..

Zackly the way I started, about 7, 8 years old on a Moline UB Special. Thank god it had that live pto clutch to pull myself forward so I could reach blocks attached to pedals so us little guys could cultivate corn!

 

[Soundguy]

My opinion is many kids are too coddled by well meaning parents...

Safety is always number one... that said, childhood is a learning time and these shared learning experiences will be treasured in later years...

...

yep.. start young and teach the dangers and value of what you are doing.

one of the earlies memories I have of spending time with my grandfather was riding on the running board of his ford tractor, leaning on the fender as we drove a few miles down the road so he could disc up a plot of land to plant. we'd ride down there then I'd walk the margin of the field and play with sticks and rocks while he harrowed the field.. then we'd ride home at lunch.. figure i was about 4 then... good memories.

soundguy

 

[ultrarunner]

yep.. start young and teach the dangers and value of what you are doing.

one of the earlies memories I have of spending time with my grandfather was riding on the running board of his ford tractor, leaning on the fender as we drove a few miles down the road so he could disc up a plot of land to plant. we'd ride down there then I'd walk the margin of the field and play with sticks and rocks while he harrowed the field.. then we'd ride home at lunch.. figure i was about 4 then... good memories.

soundguy

Amen!!!

 

[gilraine]

learned how to drive a farmall cub at 8 I think, blocks on the clutch and brake peddles.. at 12 I was running the neighbors old deere( 3020? maybe) baleing hay for our animals.. I remember having to take 3 days from school for it, got all my work before we harvested...It all depends on the kid, my nephew is 5 and has run my backhoe, course I was on the machine as well.. he will be mowing on his own in a few years, hes a good kid.

 

[Farmwithjunk]

I just had a long discussion with my youngest daughter this morning, regarding her son (7) riding with me IN A CAB TRACTOR. She's worried he's too young. Apparently she doesn't remember riding with me ON AN OPEN STATION TRACTOR when she was about 5. She would beg and cry for hours until I took her for that ride.

NO ONE values a young life any more than I do. That said, I firmly believe in teaching kids to not be afraid of life. That's NOT THE SAME as being careless or reckless. I wanted my kids to learn to RESPECT equipment, and know the inherent dangers, while at the same time understanding the value of growing up on a farm and not living in fear of their heritage. I have photos of dad and me, on a NEW '51 8N Ford (w/ a loader) dredging gravel out of a creek bed on his farm, to put on the driveway. I was 4 at the time. By the time I was in school. I'd already learned how to start and drive a tractor. By age 9, I was plowing with no adult on the tractor with me. When dad bought his Ferguson F40 (very early 1957) I was the first one to drive it when it was delivered. Those are among my most treasured memories of my childhood.

Was any of that dangerous? Well, there was a certain element of danger, but I'd consider it MORE dangerous to be around tractors constantly and NOT KNOWING ABOUT THEM.

I feel for kids that grow up in a bubble......

 

[ultrarunner]

I feel for kids that grow up in a bubble......

I do too... not that there is much I can do about it in my own family...

My 9 year old niece wanted to know how to change the tire on their family car... her teacher was stranded recently late at night because no one ever showed her how to change a tire.

Brother and Sister in Law said this is why there is an Auto Club...

See the same thing with many I work with... one lady was complaining how expensive it is to get things done around the house and also that her 16 year old son can't find a summer job... I suggested she hire her son to put in new fence posts and paint... she would have no part of it... didn't want him around paint fumes and he doesn't know anything about "Carpentry"

Growing up... everyone had a toolbox... even my 87 year old widowed aunt had a nice little tool box and she changed her faucet washers...

I have to say the shift in attitude has given me pause... I no longer ask if the kids want to help me with a project... too bad... because they really enjoyed it and I would always make it worth their while... didn't matter if it took twice the time... I just liked passing on skills to the next generation and telling stories how their Grandparents taught me things when I was their age... and Safety First!

My cousins 9 year old son, her family farms full time, moves the 150 hp tractors around the yard, checks the oil, fuel and tires like he's been doing it his whole life... well I guess he has.

 

[Combustix]

Teaching them respect for the machine is key, it's just taking the time to do it correctly. My 8 and 10 year old both can operate my B2710, as well as the ATV. The problem I have now is each is a specialist. The 8 year old only runs the tractor and the 10 year old runs the atv and trailer dump. Just have to plan the work better as each is learning how to take a coffe break while the other is doing his part.

 

[rattletrap]

I agree that as long as there is great caution involved there is no problem with introducing kids to machinery. I may be biased though. At 7 years old I learned to operate a Ford 8N. When I was 8 I was rotary cutting with it in the field (there were no obstructions- we kept it mowed short every year and the ground is flat). When I was 9 I was driving old beaters around the fields learning how to drive. I learned how to run an old Pettibone cable skidder on an actual logging job when I was 10 or 11 (did that half of the summer.... the saw-hands had to hook up the drags for me cuz i didn't have enough "arse" to pull the mainline lol). At 12 I was running an old logging truck with a 5 speed main box and a 3 speed aux box on air and a prentice (4-sticker) log loader sorting pulp and logs on the landing and forwarding loads to the main road so the big michigan log trucks could stay on good ground. That old truck didn't have hardly a brake one on it.... now when I drive semi I drive it like it's an old relic even if it's new (all jake, no brake). The list goes on and on, but point being, don't be afraid to teach a youngster how to run something. But only teach someone else if you actually know what YOU are doing.