how many of you learned to drive on a tractor?

[Soundguy]

how many here learned to drive on a tractor / had their first driving experience on a tractor?

I did.. was some sort of ford thousand series.. though I don't recall which.

after that I got to drive the plymouth with column shifter.. UGH! I liked the tractor better!

soundguy

 

[dgleason]

I was the oldest child of 4 on a dairy farm in northern Wisc. My Dad would hook up the wagon and hay loader, get the tractor going and jump up on the wagon to stack the hay while I steered. Looking back, he was sure brave and trusting. I was probably about 7. Remember it was a pretty big farmall tractor.

I'd also stay at my Grandparents farm and they let me drive their Farmall Cub. Loved that tractor, probably because it was quite a bit smaller, more my size than my Dads tractor.

After starting out on the tractors, for a while I was wondering how I'd ever learn to drive a car or truck without being able to see the front tires.

Now 50+ years later, I still get a kick out of driving my tractor.

 

[Jstpssng]

how many here learned to drive on a tractor / had their first driving experience on a tractor?

I did.. was some sort of ford thousand series.. though I don't recall which.

after that I got to drive the plymouth with column shifter.. UGH! I liked the tractor better!

soundguy

I learned on an 8N.

 

[joemd11]

I learned on an 8N.

Me too. I wasn't even big enough to use the clutch. Just shut the ignition off when I wanted to stop!

 

[whistlepig]

I think you have to be pretty long in the tooth if you learned to drive on a tractor instead of a car. This is farm county and they still do have "Drive Your Tractor To School" day for the students every year at the local high school 9 miles away. I am old enough to plead guilty as charged. I learned to drive on a Farmall Super M.

 

[bp fick]

Yup. First motorized vehicle. 9 or 10 years old. Massey Ferguson.

 

[tomd999]

Hiya,

I did, tricycle Deere, the kind with the flywheel on the side. Started driving it when I was 11, when I was 15 we got rid of the old deere and we got a brand new, much bigger "Red" tractor because my family took over the place next to us.

I miss the old deere...

Tom

 

[Gale Hawkins]

Started on a model B AC when I was 5. Dad was picking corn by hand using the tractor instead of the neighbors mules and he got tired of getting off and on it.

I had to sit on the transmission to clutch it. It was set at idle and I would just put it in first and let out on the clutch until he said stop then I would take it out of gear and then sit in the seat until time to pull up again. It was flat bottom ground and he was near by.

I was 7 before I started driving it solo with a trailer taking my mom, sister and brother to the tobacco patch while dad worked at the saw mill. No my kids were older before I let them solo.

 

[moored4]

I learned on an 8N.

Me also! and it's still in the family and working!

 

[ultrarunner]

My first driving experience with anything powered came just before my 5 birthday on my Grandparents farm...

He would set up the tractor to a crawl and then I would steer as Grand Dad would be on the wagon stacking hay...

It rates up there with one of my best child hood experiences... not only did I love being in the driver's seat... I was actually doing a farm chore that needed to be done...

He showed me how to grease, oil and check the water and fuel before we headed out each morning...

When I was 10... I was allowed to take the same tractor alone to the field to mow the early morning grass with the side attached sickle mower... learned the clutch and how to shift...

When I came back home... my other Grandfather would pay me $20 on Saturdays to start and was old the cars on the lot and it wasn't long before I was driving them around the lot... learned to park way before I learned to drive...