"Can borrow your tractor?"

[airbiscuit]

And then there was the time she got a real short summer haircut. She asked how I liked it, and like an idiot, I answered .. "It should make it easier to find ticks"

That time the swelling lasted more than 3 days !

 

[murphy1244]

And then there was the time she got a real short summer haircut. She asked how I liked it, and like an idiot, I answered .. "It should make it easier to find ticks"

That time the swelling lasted more than 3 days !

Ouch!!!, you deserved that one.

 

[GreatWhitehunter]

I've had this topic come up twice since I've owned a tractor. First time it was my FIL who has no experience operating equipment of any kind. He was quite upset when I said no. Second time was over the summer, a co worker asked if I'd do some work at his place with the TLB. After ripping through the tasks in about 2 hr his list began to grow. I told him I could return another day and he offered me leaving the TLB and dump trailer. I secured everything and headed home. Two day later he calls to tell me I forgot to leave the keys to the machine. I returned within an hr of his call to haul it all home. This guy couldn't afford to by Deere spray paint let alone replace something he damaged.

Matt

 

[npalen]

I received, as a gift at about five years of age a couple large nicely illustrated storybooks each with a 33 1/3 RPM record that told when to turn the pages. (Bozo the Clown and Pinnochio) I played the records and watched the pictures dozens if not hundreds of times.
Then in about the first or second grade I took them to school and left them for a few days so everyone else could enjoy my treasures. A few days later I picked up one of the albums and found it had been torn almost to sheds. Talk about feeling devastated! Funny how a person remembers things that happened 65 years ago.
I still am glad to loan things, except the tractor, to family, friends and neighbors. The tractor, as so many have mentioned, goes with my butt in the seat.
I don't ask for any payment when doing tractor jobs for friends and neighbors but some insist. I just tell them that I may need a little help someday also.

 

[fried1765]

I've never had anybody ask. I would just say "NO". I had a person ask to take a "joy ride" - his words - on my ATV. I graciously declined his request. My neighbor to the south is a BIG cattle rancher. I help him each summer by cleaning out his calving pens - his tractors, big 500+ hp Versatiles - are too big and not set up to do that kind of job nor even get in the pens. I've asked him a couple time to come over with his big tractors and help - and he gladly does that.

Speaking of women and wives - IMHO, asking to borrow a persons tractor is very much like asking to borrow his wife. Its just not done and isn't even polite.

But, then again, maybe I'm just old fashion in my way of thinking.

I agree!
Problem was, several of my "friends" were "borrowing" my (ex) wife of 34 years, while I was working out of town.
Can you believe it? They did not even have the common decency to ask ME!
She is long gone, but took 1/2 of all the assets.
I did keep my tractors though.
Needless to say: I don't loan my tractors, or my chain saws, and I have not had a wife for the past 19 years!
Still don't!

 

[WoodChuckDad]

And then there was the time she got a real short summer haircut. She asked how I liked it, and like an idiot, I answered .. "It should make it easier to find ticks"

That time the swelling lasted more than 3 days !

That set me laughing so hard, I woke up my bride.

 

[WoodChuckDad]

I have only one friend who I would ever let use my chainsaw. I'd happily loan him any of my saws. Nobody else. I'll cut for them if they need it but nobody gets a saw. Too dangerous. about 10 years ago, my BIL and I were partners on a house be bought to fix up for profit....way more than a flip, this was a full renovation. We had finished all the major house work, and were doing the landscaping.. Both of us had our families there. I had a little 14 inch poulan at the time and I was busy with something else so he asked if he could use it, I said yes. I walked around to see him sawing over his head with one hand. Scared the heck out of me. Then his wife had him use it like a ditch witch to dig a trench for her for some flowers. I didn't even bother to try to sharpen it, I bought a new bar and chain. Now I have 3 saws...all pro saws with aggressive chain. I would drive an hour to help my BIL cut something, but I'd be damned if I loaned him one of those saws. I like him too much. The friend who I would loan the saw to, I'd also give the keys to my truck without asking why he needed it. If he called me in the middle of the night and said he needed some duct tape, a couple shower curtains and some bleach, Id probably drop this off too. Can't loan my tractor because I have no trailer to put it on.
As for my neighbors, I'll probably help them out doing something, but darn sure won't let them drive. I just met those folks.

 

[TerryR]

I don't ask for any payment when doing tractor jobs for friends and neighbors but some insist. I just tell them that I may need a little help someday also.

I've done some tilling for neighbors, and I feel the same way. But around here there is a strong sense of not being "beholden" to others, so I feel if I reject an offer to "pay for your fuel" that I'm making the neighbors uncomfortable. I decline if I can do so gracefully but some are very insistent.

 

[Dr_Zinj]

I've let people I know well and trust borrow my truck; but I'd never let them borrow my tractor. Regular cars and trucks, most people know how to properly use them.
A tractor is a specialized piece of equipment and in the hands of an inexperienced person, can be deadly.
It takes hundreds of hours of use to become proficient at safely operating a tractor with a loader, backhoe, or powered attachments.
You want to "borrow" my tractor, I come with it as the operator. Same thing goes if I have a job too big for my tractor. I'll ask a friend with an excavator or dozer to come over to do the job either for pay or trade; I'd never ask to borrow it without him. And if I absolutely have to do the job myself, I'll rent one before I risk his.
I've found the concept isn't unique to tractor owners. I took up fencing in the past couple years (with swords, not barbed wire.) Proper etiquette for borrowing another person's sword is that if you break it or damage it, you replace it or fix it with the same value or better, no questions asked. The one thing I have noticed in several posts in this thread where a borrower broke the tractor; none of them repaired it, offered to repair it, and in some cases didn't even mention they broke it. Fortunately, no one has mentioned loaning out their tractor to some one and they got hurt or killed using it. But I imagine it has happened, and probably too frequently.

 

[arkydog]

i have two chainsaws. when someone asks to borrow a chainsaw, i go to the barn and bring out the 8" electric one that i got at a garage sale for $8 and offer it to them. if they get kind of pissed, i then ask them to have the chain sharpened before they have to use it. never had them ask again. don't loan out my good stihl saw or the tractor.