Kids using tractors

[Farmwithjunk]

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.

That last sentence.....It speaks volumes.

 

[Taylortractornut]

I had a teacher in school that was better than us in this part of the country. We had a boy in our metal trades class that got to wearing cloth gloves on the lathe. It was against shop policy but this kid put gloves on every day when the teacher was in the back with younger students welding. Well on a rouging cut the glove got in the shaft one day and it pulled his hand over the bit. Pretty gory but it happened. THe teacher in math class scorned Votech students and our teacher there. Saying they should have a teacher per student watching over it. Well THe Votech teacher called her one day and asked how long they would last with a babysitter on the job.


In 97 I had a teacher almost mess herself when she saw me back a JD 762 scraper onto lowboy. She went crazy when dad told her I did it all the time. When I was 14 I had a teacher try to turn us into Child services. We lived on a road that the school buses didnt come up. Dad had an 84 S10 with a 4 spd I drove around the back roads in. Mom and dad got scared one day we got off the buss and had to walk 1/4 mile in a hail and lightning storm. Dad a let me park the s10 in the church lot at the end of the road. I could get off the evening VOtech bus and drive home at 2 30 and pick my brother up at 330.

THis teacher stopped by early one day to get my tag number. SHe didnt know that my hateful WHite GSD would camp out under the truck. SHe came to school the next day with bite marks on her legs and hands. SHe asked me the next day whose dog that was I just said a local that likes the truck. She smiled and said I guess your safe.

 

[Qapla]

I has no problem teaching my kids (all girls) to use any of the power equipment/tools we have. Oddly enough, they were not that interested in driving the tractor. However, they did learn to shift the standard transmission long before they had a drivers license.

When I was 14, I was hired to drive a tractor during a corn harvest. The following year, I was again hired and not only drove the tractors, bu we had to drive 20 miles into town to buy some tractor parts.

The guy I was actually working for was not from here, so he told me to drive since I knew how to get to the tractor place. Though I already had a license and knew how to drive (my Dad taught me to drive by the time I was 8), I had never driven a semi - and this one still had a flatbed attached.

When I told the mad I had never driven one before, he said it was not all that hard and explained what to do. I will have to say, not only was it fun, but I learned a skill I still have today.

Keep teaching those skills.

 

[Redneck in training]

I think I was about 8 when I learned to operate a lathe and was making new parts (pull cart axles were popular items) for our neighbors. I had to stand on a box to reach the handles and see the part.
My father was making racing boat engines and let me polish the "channels". One time I polished it so good that I made a hole in the casting. He just threw it in the junk pile and gave another casting to polish. I have great memories about growing up in a machine shop.

Our children showed small interest in such activity. Only the youngest daughter is somewhat mechanically inclined. One son is an artist and the second is investment manager who pays other s to do the work.
The daughter wants to inherit the farm so I told her if she finds a guy she likes and he knows how to change oil and do at least basic maintenance to marry him. Nice farm boy would suit me well. But do they listen?

 

[Johndeere3720]

I stared driving on my own at age 10. My grandpa had just got a new JD 2210 and it was perfect for me to learn on. Once I got a hang of it my Dad got his 3720 for the horse ranch and i put s LOT of hours on that tractor. I now have my own tractor + 4 riding lawn tractors :confused2: and have clocked thousands of hours on many different brands of machinery. i have even driven a Boomer 8N and a EuroTrac. Ever heard of a Eurotrac?:confused2:

 

[ultrarunner]

My brother loved horses and was able to get hired on as summer help at a ranch 200 miles from home at age 12... the job paid $75 a week and room and board.

He said he wouldn't have traded that experience for anything and went back several years..

The ironic thing is he will not let his kids do anything unless he or the wife is there and his wife is way overly protective...

One day, a ball went on the roof and I was boosting my nephew onto my shoulders so he could reach it and you would have thought the world was coming to an end...

 

[Gator6x4]

Most people my age who were raised in an agriculture community were exposed to farm equipment at an early age. Work ethics and job skills were established that are still in use today. I think one of the big differences between then and now is that the use and dangers of the machine(s) were throughly explained prior to our getting to be around or use. Some today just turn a small kid loose with a large tractor and say, go learn. I also learned at an early greasy age, small children are used for finding and greasing grease zerks on farm equipment. It is hard for an over weight farmer to get underneath a combine or hay baler.