Who are we??????? And where do we come from??????

[scott_in_ny]

i never grew up on a farm...although i always dreamed of it as a kid. i grew up in the suburbs around n.y.

when i got married we bought our house on 3 acres mostly lawn...i mowed with a 38" craftsman that i got from someone that was throwing it away. then i graduated to a 42" craftsman that someone else was throwing away. i used to spend a half hour trying to get them started everytime i had to use them.

then i was refurbishing a house that needed drainage pipe,septic,rocks moved,alot of cleanup work etc.....i was pricing what a rental would be for the 3-4 weeks i would need it.

i also had to buy a new lawnmower for my house.

the next thing you know i bought the BX22 w/60" deck.

i cant see how i used to live without the BX. it has made all the chores so much more bearable.

now i have 3 craftsman and the BX-22. everyone calls me when they are throwing one out.ha ha ha

thats my tractor story.
scott

 

[rozett]

I grew up outside of New Haven, in a typical '50s housing development.... 91 capes each on 1/3 acre. But nearby was a fruit farm. I started working there picking raspberries, strawberries, apples, peaches, and pears on piecework. I guess I had the work ethic the farmer wanted and he just kept me working all year round. He had two 8Ns, a Farmall M (w/ nose wheels), and a brand new Farmall Cub. By the time I turned 16 and wanted my drivers license, I had been driving tractors and trucks for years.

Unfortunately, the farmer's three kids wanted nothing to do with the farm and only wanted the $$ that the land was worth. I didn't really appreciate what he stood for and what got him excited until after going to college and spending 30 years in high tech. I now have that appreciation! /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[JimR]

I was born and raised in the country. I always had a love for machinery. I guess my farm tractor needs go back to 1978 when I bought my Ford 8N. The wife and I were married in 1976 and had a house built that same year. We cleared our land with a 1960 Ford F250 4WD. The in-laws lived 200 yards down the street and between both of us we owned about 45 acres of land. So the need was there as was the use for some type of machinery. My old neighbor where I grew up had the 8N with a loader and backhoe. It did need a lot of work. The backhoe was in pieces. But for $800.00 I couldn't resist. That little machine earned its keep 10 times over in the twenty years that I had it. I sold the 8N a few years ago, I bought my Cub Cadet 7275 4WD last year to work on the barn and mow the fields. I will probably always have some type of 4WD tractor from here on out for hauling firewood and doing work around the two houses. I might even start my own farm once I retire in 2013. We have a nice field that we rent to the local farmer to raise crops.

 

[sweettractors]

I Lived in town and spent summer vacations and most weekends on the farm with my Grandparents. I was facinated with the tractors and machinery and how much more work could be done vs horses/mules that most of the neighbors were using at the time. I Begged to drive the VAC Case tractor and if there was things to do with the tractor, I usually got to do them. After high school, I entered a apprentiship program to become a tool and diemaker. Spent 15 years in that trade while, on the side, farming tobacco,corn,hay,strawberries, blueberries,truck garden, cattle, hogs, etc. I Always wanted enough land and equipment to be self sufficient and if worse came to worse, be able to feed my family from what income and produce came off the family farm. Looking back, I suppose that I had a bit of the "Country Boy Can Survive" mentality in me.--Ken Sweet

 

[LarryD]

I grew up in a rural area outside Dallas, several hundred vacant acres next to our lot but still "city" living. Dad managed a produce packing warehouse down at the farmers market and at about 13, summers were spent down there "working" to buy a mini-bike. Eventually operated a forklift and used a TLB during summer potato harvests up in the panhandle.
My career shift to construction brought me closer to large equipment but not really any seat time...occasionally managed to convince an operator to let me play /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif.
My 33d was purchased to help me sculpt my 6.5 acres and manage the horse rescue...ALL BUSINESS /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif.

 

[Michigan_Mike]

Small world Ron.
My parents moved to Sterling Heights in the early 60's.
We had a farm right behind us until they built the "new" High School. I really enjoyed watching the farmer plant and harvest corn and wheat. (I think it was wheat.)
My wife, was born and raised on a farm in the "Thumb" area of Michigan and when we bouught our property, I realized that it was going to take more than a lawn mower. It didn't take long to add a JD 790 to my JD 445 yard tractor.

 

[Mith]

well having not really had much of my life yet.....
started like Henro - the models on the living room carpet
always loved the engine noise, learnt to drive when i was 11
manged to persuade the parents for a garden tractor fro christmas 2001
been working hard since on it - just about to buy a kubota and a second lawn tractor, not bad i dont think for my age
no farmers with me at all - we have 2/3 acre of land but i have a close friend with 12 acres /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
well there it is

 

[Bob_Young]

Grew up where I live now, in west-central NY, between Rochester and Syracuse. Earned money for college working for local farmers. Started tractorin' at age 15 on John Deere H's and then moved up to A's. About that time my Dad bought a JD H. A year or so later I was working for a dairy farmer who had Olivers. I grew to like those long legged beasts; and who could want more than 6 speeds forward and 2 in reverse...heaven after the JDs. The Super 88 and 770 diesel were my favorites. First exposure to FEL work was on an Oliver 55 cleaning manure out of the barnyard. Broke the front axle on the 55 on that job and was thereafter banned from loader work.

Got through college and then out of the Air Force in the early 70's. Just before leaving the AF, I bought about 50 acres with my Dad. Over the years we planted a lot of white pine there and it looks very nice now. Did some light haying as well, usually getting around 1300 bales/year. Hayfields need reseeded now and the place needs cleaned up badly.

I was away working in China and then Indiana from '89 to 2002 and keeping up with the farm got to be too much for my aged Dad. We were using an old JD40, Ford 2000 and Ford 4000 diesel on the place and all are in need of attention now. As rough as it is, the 4000 is a sweetheart.

Retired and moved back to the area in 2002 and, after struggling with the old tractors, bought a new Kubota L4300 with FEL and a bunch of implements in December. Looking forward to getting the hayfields going again this year....and maybe the Ford 2000 as well /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif.
Bob

 

[Indydirtfarmer]

Mith, it sounds like you've been bitten by the tractor bug though.... Won't be long 'till you have your own land, and your own FLEET of tractors too! Good luck! John

 

[MadDog]

I grew up in the middle of Manhatten, in New York City. My father was a college professor and had a long summer vacation, so we rented homes in various rural parts of New England to spend the summers and I suppose that is where my love for the country started to grow.

There's a picture of me at about four years old with one of those red wagon and my expression of total interest shows that I had found something I liked.

My work requires me to live fairly near some large city, but I have lived in various suburban places, always trying to find homes with more land, most of my adult life. Used a lawn and garden tractor (an old IH) on the summer property that my family bought in the mid 60s, but never had a real tractor until I finally bought my B7800 almost a year ago.

Rarely a weekend goes by (unless we are off on a mountaineering project) that, weather permitting, I am not outside working on some project on our land. If the weather's lousy, I am inside in my woodworking shop, also working with machinery. For me, what probably does it is that I like working outdoors AND working with machinery. The latter requires care and complete concentration so that, when the weekend is over, I go back to my work totally refreshed.

If I ever scale back on my work, I'll be perfectly happy just working the place as an amateur farm a bit more intensely.