Part - 28 - Tractors

RAISIN'

28. Tractors

There have been three tractors on the place. The first one was a 1941 Ford-Ferguson with about a 30 horsepower engine. There were several implements with this tractor. There was a side mounted scyclebar mower and a side mounted terracing plow. Also, there was a 2 row cultivator with attachable planter and fertilizer bins, a 12” double bottom turning plow, a 5’ disk, a dirt scoop and the tractor wagon that I still have today. Another thing that came in handy each summer after the crops were laid by was a 12” circle saw that mounted on the back of the tractor and was run by a pulley mounted at the power take off. Dennis and Tommy would saw down oak, pine and ash trees and cut them to about a 8 to 10- foot length and pile them up in the general area where they were cut. Then they’d take the tractor to those locations and saw them into House Wood and Stove Wood lengths. Later, they’d be hauled to the back yard for splitting and stacking. Daddy and Joe used to build terraces and break and disk land for many folks around the area. When Daddy stopped row cropping in the early 50’s he sold the tractor and all the implements except the wagon. The second tractor was a 34 horsepower 1964 Ford 2000 tractor that Daddy bought a little while before he retired. That was one tough tractor. He bought a bush hog, 14” double bottom turning plow, a 6’ disk, a 12’ drag harrow and a dirt scoop for that one. Daddy used that tractor in clearing up the overgrown place. We’ve moved many yards of dirt with the scoop. He mainly used the plow, disk and drag harrow to plant winter crops for the cows. He also used the drag harrow to “scatter gophers” (dried manure piles). Joe got the tractor after Mother died, then I bought it from him. In 2003, the old Ford started knocking pretty bad. Since Ford stopped building tractors, I traded it in on a new 45 horsepower 2003 John Deere, 5105 tractor with a front end loader and hay spear. Also it has a canopy on it for shade and roll over protection. I wonder what I did all those years without the versatility of the loader. I still have the implements from the Ford plus an old, heavy box blade that I keep mounted as a counterbalance for hauling dirt and hay with the loader. Also, I use it to help keep the pit road maintained to where vehicles can get up the hill. I really enjoy the Deere, but still miss the Ford for several reasons. One thing, it lasted 39 years and was Daddy’s last tractor that he loved so much. The Deere is not configured for using the scoop or the small grader blade that we had for it. The loader bucket has come in handy several times when I get the tractor stuck. I can use it to push the tractor out of a bog.