Tractor Stories

Picture 1423 shows the last of the row of stumps. In the foreground is the sub soiler device which I was about to remove and replace with a bar and chain to try dragging the stumps from the ground. 1425 is the fence line showing grooves made by the sub soiler on the 8N tractor. I hope I did not get anything vital other than bushes. J I hosed off the mud when I switched to a bar with clevis loop for the three point hitch. Picture 1426 is a close up of the meter on the tractor. I replaced the broken one with a new one and have put 3.4 hours on the engine since then. Most of the engine time has been the fence and bush project done recently. 1428 shows the doors on my tractor building. The actual color is tan, not gray. The doors slide. Yes, they are two different sizes! 1432 shows the bar and chain attached to the last of the stump. It was three times that size and really stopped the tractor cold when using the sub soiler. I managed to jerk the stumps free using the chain wrapped around t...

Here are some pictures taken late June of the progress on the tractor building. The BIG thing I did yesterday was to use the 8N tractor to remove the fence on the East side of the back yard (pic 10). I then used the boom (pic 11) to remove the steel posts which have been in the ground since about 1983 (pic 12). All of them are bent to some extent. The hydraulic lift was unable to pull the posts straight up. I had great success putting the tractor in first gear and driving forward. The typical response was front wheels leave the ground then the pole is out of the ground. The last picture is the poles (pic 12). I suppose they can be straightened, probably best to heat them; however, they can be scrapped too. I did notice there is no power steering! The old tractor started right off as soon as I replaced the ignition switch and added a new battery. I was able to recover the old battery power and will use it in the Ford 640 which has no battery at all right now. Tractor Boy

My Huskvarna chain saw is still at the small engine repair place. They could not "figure it out" whatever that means. Does not sound good. This afternoon I bought a new battery for my 8N Ford tractor while trying to charge the old battery. It finally charged before I got the new one installed so I installed the new one anyway. I changed the ignition switch earlier in the already hot day so was ready to replace the chipper with the boom and tackle fence removal. I was thinking I could use the PTO hydraulics and lift the fence, but most of all remove the steel posts which have been in the ground since almost 23 years. The little Ford was up to removing fence. It got exciting at times as I had the front end lifting so I could not steer. I conquered that and pulled all the fence on one side of the house. Next came post removal. I had purchased a high quality bit of chain and some clevis hooks from Tractor supply so I rigged that to the end of a boom and wrapped chain around the...

Construction is under way on the tractor building. The bees which were living under the building in the back ground are eliminated. Nancy is standing there looking at the construction. The crew expects to get the roof on today so they can work in the shade. I think the criss crossed straps are to make the whole thing sturdier. That is a 15 X 30 foot slab and this will house two tractors as well as all my gas powered tools and an air conditioned shop at the South end which is not visible in the first picture. The second picture shows the pear tree for which I moved the slab site a few feet. I would have cut it down, but Nancy wanted me to leave it. To the far left is a peach tree which almost yields a peach each year. It gets the blossoms then the weather takes over and we seldom see a peach reach maturity. Maybe in a week I can move in to this new building. More later… Tractor Boy

I parked my first tractor on the new pad today. I may have made the pad too large. Time will tell. I guess I can park all my tractors at the same time. That is a Ford – note the blue color. Tractor Boy

Here are my implements – a six foot rear blade, 8 foot boom, and 30 inch bucket. Each is for three point hitch. I also have a chipper on the 8N. The rusty hulk in the back ground is a 9N Ford which I intend to restore. The tractor pad is 15 X 30 feet. In a week or so it will certainly be ready for a building. The partially filled in huge ruts are in the two photos. Tractor Boy

Here are the rest of the pictures. Tractor Boy

Today we poured concrete, but the truck got stuck in the mud. Then the concrete had to be hauled to the site in a back hoe. Tractor Boy