Another tractor

To paraphrase my my somewhat dodgy memory the words of Roger Welsch of "Busted Tractors and Rusty Knuckles" fame, some of the rules for living with a large tractor collection are: - Never line them all up. Keep them scattered so you can't see them all from any single location. - Do not name them with a nice organized number. "Allis number 17" causes a lot more consternation than "Sweet Allis" or "that tractor from the Johansen place."

Perhaps if you keep a needed implement on each one? "I can't get rid of that one, you know how much time I spent trying to get the sprayer ballanced, and that one is all set up for mowing, you know how messy the orchards look if I let that go--let's face it, I need them all..." Harder to make the case if they're all tucked neatly away in the tractor shed, despite the warm fuzzy feeling you get from having equipment under cover. --Glenn Lyford

I hope that you WON"T let us know if you ever find out. I could not imagine doing either. Thank God my with is understanding. Scratch that... tolerant.

Nice lady, but she IS wrong. Six is not too many. Is this your only backhoe? If so, then nothing else could replace it, of course. If you have another backhoe, then put a thumb on one of them. Then you can pick the right machine for the job at hand. A backhoe doesn't replace any other tractor with a PTO either, so you can't get rid of any of them. Nope, you are stuck with them all. I sold some tractors many years ago and wish I still had a couple of them. Especially the IH 400 fast hitch and the John Deere A with a nice power block.

Pete Stanaitis

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Karl Townsend wrote:

Well chosen guns have proven to be a good investment, they don't take too much special care, they don't take much room and they are useful and fun.

Seal some of your least-used guns, well-oiled in plastic. Then into a big PVC pipe with capped ends. Use one of those backhoes to bury it.

Possibly you could scale this concept up to a small tractor.

The six thing is my count. The boss thinks forklifts, gravelies and gennerators count.

It's the second hoe. But this one is so much bigger, there's lots of jobs where a small hoe is what you need. The thumb is a good suggestion, I need that.

I just made a test dig. Oh boy, fun. This thing has double the power, double the speed, double the reach.

Thanks everybody.

Karl

Your son needs one, no? Must have some landscaping to do with a new place and such...

I just got in for a break. Pulled 50 tree stumps in two hours. The little hoe couldn't do one without digging a circle around it, took forever. So much so, that I left stumps in place four years before digging so they'd be partly rotted. a new toy is fun...

Yea, "The Kid" already wants me to dig in 200 amp 'lectric and water out to the new shop. And two acres of his six acres is low ground. A big pond is in the future. He really likes my Koi pond and has plans to out do me.

Now, he's taking sides with mom. He thinks the extra tractors, and mills, and lathes should be stored at his place. He told me i need to clean up the place.

karl

Which one of you has the 6 ton trailer and dump truck to pull all that stiff around? My kid parks his dump truck at my house and I have the trailer. That way I can keep all the machines where I can get at them when I want. You could simply point out to your wife which machines will ge to which kid when you kick the bucket. That would reduce the count right away.

Pete Stanaitis

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Karl Townsend wrote:

No doubt he'd be willing to keep them well exercised for you, however.

(and excess snipped)

Whoa, whoa, whoa! You don't want to plant the idea in her brain that if he passes away she can finally tidy the place up! Do that and he'll have to always be careful standing at the edges of cliffs or stairways, drinking wine he hasn't poured, using a car that she's just fixed the brakes on, etc.

Karl,

I think perhaps you are asking the wrong question. I suspect that the proper question is how much information do you need to trouble your dear Julie with?

I suspect that Julie would never have questioned how many tractors would be appropriate to have if you had not mentioned the acquisition of the tractor.

Here at RCM, we are all aware of the value of such a machine to relive the burdens on today's modern agronomist. Such a tool is very efficient in the moving of dirt from place to place as well as lifting heavy stuff and generally improving the ability to turn dirt into food.

This of course leaves you more time to tinker in the shop, and thus stay away from your darling bride when she prefers to avoid your scrutiny of her domestic affairs.

Okay. Maybe she just doesn't understand. Around the guys I hang with, the rule is:

He who has the biggest estate sale wins!

Pete Stanaitis

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Tim Wescott wrote:

(snip) Leaving a church one day I saw a handbill for a seminar: "He who dies with the most toys -- is still dead". I thought it was a good twist to the saying, if you want folks looking past the material and to the important.

Do you need the money? If answer is no, forget about it.

I've never sold a gun. Some I have are stinkers. Some I've fixed. I'll never sell some one junk so if I get burned on a deal, well, it stops with me.

Since I have an CRFFL, I don't even want to get into selling in case the bat boys don't like my politics. The line between collector and dealer isn't well defined and I try to stay so far away that it isn't an issue.

Gunbroker.com seems to be the place to go if you have to sell.

Wes

-- "Additionally as a security officer, I carry a gun to protect government officials but my life isn't worth protecting at home in their eyes." Dick Anthony Heller

The little hoe sips diesel, the big hoe sucks it. Tell wifey that the little hoe is saving the planet ;)

Wes

I tell my family that after I die, there will be a decent mans auction at my place.

Wes

-- "Additionally as a security officer, I carry a gun to protect government officials but my life isn't worth protecting at home in their eyes." Dick Anthony Heller

Rich people have jumped out of windows to their deaths. Windows in very nice places.

Money will not buy happiness but it sure seems to eliminate many sorrows.

Wes

And make sure that you don't let her buy more buckets. !!!