What was the first tractor you drove?

Minneapolis Moline , RT , narrow front end. It was our only tractor. Dad put a JD 2 point hitch on it for the sicky bar mower. We logged with it, hayed with it and would go to the Bangor State Fair and pull it. This was from 69 up through the late 70s. It had a tiny hydraulic system . Dad built a snow plow with a lift cylinder. He milled rock maple for the pusher stays . used steel padeyes slid over the horns of the 2 point hitch. For thrust. Tires were loaded with calcium chloride solution. It would pull a full cord of hardwood pulp on the trailer he made from a 1950s something 60 series Chevy truck frame that wasn't rusted out. . We would fall , limb and buck to length in the woods . Then load the trailer by hand with pulp hooks. We mostly sold balsam fir 4' pulp. And quite a bit of white cedar to a fence company in Pittsfield Me.
He also built a a sled for in the woods that he pulled with it. It would hold almost 1 cord.

 

This is my current TRACTOR . I call it my Ox , after a Bible passage.

I guess , with my limited grey matter. Some of the things from that Old Minny Mo RT stuck with me.

 

David Brown 990 raking hay.

 

Working on neighbors farms I ran lots of tractors. All of them old. Used to compete against a guy that had an old Allis Chalmers tractor that weighed in at just under 4,000 lbs . Our RT was 3989 lbs. . that AC had a worm gear transmission. He put oversize wore out tires on it so it would spin. We pulled on a concrete slab . a big steel stone dray. That was on the dirt. We would pull a round of all the tractors in our weight class. Then they would add concrete blocks with a log loader . Then we would all pull again. Until everyone was eliminated. Usually my Dad drove the tractor. The last year we pulled it I drove it. And it was the first time we beat the AC.
That guy was real wiry and once he got his tractor spinning he would jump back and forth. He would inch the sled forward everytime the front wheels bumped the ground. Most all of us pulled on 2 wheels. The last year it started drizzling rain and he couldn't get much accomplished with his bald tires. The RT had good modern tires that had lots of grip. . If I had known about using 2nd gear, I could have moved up into the 5k weight class and made more money. .
Dad set the draw bar height up so the RT would pull with the front tires about 3' in the air. All the weight was on the rear tires. The RT had a hand clutch lever like an old John Deere .
Memories

 

Oooooo shiny.....that’d be the one

 

What kind if rake , buck, pin wheel or reciprocating ?

 

Pin wheel.

 

Farmall Cub. Was my grandfather’s, lent to my dad, but once he saw how much my brother and I sat on it and pretended to drive it he left it there. When I was big enough to really drive it, we hauled many cords of firewood with it. While I was in high school dad bought a JD M to go with it and we were quite happy for the step up in power. Once I left for college dad got a 4020. I still imagine all the damage I could have done with that! Many, many tractors since then, JD 6030 probably the biggest.

 

The first tractor I drove was a 1949 Simplicity 1 1/2 hp walk behind garden tractor.
The first farm tractor I drove was a 1944 Farmall A.
I still have both.

 

Funny, dad got a newer tractor w/loader after I left for the AF as well.

 

Great thread that's bringing back lots of memories! Biggest tractor I drove was a Case 2470 -it was a 4wd tractor that could steer 4 ways-front wheels, back wheels, front and rear counter and front and rear the same direction. Dad had bought a new 580 C backhoe and the dealers son saw me looking at the tractor and let me drive it around.
Tractors should have changed. I remember when my cousins bought a new JD 4430 4wd, with a factory cab in 1976-it cost $28,000! They have a 7930 now-among other tractors- and I think the yearly lease payments are $28,000!

 

1956 John Deer row crop utillity. 29hp bought 1992 and still running today.

 

Cool topic.. The first tractor I ever drove was a 1951 Allis-Chalmers B. My dad and his brother bought it before I was born and used it to drag a trailer in to the woods during deer season.. When I was about 10, I got to ride on the wide seat and steer it down the road as we drove out of town and towards the shack. I inherited it after my parents passed away.

Dad, on the B in the woods..




The "shack"



How the B looks today.... Sad story, it was a good runner until I stored it at a friends house while I moved to northern WI. While in storage, the cap blew off the exhaust and it took in water. The engine is rusted solid. No amount of tapping or ATF/Acetone will free it.. So, it waits for me to rebuild it and repaint it to it's former glory! Dad would approve of the project.

I've had the trailer sandblasted and repainted, new wood and new lights. the tractor is next.... someday....

 

I sat on a Big Bud at the 3I farm show in Great Bend, Ks in 1979 or 80 or there abouts. That was an impressive machine. I'm not sure what model it was.

 

Some years back a pipeline crew bogged a D8K when backfilling a trench. The brass said there was no way a farm tractor could pull out a D8K, but the foreman got hold of my buddy who lived a short distance away.

 

My youngest got to drive my buddy's 7230R before he did. My boy was about 5 when he "took" the controls.

 

Someday I’d like to see a big bud in person. They sure are impressive!

 

Jeez I hope not. Mine was a Farmall Super Cub A 1954 I think. We also had an Allis-Chalmers. I'll need to get the model. Drove both of them at our nursery.


Jason from RI