What made you the color you are?

My first tractor was a stuck John Deere B, given to me by a car junk yard owner, when I was about 8 or 9. Before I could talk my dad into helping me drag it home, (1000 feet) the junk yard owner took it back and sold it. I Could have been a J.D. man. The toys I got for Christmas were Case. I could have been a Case man. Even with two Farmalls and a Ford 3400 during my childhood, I still remained brand neutral. In my senior year ('81) I took a job at a local I.H. dealer, and that's what set the stage for me. It was a small Mom-n-Pop store, so me and another older guy worked the parts counter as well as the shop. It was such a thrill for me to be able to tell the customers how to fix their stuff and save them money! I remember a small, U-shaped casting on some small power equipment, I don't recall what it was, but they were always going bad. It had needle bearings in both legs, they didn't hold much grease and no way to lubricate them. Well, the shaft (about 5/8") would wear through the race after the needles were gone, and on into the casting. Casting with the bearings was about $75. (a pile of money in '81; short block for a Cadet 60 was $29) But it happened that the casting was able to be turned over, and all you had to do was press in new bearings for about six bucks. Sure, the notch was still in the casting, but it was on the opposite side of the belt tension. The shaft was usually shot, but it wasn't much. They still left the store for under 20 bucks. The customers would proclaim, "---------- Implement charged me three times this amount last time this happened!" We'd just smile and wave. Another time, the BOSS gave a customer the wrong fan belt for a Super C. When the guy came back for the right one, I said, "You're just in time to inaugurate our new policy: When the boss gives the wrong part to a customer, the correct part is free" and I handed him his belt. I paid for it myself, but it was worth 8.00 to see a surprised customer, and the utter shock on my boss's face! I had such fun there, I should have stayed.

I grew up on an integrated farm. Grand Dad had both red and green. When I was 12-13 years old I was on a NEW IH ( I think it was a IH 706) tractor at the County fair. I did not know that they had hydrostatic steering. So it fascinated me that you could turn the steering wheel and nothing much happened. One of the IH dealer's sons chewed my butt for spinning the steering wheel while it was not running. He did not tell me that it might hurt something he just chewed me out. Right in front of all of my school friends. You can bet I remembered that LOL.

About the same time the local JD dealer was baling hay. I was helping put the little square bales in the barn. He let me drive a brand new JD 4020 PS to haul a few loads of hay in. That really stayed in my memory. Grand Dad did not let me drive his JD 4010 as he said it was too big for us teenagers to handle. LOL

That same JD dealer hired me right after I got out of college. He told me one time the biggest reason he hired me was he remembered how I was a good worker putting in hay for him. That was 10-15 years before he hired me. I worked for him until he died. He was a real class act. He treated people very well and still made money.

So I did not even look at IH tractors for many years because of the way I was treated.

Side note, the Guy that chewed me out took over his Dad's dealership just a few years after that. HE did not make it five years until he had to sell out. Another family bought it and they are still in business. So watch how you treat everyone as they may very well be your customers tomorrow.