Have any of you known men that just did not like tractors???

I have known several old fellows that just never got comfortable with tractors. They preferred to work with horses.

One of them was a good friend with my maternal Grand Father. His brother told the tail on him driving a tractor through a fence while yelling "WHOA". They where cultivating with two tractors in a field that had just a few end rows because of a steep sloop the field had on the end. So you had to turn in just the four end rows. They where using old Farmall F-20s with four row front mounted cultivators. So you had to keep moving to be able to steer them. So he came to the end and some how he got messed up. He ran through the fence because he "missed" completing the turn. His brother said he kind of panicked and was pushing the brakes but not the clutch. All the while yelling WHOA. They teased him for years about that. He had several other close calls on tractors but I thought this one was funny.

Another pair of bachelor brothers that never liked tractors much. They used horses for everything but the heavy tillage work. Plus they would feed in the winter with a tractor to save harnessing a team. They had a Ford 9N tractor. They made a carry all platform on the back of it. They would haul 10-12 small square bales of hay out to their beef cows every day with it. Now these men where in their late 70s in the 1950s. Well one of them was walking along the track to the pasture to open the gate. His feet slipped out from under him and he slide into the wheel tracks in the lane. The other brother ran over him with both wheels, front and back. The funny part is that the brother driving got so excited about it he slammed the tractor into reverse and backed back over the fallen brother. LAMO Again with both front and rear tires. These two where big German men. Both where over six foot tall and where still pretty strong guys. Luckily the mud and the light tractor kept the fallen brother from getting hurt but you should have heard the cussing he would give the other one about it. LOL Both where hard of hearing too. You could hear them a mile away "talking" to each other. They quit using the tractor to feed with after that. They would hitch a team and haul the hay out with the horses. The older brother was the one that was driving the tractor. The younger one told my Grand Dad that the older one never drove the tractor after that day.

So a couple of old time stories about fellows long gone by now. I miss the true "characters" we used to have around on the farms. Hard working but simple men that made a living with just plain hard work.

So do any of you have any tails of men that just did not make the change over to tractors well???

A family East of us, back when I was a kid. Had a F5 Ford truck, their only vehicle. But when they went to church, and to town to (trade) they hooked a BF Avery with a single front wheel to their buggy and one boy drove the tractor and they rode in the buggy. Sure was a strange sight,they just wired the shafts to the rear axle. The rest of the family came along in the 1& 1/2 ton truck.

My wife's grandpa never owned a car, truck or tractor, and farmed until about 1962 or '63. In fact, I don't think he ever owned an internal combustion engine of any kind. He made a good living, but he was the kind of guy you were making fun of in an earlier post. He'd save worn parts for "hard times". I've still got boxes of his harness parts that are worn so thin I don't know how they kept from breaking. But he didn't throw them away. He made his own hand tool handles. He saved bent nails, and on a rainy day he'd sit and hammer them straight. I really respected that old man. He knew how to stretch a dollar until you could see thru it. And he was not a bragger. Quiet and humble, but not a man you'd want to lay a hand on.

A Rumley salesman(back in Indiana, and told to me by my grandfather)made an appointment to demonstrate a 4 plow Oil-Pull tractor. The neighbor was a dedicated horsemen.
The salesman and the neighbor set off down the field making more progress in one round and 25 minutes, than his teams did in in 2 hours.
The salesman had been operating the controls for two rounds when he asked the farmer if he would like to run it himself. I guess so he said. About 100 ft down the field, the salesman jumped off. (not dangerous at .8 miles an hour) and said he would take lunch while the farmar made the round.
He went and sat under the road fence, and promptly went to sleep. Not a good plan.
The farmer got to the far end following the furrow edge easily.
When the headland was upon him, he panicked. forgetting all levers, ropes, and steering.
Yelling Woah (and expletives unbecoming a faithful man) he drove through the fence and into the winter wheat in the other neighbors field. making 4 big circles of plowed wheat and dragging 15 rod of barb wire and posts (some of which limited escape options, and some of which wound up tight on the wheels).
All stopped when it steered itself GEE right into a tree bigger than it could mount. Killing the engine.
The farmer walked back to the salesman and suggested he was not convinced it was his intention to buy. The salesman ended up splitting the reparation of damage with the farmer, and sold the tractor to a different neighbor because it was unstoppable.
The original farmer never owned a tractor, nor got a license to drive, but he had a son who made the transition in the 1930s. Jim

Don't know the whole story, but My Mom told me the story about when my grand Mother ran a car through a gate, yelling whoa. Stan

The father and son that owned the farm Dad bought back in 72. The father farmed with horses and some where in the late 40's the son bought a ford tractor and had to hide it in the woods so his dad wouldn't see it. Then when the dad went to town for something, the son would start up the tractor and do some feild work with it and then hide it again before dad got home. When the dad came back couldn't figure out how he got so much work done. I guess this went on for a couple years till son finally fessed up to owning a tractor but the dad still used the horses and not the tractor. John

Sorry I don't have one. My great grandpa was born in 1884. Took up a homestead in 1910 and farmed all the way to 1970. Started his farming career with horses and finished on a JD 4020. He was 84 years old when he bought the 4020 brand new. His first tractor was a Twin City 21-32. He didn't have trouble adjusting.

My grandfather farmed with horses. When my uncle got back from the repair efforts from WWII, he purchased a Allis Chalmers B. Well, my grandfather informed my uncle that he'd be behind the horses and my grandfather would drive the tractor. Of course that didn't sit well with my uncle and he soon left the farm.
My grandfather also loved to fish. He liked to fish a lot more than he liked to farm. The little Allis had lights. So, he'd fish during the morning and then plow at night.
My dad was a young boy and remember when my grandfather put the tractor into the barn one night and heard him holler "whoa" as the tractor went through the end of the barn, cratering the bottom of the grill.

Some 15 years ago, a guy came to my dad's shop, saying they had an old tractor on their place and asked if we'd be interested in it. Of course we were, and when my dad saw it, you could see the memory come back. The grill was crashed in just like he remembered it.

My plans are for it to be this years winter project.

An old guy near me was the mechanic for the local Ferguson dealer. part of his job was to deliver the new tractors, and ....teach the farmers how to drive! He told me that a lot of the Ferguson tractors that you see today with bashed up bonnets/hoods , actually happened on their first day on the farm. He also said that when the majority of the old boys went to stop the tractors they would yell "whoaaaa" and pull hard on the steering wheel! Many of them headed for the nearest tree to get stopped! and then left the driving to the eldest son.
Sam

Talking to older farmers over the years it is suprising how many of them went from horses to Ferguson TE20 tractors with their equipment. That meant they never used trailed implements etc. Sam, I would think that would have happened a lot more in Ireland than it did here. MJ

My grandpa and his brother were out plowing. My grandpa had an F-20 and his brother had a Regualar. They quit for dinner and when they came back my grandpas F-20 started right up and he went to plowing. His brothers Regualar however wouldn't start. Sure enough when my grandpa came around there was his brother with a wrench promptly pounding away on the hood and cussing. My grandpa came over and it started on the first pull. That ------ him off even more so he preceeded to pounding every square inch of that tractor right up until he got to the seat and started plowing again. My dads brother was quite a guy. He didn't want to plant a garden because it was to much work so he'd keep a pocket full of seeds and toss them out occasionally while planting his field. You never knew what you could find while harvesting. He also didn't belive in getting off the tractor to unplug his equipment. He'd carry some matches and when it would plug up he'd toss a match in. It was way before my time but i'm told it worked ok until the fire got outa hand once and burnt his tractor.
My dad was in WWII and they asked him if he could drive a truck. He told them I don't know i've never drove one before. I can drive a team of horses though.

I actually did it. I farm, have several tractors, so I guess I can tell this; many summers ago I came back from a 3-month-long bicycle trip, got into my old VW, got her started, headed to town and at the first intersection I squeezed the steering wheel with both hands and yelled "STOP!!!DAD-GUMMIT!!!" and we sailed right on thru. Stupid car. A real eye-opener.

I like tractors well enough, they're good tools. But I don't have the same affection for my tractors as I do for my horses. I'd prefer to do most of my work in the woods, fields and garden with the horses. It's quieter, you aren't bent around looking behind you all the time and you never, ever get the horses stuck. OTOH, I can't stand on the end of a pitchfork for a week cleaning winter pack of manure out anymore. The skid steer and hydraulics are a Godsend, as is the PTO.

Mixed power work IMO. Use the tractor where it's the best tool and the horses where they work best. That tractor will never come over when you're feeling blue and put her head on your shoulder and commiserate with you or produce a foal for you one morning.

When I was 17 I bought a "B" Farmall. My dad's sister had 5 boys and she told my dad that her boys would rather farm with horses because of the dangerous exhaust fumes from a gasoline engine. I neve rsmoked but her 5 boys did. Envy hides behind some strange ideas

There is nothing like the bond that forms from many hours of working together in the field. They know what you want them to do before you even ask either verbally or thru the line. Havent be able to get the tractors to do that yet.

My mother's father liked his horses and resisted the change.
Here he is mowing with his team, while my uncle helps out. Look closely and you can see my uncle's airplane in the distance. He was embracing modern technology. My mother told how finally her father, one day when everyone else was gone somewhere, got on her brother's 8N and became familiar with it and slowly worked into regular use of it. I think that he still worked with his horses well into his eighties however.

We had a team on our farn up until 1963,
named Cap & Doc. Grandad Loved horse"s &
he"d use the team when ever he could.
Cultivating, fixing fence. If was was
going to hual manure, he"d hitch up the team.

It"s real embaressing to get a tractor pulled
out by a team..

Neighbours farmed with horses into the 1950's before getting a tractor but kept a working team too. The last brother passed away 9 years ago almost to the day and we still have the youngest percheron from his team on the farm. I've hayed behind his previous team up to around 2000 or so. When both tractors were busy he would hitch up the horses to a wagon and get out in the field.

I can't say that I ever knew a farmer who resisted using tractors, but as a machinery dealer for many years I know of a lot of tractors who didnt like their owners, and apparenty the feelings were mutual, because the tractors were badly abused.
Loren, the Acg

I live in the middle of several men who don't have tractors.....of course they're Amish....

I'm guessing you don't have much info on the airplane. What year was the photo taken.

JD ,, this belongs over in YOUR STORIES ,LOL ,,, Dad Had a team Bess and Bill ,I barely remember them ,but Mom and my older sisters mention them from timeto time . When I was 12 a neighbor let us borrow his mule OLD RED .. we worked our potatoes , tobacco and sweet corn ,, with him ,, He was a Goood Soul ... All the neighbor kids Got rein time with him too .. it is pleasant to work the ground with just the noise of clump -klump, and the clik of an occasional rock hitting the cultivator shanks ,, and then lets not forget the ol mule letting out a litte extra fumes

My Dad had a bit of an adjustment problem getting away from the horses. We built a new Quonset shape barn in 1950 = then discovered that the ceiling in the barn was too low to get the horses inside. I'm sure it pained him to haul the last team to auction, but that was the end of the horses.

Reminds me of a story told about one of the neighbors. He would take his team and wagon to town and get really drunk; then he'd lay down in the wagon and let the team take him home.

His first car was the first V8 that Ford made. He got drunk and tried to drive home with the car in low gear. His friends were following him. After weaving from one shoulder of the road to the other, he stopped the car, got out and threw his cap on the ground and said: "It wants to go so _____ ______ fast that I can't hold it on the road". He went back to driving the team & wagon when he went to the bar.

Looks like a plane in the background.

My father-in-law loved farming with horses. He said it was not fun any more with tractors. He did buy a new B JD in 48.

Dad told the story of his brother plowing with the tractor and got it stuck. His dad just come home and seen him harnessing the team. His dad said horses won't pull it out. Went out and hooked them up. His dad got on tractor and got ready to go. Dad said brother let a a big ole indian war-hup, scared the horses so bad they pulled it out.

I have a neighbor, maybe 30 years old, that HATES tractors. Come to think of it, he may hate everything. Funny part is he runs nearly a 1000 cows, so a tractor is a must. I don't think I have ever met anyone who is as incapable as he is at operating a piece of equipment. I leased him a 7045 Allis, a few years ago, when he destroyed a 1070 Black Knight. I had to ride with him for 3 days to get him trained, and he still tore it up. GRRR
And this was in 2009!!!

My bil's father was born in 1909 and farmed with horses until 1948 never really liked tractors,left that to the kids, the family always had a team to feed with until 2007.
I would have known little about teams If the ranch I lived on hadn't came with a team when Dad bought it, my Dad was a tractor man.

Years ago we had a neighbor that always said he loved his tractor but hated his truck. The rest of the story was that he would get thirsty about every weekend and didn't have a drivers license and would drive his old Super C Farmall tractor everywhere. It got so bad that when he needed a load of fertilizer he would have the elevator deliver it to the farm and unload it on his truck rather than drive his truck to town and load it on his truck there. Great old fellow when he was sober but when he had a few drinks it was like listening to CNN. The same story would go around and around.

My granddad kept a team till around 1960 workrd the garden and a sweet corn patch with them, he had 3 tractors at the time, us grand kids would lead them to a fence and get on and ride them around the pasture for hours on end. git-up gee -haw and whoa would get you anywhere.

Up in central Minnesota I had an uncle that didn't like to use tractors. He used horses up thru the mid 70's. Although at first he had an F12, he later had an H, but it was always my cousins or my older brother that did his plowing for him. His newer car that he drove to church on Sunday was a '49 Chev, but for most of his driving he used his '38 Chev until he crossed the highway and was too blind to see the oncoming traffic and got hit.

The story of the brothers brings back memories of my grandfather. He loved his horses and my father had to keep two horses for him until the late fifties.
In 1954, my father bought a new Case DC tractor. I remember him showing my grnadfather how to operate it. My grandfather said he wanted nothing do with it. About three days later, he decided to try it out. Long story short, he headed towards a cinder block storage and must have forgot everything about running the tractor. I remember him hollering WHOA, WHOA and then jumping off the tractor. The tractor then went thru the cinder block wall and stalled with the back wheels on the foundation. He never got on a tractor again. He died at 92.

Nick,
There are cow people, crop people, and machinery people. Rarely there is a farmer good at all three. That being said, I know of a lot of family operations where each member thrives in one area and others excel in the other areas, and they are the sucessful amily farms that still exist.
Loren, the Acg.

(quoted from post at 05:32:27 04/23/13) I'm guessing you don't have much info on the airplane. What year was the photo taken.

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I asked my older brother about the airplane. He can remember watching my uncle take off in the field, that he did a lot of bouncing. He puts it at 1952 and thinks that it was a Piper Cub.