(800) 853-2651
SHOP NOW

Is it time to quit now?

J

JD Farmer

Member
I am 63 years old now and wondering how many of you guys have been thru this and what did you do?

I am tired of tearing up equipment because of a poor memory.....at least that is what I blame it on...Seems I can't remember to unhook a PTO shaft before I get back in the tractor and drive away.....sometimes ruining a $1200 shaft....happened last summer.

This morning I tore up the roof panel on my cab tractor....$950.00....and was even thinking about what I was doing, moving the tractor with the panel folded up so we can service the A/C....forgot about the overhead power line..

I don't think I can stand these tricks too many more times.

Is this a sign it's time to give it up and set back and do nothing or what?

And don't tell me to slow down, and be careful...already running in creeper pre-thinking every move I make, and still mess up and wreck something.

Throwing my hands up and saying, "F$$$$$$it".
 
Frustrating I am sure, but if it makes you feel any better I have seen a lot of this sort of thing done by people a lot younger. Any chance you are taking some meds that interfere with thought processes? If so maybe a talk to your Dr. would get something different to work for you. Don"t give up yet!
 
All I can say is,you're not alone. If I cashed out I could be pulling a travel trailer around the country and enjoying life instead of beating myself up every day. And for what? Just so I can eventually quit later? How much later?

It's like you're inside my head,that's for dammed sure.
 
The easy way to still enjoy farming is to set in the house drinking coffee while the boys hook up the equipment then they can call you and tell you it's ready to go. Then you go out, climb in the cab and go out and do the field work. When something breaks, call them and let them fix it with you looking over there shoulder to make sure they don't mess it up. Tell them what a great job they're doing so they will continue to let you play with the equipment. Let them put it back in the shed so you don't hit anything especially when it's raining. That's when you hit things because your hurrying. My head doesn't swivel around like it used to. Then go back to the coffee pot.
 

Oh, I've done stuff like that when I was young and did not take any meds. Not taking many now as far as that goes, still stuff happens.

KEH
 
Not sure, only you can call it but around here you can look at the farm trucks and tell how much longer a man is going to keep working, the cattle farmers are the worst. We older guys use the sound method for backing or turning but we can't hear a da**d thing.
 
Can't remember what I went to do or get distracted to do something else while on the way to do the first job. Usually something small, like go to split wood and stop to pull weeds.

Larry
 
Yep. I'm staring at 68 thru the bottom of my progressive lenses. I'm kinda like a dog that sees a squirrel out of the corner of my eye and stops doing what I'm doing to chase it. Still better to do stuff, even if you have to do it twice.
 
Although I am only 55, I know your feeling. I'm not at the point of tearing eqt up...yet, but it's probably coming.

I just got tired of working on eqt just to do a little work and then have to stop in the middle and work on something again. Worrying about the weather, watching super looking crops destroyed by the hot KS wind with little or no rain, and after it's all said and done, very little left over to upgrade the eqt I have.

There is an enjoyment to farming, for sure, but it can take it's toll as well. This is the last year my Brother and I are farming grains, and although I will miss it I am sure, I won't loose near as much sleep.

I am not farming for a living, and still get too wrapped up in it. It will be good just to watch from now on. Good luck in whatever you decide though. Bob
 
I'm 65 in August and retiring next week. I've been forgetting simple things for some years now. Used to remember when I changed oil, replaced alternators, etc. Had to start writing it down. Disconnect PTO, leave the jack down and drive away? Yeah, me too. But I don't want to quit because of it. Keep doing it as long as you get some enjoyment. I'm looking forward to retirement so I don't have to squeeze haying into the weekends. Take it a little slower and eliminate the mistakes.
 
We have a customer who's teenage son did nearly 10k in damage this last month on different machines. I also see things like this on a daily basis. Guys of all age do it.

What would you do if you quit? A fellow that is used to moving that much does not settle into doing nothing.
 
Normal, normal, normal.

According to your post, much has been on your plate in the past year or so with family medical issues and general farm business. I'm also 63 and can appreciate having to deal with mental lapses of routine processes as I age, too. Like you, I'm use to having a load on me all the time and sometimes wonder if it isn't an addiction to stress and problem solving. Working and being around young people is my solace and I find that I can also learn from the whipper snappers, too. Try delegating the heavy physical chores more, keep that mind and attitude in shape by being around positive, informative people, stay challenged (in a healthy way) and continue to share your wisdom and knowledge with people. As I age, I find myself getting more opinionated, less tolerant, more compassionate, and . . . what was we talking about? Oh yeah . . . prunes . . .
 
I'll agree with you. When I was on the harvest I worked with many, many young men in their twenties who were a little on the rammy order. They almost never hit something or ran over something with a combine or truck. I, on the other hand, ran into a few things, like wiping a tool box off the service truck with the end of the header. Oops! Jim
 
I'm 40 and do those things. There is just too much to remember with today's equipment. I have started writing on the equipment how many things I have to do to it at certain times. Example is the 12 row planter yesterday. When I get to the field I have 5 things to do to be ready to plant. When I see that 5 I start counting what I have done. Unfold wings, put in wing lock pins, pull rigid plant turnbuckle pin, change hydraulic lever to plant, and pull button to actuate markers. Without counting those and knowing I did all 5 before getting in the cab I will forget and tear something up.

Our parents didn't have equipment like we have. They had their own challenges but many of them weren't all of the steps it takes to do some of the same jobs but get better results. I hope I am still farming in my 60's. I see 70 as a slow down point.

H@11, I had to lay a brick right smack in the middle of the shed drive the other day so I would remember to shut off the battery charger before I went inside. It worked. Carry a clothes pin in your pocket and clip it to your shirt sleeve when you are in the middle of a job. With that thing touching your arm you won't forget about the power lines.
 
I be right next to 76 and would like to blame those kinda things on age and bad memory. Problem is my memory is good enough to remember that I was doing those tricks all my life. It is called working with your head in an awkward position by placing it where the sun don't shine.
Probly retiring will only move the tricks to a different venue.

I changed inserts in a mold yesterday and installed the wrong length pins. Age, memory?? Naw it twernt! All the time I was changing inserts I was thinking about a miniature horse forecart I have been building to be used for different jobs. I even took measurements of some scrap steel tubing to see if it could be used rather than waiting until the insert change was done. I started the job up this morning and found the mistake. Parts are still good after extra trimming this time. I'll keep blundering on and think about early retirement sometime in a few years. I hear that 80 is the new 50. :)^D
 
I'm 66 and it doesn't seem to get any better for me. My wife bought me some Gingko Biloba which is supposed to help for memory loss...Trouble is I keep forgetting to take it. :-/
 
JD, have you seen your doctor lately? There is a simple test they can give you right in the office as a first step to determine if there are any problems like dementia or Alzhimer's. I'm only 59 but I was getting forgetful and it was affecting my job perfomance. Talked to the Doc and she gave me the test and I had no issues, no medical ones either that was confirmed by a blood test, was just stress and normal body changes. Get that checked out before you throw in the towel.
 
Dave,
That is what my dad does. He doesn't have to even grease anything he just shows up and drives. He is 63 retired with 40 years in the fitters union last year and stays busy helping my brother and I and my uncle..
 
I tried to get one or the other of my boys to take things over like that ten and a half years ago before I sold the dairy cattle. I told them I would still do as much of the physical stuff as I was doing,but they'd have to take some of the responsibility for making sure things got done. Do some of the planning,wait for a service man or vet to show up,things like that,just give my mind a rest.

They both declined.
 
WOW! You guys are the greatest, I can relate to most everything you mentioned.
Service truck got here on time and come to find out it's only the high pressure switch gone bad. Too bad I ruined a perfectly good roof panel in the process.
We had plans to change the R-12 over to 134A, he had all the parts with him, flush system and go, but decide to leave things as they are, so I felt guilty and went ahead and purchased the parts, because the next time I will need them anyhow. Knock on wood, if I haven't destroyed a good old tractor before then.

Backing up has become an adventure the last few years, stop when I hear the metal bending....

Brought home the new soffit and fascia and other trim, backed truck into the building before the rains came, only to crash right into my new outdoor wood boiler...all the while was worried I'd do just that. Bent up the corner trim on the boiler, didn't hurt the new trim, it's all on the building now, but sure thought I had destroyed that pile of expensive aluminum.

Backing my gator out of the garage....crashed the roof panel into the half opened overhead door, knocked door out of the track and bent it....another time crashed into the new pieces of 38' eve spouting hanging off the end of the gooseneck...

And it goes on and on....

As for the 5 step process of getting the planter ready to plant in the field....I too have to stop for a second at times and double think to make sure I haven't forgotten something routine!

So I think about all this and believe it IS stress, along with the old age that's causing a lot of these incidents...

I am the type that's happiest when after finishing a job, I can step back and see how great it is to accomplish the sometimes, impossible, always busy doing whatever, and then at times I can be the lazy guy setting on the porch in a cool summer breeze having a glass of iced tea, enjoying the simplest of things.

Like it or not I guess it's time to back off some of the rat race of trying to get hay up in the kind of weather we are having this year, give up some more of my rented/shares hay ground, and spend more time taking care of what I own.

Seems sensible to me....but can I do it?
 
The decision is yours to make an nobody else's. I am reminded of a saying a friend of mine has. When someone wants or doesn't want to do something he says "one excuse is as good as another". Which means, if you want to do something you will find a reason. If you don't want to do something, you will find a reason. I plan on farming until I'm horizontal and room temperature. Mike
 
I've done that and more. I now take notes and refer back to them when I start a project. I also make a step by step of the process several days before I start.

I used to remember all needed material and could get all the next time in town. Not any more I have to make up a shopping list.

I do walk arounds before I move equipment so I have fewer mishaps.

Frustrating as all get out but I've had to change the way I do things. I'm contemplating hiring a helper to do things I shouldn't be doing. If I can get my pride out of the way I may do that.
 
Are you trying to do more than one thing at a time?I'm about your age and if I'm working on something I don't want distractions especially someone talking to me or being on the phone.Keeping your mind on what's at hand will keep you out of trouble.
 
(quoted from post at 18:27:27 06/24/14) Are you trying to do more than one thing at a time?I'm about your age and if I'm working on something I don't want distractions especially someone talking to me or being on the phone.Keeping your mind on what's at hand will keep you out of trouble.
Click to expand...

When the B-26 Dauntless was coming online, it had a large number of crashes, with good crews dying. The test pilots flew the planes fine. It was one of the most complex aircraft designed up to that point, with a lot of performance. There were a LOT of different ways to kill yourself with it by forgetting one step. The Army Air Corp developed pre-flight check lists as a way to fight this, and it worked. The B-26 went on to have an impressive war record.

Make up pre-drive checklists, and include a pre-movement equipment walk-around before moving forward OR back. Experience and a willingness to cheat will beat youth and enthusiasm every time. 8)
 
(quoted from post at 09:10:02 06/24/14) WOW! You guys are the greatest, I can relate to most everything you mentioned.
Service truck got here on time and come to find out it's only the high pressure switch gone bad. Too bad I ruined a perfectly good roof panel in the process.
We had plans to change the R-12 over to 134A, he had all the parts with him, flush system and go, but decide to leave things as they are, so I felt guilty and went ahead and purchased the parts, because the next time I will need them anyhow. Knock on wood, if I haven't destroyed a good old tractor before then.

Backing up has become an adventure the last few years, stop when I hear the metal bending....

Brought home the new soffit and fascia and other trim, backed truck into the building before the rains came, only to crash right into my new outdoor wood boiler...all the while was worried I'd do just that. Bent up the corner trim on the boiler, didn't hurt the new trim, it's all on the building now, but sure thought I had destroyed that pile of expensive aluminum.

Backing my gator out of the garage....crashed the roof panel into the half opened overhead door, knocked door out of the track and bent it....another time crashed into the new pieces of 38' eve spouting hanging off the end of the gooseneck...

And it goes on and on....

As for the 5 step process of getting the planter ready to plant in the field....I too have to stop for a second at times and double think to make sure I haven't forgotten something routine!

So I think about all this and believe it IS stress, along with the old age that's causing a lot of these incidents...

I am the type that's happiest when after finishing a job, I can step back and see how great it is to accomplish the sometimes, impossible, always busy doing whatever, and then at times I can be the lazy guy setting on the porch in a cool summer breeze having a glass of iced tea, enjoying the simplest of things.

Like it or not I guess it's time to back off some of the rat race of trying to get hay up in the kind of weather we are having this year, give up some more of my rented/shares hay ground, and spend more time taking care of what I own.

Seems sensible to me....but can I do it?
Click to expand...
couple weeks ago i was also thinking of throwing in the towel, it was not because that i started wrecking things but I found i had to much hay on the fork for my age(64) trying to do all the things that need done on my 1800 ranch with pretty near 350 head of bison by myself.

I took a hard look at the whole thing and decided it was no use running ragged and getting overworked and stressed out.
I'm not the traveling kind and thinking of selling the ranch just about gave me an heart attack.
I take it now one easy day at the time and do what i can and when i feel like it and the **** with it if it don't get finished by days end. Tomorrow is an other day and there are more days after that.
I don't feel guilty anymore if i start late and waste time on the puter
This fall i'm gonna cut the herd back to a hundred cows, them i can easily manage without getting all worked up.
I feel i can do no more than fill my belly anyway, no use accumulating extra money that ends up in gubmints hands and what is left the kids will probably waste in a **** of a hurry after i kick the bucket.
None of the 4 want the place anyway.
 
J D,
Let's think about this a minute. Al Kaline, the great Hall of Famer from the Detroit Tigers said one time that "There are no super men out here on the ball field. There are however people who make fewer mistakes than others." The same thing can be said about farmers. I have over ten years on you and I have seen it so many times that I could write a book on things that just happen. I don't think that age would enter in to it. Example, a forty year old young man who has a degree in mechanical engineering unhooks his fifth wheel gooseneck trailer, slams the tail gate shut and drives off. Hard to believe but it takes nearly two thousand dollars for a new tailgate installed on some of these newer pickups. It happens to all of us at nearly anytime in our lives. The thought of retiring struck me this past spring while I was planting beans. The young man working on the next farm to me waved to me as we passed by and I got to thinking that I knew his Great Grandfather. Maybe that is a sign that I should retire. While I was contemplating all this I ran the planter empty at the back end of a half mile field. If it had not been for the monitor screaming at me I would have most likely gone several more rounds before I would have checked the seed supply. I also remember someone asking me how, when there is only one tree in a hundred acre field, do you clip that tree with the end of a thirty foot disc? Seemed quite easy at the time. Maybe we should get together and write that book. It would be great for laughs.
 
That's when I quit,that's when accidents happen
that can kill you.Rented my ground out and just mess with old tractors and cars.
 
yea, stuff happens, most of the time it's because im in a hurry. others, my mind was on something else. a couple years ago my right rear tire was low, i wasn't in a hurry so i hooked up a little plug in the cigarette lighter air pump, set it on top of the tire being aired up, a truck tire takes 60lbs so it's slow, so i go about my business, i wander by and notice the tire's aired up so i unplug it. later in the day i go to drive off, bump/crunch, crap in my hat ! there goes my pump. i learned to make list long ago, but list don't do no good sitting on the kitchen table. now a days we make a shopping list on a spreadsheet and download it to the phone, problem solved
 
[/quote]




bison,
i read your post and i was concerned about you. im glad you worked it all out in your mind and are going to keep the place, i mean, im sure the place has YOU written all over it. :)
 
things happen. Don't sweat it keep going.

Just today I had on a ring my mother gave me decades ago when I was in high school. Always wear it on the pinky of my right hand since I've "filled out" some since high school days and that's the only finger it will go on. Its a little loose, but not bad.

Noticed it wasn't there. Went into a panic. Remembered I had washed my hands in our break room and thought maybe it came off when I dried my hands.

Spent 20 minutes carefully sorting through the trash in the break room, but no luck.

On the way back to my desk noticed I had put it on my LEFT pinky. Relived that I hadn't lost it, but felt really foolish.

Have to make sure I put things back where they belong. If I ever just set something down, it may take me an hour or more to figure out where it is.
 
(quoted from post at 14:30:03 06/24/14)
Click to expand...
couple weeks ago i was also thinking of throwing in the towel, it was not because that i started wrecking things but I found i had to much hay on the fork for my age(64) trying to do all the things that need done on my 1800 ranch with pretty near 350 head of bison by myself.

I took a hard look at the whole thing and decided it was no use running ragged and getting overworked and stressed out.
I'm not the traveling kind and thinking of selling the ranch just about gave me an heart attack.
I take it now one easy day at the time and do what i can and when i feel like it and the **** with it if it don't get finished by days end. Tomorrow is an other day and there are more days after that.
I don't feel guilty anymore if i start late and waste time on the puter
This fall i'm gonna cut the herd back to a hundred cows, them i can easily manage without getting all worked up.
I feel i can do no more than fill my belly anyway, no use accumulating extra money that ends up in gubmints hands and what is left the kids will probably waste in a **** of a hurry after i kick the bucket.
None of the 4 want the place anyway.[/quote]ison,
i read your post and i was concerned about you. im glad you worked it all out in your mind and are going to keep the place, i mean, im sure the place has YOU written all over it. :)[/b:dea7485cde][/quote]

Thanks for your concern Jennifer408.
Yeah, it took a bit of soul searching but i'am OK.
I came from across the pond 34 years ago flat broke.I worked hard to get what i have and to now with mission accomplished to give up the place i spend 23 years of giving my blood sweat and tears to build and then go sit in a rocking chair ain't me.
Money does mean nothing to me but independence and freedom does and i have plenty of that here.
As long as i stay healthy i'll just keep plugging along :wink:
 
(quoted from post at 16:58:04 06/24/14)
(quoted from post at 14:30:03 06/24/14)
Click to expand...
couple weeks ago i was also thinking of throwing in the towel, it was not because that i started wrecking things but I found i had to much hay on the fork for my age(64) trying to do all the things that need done on my 1800 ranch with pretty near 350 head of bison by myself.

I took a hard look at the whole thing and decided it was no use running ragged and getting overworked and stressed out.
I'm not the traveling kind and thinking of selling the ranch just about gave me an heart attack.
I take it now one easy day at the time and do what i can and when i feel like it and the **** with it if it don't get finished by days end. Tomorrow is an other day and there are more days after that.
I don't feel guilty anymore if i start late and waste time on the puter
This fall i'm gonna cut the herd back to a hundred cows, them i can easily manage without getting all worked up.
I feel i can do no more than fill my belly anyway, no use accumulating extra money that ends up in gubmints hands and what is left the kids will probably waste in a **** of a hurry after i kick the bucket.
None of the 4 want the place anyway.
Click to expand...




[b:d09f6dd4a5]bison,
i read your post and i was concerned about you. im glad you worked it all out in your mind and are going to keep the place, i mean, im sure the place has YOU written all over it. :)[/b:d09f6dd4a5][/quote]




good for you, you keep on going, we're all proud of you. :)
 
I quit 2 years ago,when I was 52, I live in Northern CA and farmed part time in ND, about 800 acres of wheat. So one day. My old Versatile tractor was stuck in 2 gears, the 2 15 foot John Deere 750 no till drills needed a overhall, My trucks were my age or older, My sprayer is a joke, my grain auger and tiny grain bins were misery, as were the flights from Oakland to Dickinson. My dads friends are now in their late 70's and 80's and I didn't think it was fair to ask them to help me any more. I was missing my wife and daughter something awful. The fuel tank was empty,with seed, insurence, fertilizer and everything I was looking at spending $100,000 or so to put the crop in the ground. As I was looking out over the land the neighbors son came by and made me a cash rent offer. At first I thought he was kidding. So now it is his problem. So now I still have that tractors gears to get un stuck and I will rebuild those drills, but I am not feeling any stress abou it.
 
As Baxter Black puts it in

"A time to stay, a time to go"

Here in our part of OZ is what is referred to as "child abuse western Queensland style - leave them the ranch".

And from which area is the witicism "The way to leave a mulga country ranch with a small fortune is to start with a large one"
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

A
What is this and why cant I lift it high enough to move it?
Replies
8
Views
1K
Alaskannewfarmer
A
C
200-300+ HP Tractors with Creeper
Replies
15
Views
616
moresmoke
M
Tgrasher
Got to clean it up
Replies
2
Views
265
RBnWA
R
3
There it is
Replies
10
Views
688
37 chief
3
Horsez2
Buying a Torque Wrench... First Time!
2
Replies
24
Views
1K
jaoneill
jaoneill
Tractor Parts Tractor Manuals

We sell tractor parts! We have the parts you need to repair your tractor - the right parts. Our low prices and years of research make us your best choice when you need parts. Shop Online Today.

Copyright © 1997-2024 Yesterday's Tractor Co.

All Rights Reserved. Reproduction of any part of this website, including design and content, without written permission is strictly prohibited. Trade Marks and Trade Names contained and used in this Website are those of others, and are used in this Website in a descriptive sense to refer to the products of others. Use of this Web site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement and Privacy Policy TRADEMARK DISCLAIMER: Tradenames and Trademarks referred to within Yesterday's Tractor Co. products and within the Yesterday's Tractor Co. websites are the property of their respective trademark holders. None of these trademark holders are affiliated with Yesterday's Tractor Co., our products, or our website nor are we sponsored by them. John Deere and its logos are the registered trademarks of the John Deere Corporation. Agco, Agco Allis, White, Massey Ferguson and their logos are the registered trademarks of AGCO Corporation. Case, Case-IH, Farmall, International Harvester, New Holland and their logos are registered trademarks of CNH Global N.V.

Yesterday's Tractors - Antique Tractor Headquarters
Website Accessibility Policy

Back
Top