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Trying to carry on a traditon

B

Brent Zappe

Member
The past six years back when my dad was alive he did his best to try to locate tractors for F.F.A groups in our area. he would not complain at least I never heard about the money given to the groups to keep theses tractors up and going. After his death two years ago us kids find notes from some of these groups. Sa to say but what we thought would had been thank you they where oppose it. This past year I heard form some of these groups asking for another tractor after they had learned my dad had past on hoping they would get another one. This last tractor show I was at in Nevada a tractor shop owner and me where talking. He had a trade in a John Deere 1010 and it would had made a great tractor for one of these groups but said to say as we talked I was shocked he said the same thing I was thinking. It made us feel good to give out to these groups but in time it got old when we had to give money and do the work to maintain these tractor. So sad for me to say but I am breaking family tradition by walking away from these groups in supporting them with a running tractor. It is sad when parents and the kids will not do the effort in maintaining there the equipment handed to them. I wish this was a positive note but some how I am heart broken by doing this.
 
(quoted from post at 14:41:47 08/06/18) The past six years back when my dad was alive he did his best to try to locate tractors for F.F.A groups in our area. he would not complain at least I never heard about the money given to the groups to keep theses tractors up and going. After his death two years ago us kids find notes from some of these groups. Sa to say but what we thought would had been thank you they where oppose it. This past year I heard form some of these groups asking for another tractor after they had learned my dad had past on hoping they would get another one. This last tractor show I was at in Nevada a tractor shop owner and me where talking. He had a trade in a John Deere 1010 and it would had made a great tractor for one of these groups but said to say as we talked I was shocked he said the same thing I was thinking. It made us feel good to give out to these groups but in time it got old when we had to give money and do the work to maintain these tractor. So sad for me to say but I am breaking family tradition by walking away from these groups in supporting them with a running tractor. It is sad when parents and the kids will not do the effort in maintaining there the equipment handed to them. I wish this was a positive note but some how I am heart broken by doing this.
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No good deed goes un punished!
 
The learning seems to have stopped when their (modest) effort ended. Putting a gift into the hands of those who feel entitled to get them is a mistake. I would only take the effort if there were a specific end game to the tractor's destiny, and appreciation on the front end. I agree with your decision. Jim
 
I supplied a tractor to an agi. group at a local school. What a joke, 5 years later they brought it back, it ran is about all I can say, never again.
 
I would do the same as you ,they should be ashamed of themselves for being so ungrateful of your families generosity but I'm doubtful they ever will be.
 
Hello Brent Zappe,

Nothing to be ashamed of, or heart broken about. They made their own miseries, and to dumb to understand or appreciate what they had. I would have done the same thing, and never looked back. Find another deserving group that may be will say thank you at least!

Guido.
 
Don't feel bad. Your dad did what his heart told him but the older I get the more just as you say is growing in this country. If people do not work for something and start to expect freebies, that is what you get. Just look at all of the goverment handout programs. Nuff said. I know of a person that would always look a gift horse in the mouth. After a couple of times that gets Blasted tired! No more! Even the Pilgrims found that out. They were going to be a socialist society. After the first winter of people starving to death that stopped. No work, no food.
 
What is your definition of a tradition? Giving to those who haven't enough courtesy to say than you? While your father may have donated a few tractors to ungrateful groups, did his father? Did his grandfather?
A tradition is something that has been handed down through generations. This was NOT a tradition. It was your father's kindness, and it was not even well received. Don't get all caught up in a bunch of teary-eyed nostalgia. Donate what you feel is right to someone that might actually appreciate it.
 
Was your intention to help your local FFA chapter or was it to promote more interest in old tractors?

It's possible that FFA could be moving beyond restoring old tractors as a means to teach kids the skills and knowledge they will need to have a future career in modern agriculture. Agriculture has changed a lot in the last 25 years, it will probably change a lot more in the next 25 years. Most kids that will be working in agriculture will not be farmers. Today's kids will need new skills compared to those of their fathers and grandfathers. Back in the early 1970's our 4-H chapter was introducing kids to the basics of topics like agronomy, animal nutrition, farm and home safety, record keeping and cost control, crop rotation to control diseases and weeds (well...that may be obsolete today), animal husbandry, crop horticulture, live stock judging, marketing, etc. Maybe being a chapter leader in one of those fields or some other current field might still be very very helpful to the chapter and maybe more appreciated?
 
In this day and time its a rare thing to see people genuinely appreciate anything others do for them.They are more inclined think they are Entitled to what they want and more.Not just kids either for sure.Its become the standard really.
 
You do know that you bring up a very good point here. My grand father brought his experience to the Inland empire on Citrus groves, and planting back in the late 1928. My dad carry the tradition between his job as a postal mail carrier to part time in groves with U.C.R and the riverside experimental station. Us young kids growing up would still get up early in the morning and fire up those wind birds and smug pots for frost. Tractors and farm equipment where barrowed and given to the F.F.A groups to use. When my parents moved to bishop and the High Sierras my dad got the tractor club to help out with a tractor for a group. when you read letters like you should had gave us more money to work on this tractor, You should have a open account to pay for tractor repairs for it when it breaks down at our local repair show. You should have had given us a 3 year old tractor. this is not the letters that a F.F.A group should be writing. No thank you for your help and giving just a lot of sad notes.
 
To my surprise about all this is I belong to a tractor club that does great things for the F.F.A. groups. the tractor club is the International harvester collectors. We have got other groups going on tractor restoration. the groups that have done this got buildings and shop stuff to do the work and etc. the groups we find that do not do but want use to give well that does not get any where. My dad got letters that I could not believe that a F.F.A person would had wrote and mailed to him. Very sad for a person like me who use to be in F.F.A had sat down and read them.
 
Brent,Ive tried to give a tractor to a kid each year at our local fair.Most kids are very appreative how ever there was one family That im close to that always cries poor mouth that's sitting on a large amount money.I furnished the tractor and it needed parts so people on this site furnished them and his grandfather refused to even pay for the shipping.That hurt me,but im going to keep going because for the love of tractors
 
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