Our Tractor Story

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May and June, 2000

May

5-1-00:  I placed the order for our new equipment trailer with Hurst Trailers.  We will go down to the factory in Washburn, Tennessee in a few weeks to pick it up.  I ordered it with three ramps, a spare tire, and green paint.

Click here to see photo of the trailer

5-21-00:  Pat and I are on our way to Washburn, Tennessee to get the trailer in his Ford F250 diesel pickup.  It is a 600 mile trip, and we get an average of 18.5 mpg on the way there.

5-22-00:  We picked the trailer up and head for Louisville, Kentucky, where we will spend the night with Carolyn's mom.

5-23-00:  Return home with the trailer, and park it in the back yard.  This trailer is about 32 feet long, from hitch to back of the ramps when they are folded up.  We got an average of 13 mpg on the way home.

5-29-00:  I put the umbrella on the tractor today, and filled the tank with fuel.  We are now ready for the parades and shows for this year.

Click here to see photo of the new umbrella

June,2000

6-03-00:  Carolyn sent our Homer Township Parade application in today.  We will be participating as part of the Will County Threshermen's Association this year, and will have three tractors in the parade.  We went over to K-mart and bought a 10 X 20 canopy, so we will have a shady place at tractor shows.

6-08-00:  I drilled one of the trailer ramps for the license plate bolts, and bolted it on,  Then got a piece of chain and a hook over at Wal-Mart, so that I could improve the way the ramps are secured when they are folded up.  I wanted only one easy to remove chain for all three, not the three chains that came with it.  I also made a spare tire locking chain, and a hitch locking chain to secure the trailer when it is not on the truck or locked in storage.  I also bought a couple of keyed-alike padlocks.  I also picked up a gallon of wood protector and a pump-up sprayer.

6-10-00:  Carolyn and I went to the Kankakee Farm & Fleet to do a little shopping, so I bought a twisted clevis and a couple of cans of JD green paint while we were there.  The trailer needs a little touch-up where the paint is scratched a little.  I sprayed wood protector on the deck of the trailer, top and bottom.

6-15-00:  I bought a bunch of wire loom wrap at Wal-Mart, to help protect some of the trailer's emergency brake wires, as that part of the wiring is exposed.  I will put it on next weekend.  We also purchased a fold-up camping table, a couple of folding chairs, and a new ice cooler.

6-17-00:  I installed the wire loom wrap on the trailer emergency brake wiring.  We are taking the tractor to the North Eastern Illinois Two Cylinder Club picnic at Blackberry Farm in Aurora tomorrow.  Pat came over with his truck and we hitched the trailer up, then hauled it out to the street.  The tractor started on the first pull.  It never does this when people are watching.  I think it has stage fright.  I drove it out of the garage, and started loading it on the trailer.  The transmission popped out of low range while I was backing onto the ramps, and it rolled off before I could stop it.  I had to keep my foot on the low-high shifter to keep it in gear while I backed on.  Pretty exciting stuff as I can now only use one brake pedal (the left one).

I think I want to put some low side boards on this trailer, as it is a long way down, and I got too close to the edge when the tractor swerved left as I stopped.  The wood beaver tail and deck are pretty slippery, too.  The beaver tail needs non-skid, or something, as the tires slip going up and down the ramp.  Pat and I took the truck and trailer to his house, where we decided that we were not going to load his tractor, as this was our first time hauling tractors, and we would take it easy.

6-18-00:  Cindy, our daughter, and Matt, our son-in-law, came over after breakfast, then we drove over to Pat's house.  We got on the road, and drove to the picnic.  Dan our son, came out about lunch time, so we all had an excellent Father's day. There were 17 tractors at the picnic, including two Olivers and two Farmalls.  We had a tractor parade about 3 pm.  The tractor started OK, and was not as shy in public as usual.  We loaded up and everything went very well.  This time, I drove on instead of backing on, and we came on home.   All told, a very good trip.  The truck, trailer and tractor all worked pretty well.

Click here to see photos of the Blackberry farm

6-21-00:  We loaded Pat's Farmall M tractor on the trailer at his house.  We are going to the Red Power Roundup at Sandwich this weekend.

Click here to see a photo of Pat's Farmall M

6-22-00:  The trip to Sandwich went very smooth.  Pat's tractor is on display in the Will County Threshermen's Association area.  There are quite a few folks here already, and Pat's tractor is assigned number 162.  The Association is displaying 16 Farmall tractors (one with a FA122 front mounted four row planter) a power cultivator, a single cylinder engine and a belt powered corn mill, all together.

Click here to see our setup at the Red Power Roundup

6-23/24-00:  This is a great show of Farmall power.  Max Armstrong lead the parade Saturday and Sunday.  I found a lot of other (non-red) tractors here as well.  We should have brought our John Deere model B along, too!  There are tractors here with number tags over 1200, so this place is just a sea of tractors.  WOW!  The trip home went well.  Next weekend, we will have both tractors in the Home Township parade.

6-28-00:  We got a call from Jim Huston (the president of the Will County Thresherman's Association) last night to meet at Burn's Wood today at 5:00 PM, as the wheat was ready for cutting and bundling.  Carolyn and I drove there and spent about three hours with a small group of Association members walking behind Larry Marek's grain binder shocking (setting the bundles upright.)  In a few weeks, we will load the bundles on wagons and take them to the threshing show, about a half mile down the road, where they will meet the power of steam, and be beat into submission.

Click here to see our binding and shocking crew at work

Clickhereto go to July, 2000.