Does anyone else's son not like this hobby?

redtom

Well-known Member
I have 2 daughters and one son, in that order. My son is now 12 and he has always hated this hobby. When I was his age I would've rode a boat motor around the yard if I thought it would go. I did anything to ride or drive or fix an engine. I built stuff from wood too, mostly junk. My mom always made me help my dad which I never really liked cuz it was usually late at night and cold. He worked a LOT of hours. I didnt know it at the time but I was learning. Later on, I did more of the work-he was still on a lot of hours. We never farmed, we rented out, but he let me play around with various tractors we collected. Now, my son is 12, and he hates anything to do with engines or tractors. Let me point out, we are barely getting by money wise and buying a big project is out of the question. I have to work a lot of hours too with just enough time to get the minimum done and he does do sports-something I always hated. He's does computers and some games which we limit but, all kids do, and I'm not going to begrudge him that. In this day and age if you stifle computer growth you're only hurting your chance of advancement. Thats what I did in the 90's, hated and fought puters all the way and paid for it at my job when promotions came and I was PC retarded. I try to get him out with me but he really has no interest. Heck, i bought a quad last summer and saturday he said "you drive". What?! He does want a Willy's jeep to restore but funds are short. I thought he would be my tractor restoring partner but now I'm thinking of selling most of them off. He's real good with his hands and likes the building and mechanical type stuff but hates the outdoors and tractors. Does your son hate tractors?
 
My son has no use for tractors, either. Years gone by my wife bought him a mini bike, and he never rode, till one day his friends asked him to. He rode that one time, and that was it. He can"t even change his own oil. My little girl has to do that for him, no kidding.
 
Mine has no interest in farming or tractors at all. It bothers me some too, but I can't live his life for him. Not all people have the same interests, even if it is your own family.
Kow Farmer (Kurt)
 
Since money is tight could you trade a tractor for a willy's? They have belt pulley units and 3pt hitches for them too. It may be a way to get him interested in the tractor side of things.
 
I raised 2 sons. Neither of them interested in old tractors or farming. Sometimes wonder where I went wrong. You will get used to it. Not everybody is alike. I dislike things they like to do. So I guess were even.
Both are doing good and have good jobs.
 
(quoted from post at 23:10:59 11/13/12) I work with computers for a living, but old tractors are my favorite hobby. Go figure. :shock:
Ditto here Will, but computers [i:b544fd9ef2]used[/i:b544fd9ef2] to be my favorite hobby.
Age has changed my perspective, and it may change this boy's too.
I would give him a chance to discover what he really likes.
Guide him with them, but forcing him may drive him away.
 
BTW, as long as he has solid marketable interest and plans toward that, I wouldn't worry much. It sounds like he does have skills and interests that are marketable, from what you post. He just doesn't like tractors.
 
I have 600 acres and a full line of like new equipment i got from my dad when he passed.I have a 28 year old son that doesn't want anything to do with it or the 10 collector tractors i've restored.I finally rented it out and sold the equipment because i couldn't find any help.I still mess with the antiques,he's still looking for a job.
 
I guess I am lucky. All four of my sons play around on machines and stuff. They like the farming bit as well. They realize that they are not going to be able to make a living by just farming. The youngest is the least interested in tractors but he is a speed freak right now. So it is 4 wheelers and motorcycles for the moment. The others where kind of that way when they where younger but now they play with the old iron as well.

They are not into the real old stuff. They like the 1960 and 1970 tractors. My taste has changed over the years as well. I only have 3 JD two cylinders anymore. I would not have them but they are family owned so that means a lot to me. Give me a good foot clutch and power steering any day. LOL
 
We have three houses on our farm. My wife and I live in the old farmhouse. My son and his wife and four kids live in a large, modern house on the farm, and my daughter-in-law's mother lives in a cedar chalet.

If it doesn't have a keyboard and monitor on it, my fifteen year old grandson has no interest in it whatsoever. He's a really nice, really smart, really respectful boy, he just has no interest in anything related to farming. I have two horses - not interested. He has two dirt bikes - not interested. He has a great dog - not interested. We have guns and go hunting - not interested. He has a Wii and an Xbox 360 - very interested.

C'est la vie.

Tom in TN
 
As parents we gotta do things we sometimes don't want to do. You're going to have to put the tractors on the back burner, and concentrate on his interests. Don't be disappointed because he doesn't share your hobby, he may take it the wrong way and think you're disappointed in HIM. Find out what he wants to do and throw as much coal on that fire as you can. Well, don't over do it. Just be there for him. That means find a clean sheet and cover up that motor you're working on, when your son needs you. Remember, the more time he spends with you, the less time he spends with the drug dealer and/or some promiscuous seventh-grader down the street. Plus, he will absorb your values so he will have the brains to avoid such people later on.
 
As a kid I hated the old junk Dad had for us to use and work on. But he made us do it so we did. His reward for us working was to buy us sleds and motorcycles. Junk also, but we had the skills to keep them running.

The mechanical aptitude I gained from that made me a lot of money as a plumber. It has saved me countless thousand$ over the years on repairs to most anything as I didn't have to hire it out.

Fast forward 30 years I now collect antique tractors and implements to fix them up.

I forced my son to work around the acreage and run as a plumbing apprentice with me. He resented it and was the source of many a fight. Off topic but I never would have dreamed of fighting my father like my son fought me. Different times I guess.

He has very little mechanical aptitude and has no interest in it at all.

I lost that battle.

He is 21 & doing well in the animal sciences program at Texas A&M, and wants to be a Veterinarian.
 
I only have one child, a son, now 23. He was an absolute joy to raise, but never had an interest in any of my hobbies. I was never into sports, but he is tall, very athletic, and played them all. As he was growing up, I drag raced, boated, and played with tractors, but he had no desire for any of it. I even had a junior dragster bought for him when he was 12, and built a cool "66 belvedere for him when he was 15. Still nothing. We"ve always had a good relationship, but different interests. We did ride 4 wheelers together quite a bit. Always dreamed of my boy following my footsteps, and feel that I missed something, but who knows. Your son"s gonna make his own path, as mine did. I would have scripted it a little differently if I had a choice, but I"m also happy that he"s his own person.
 
I work on both tractors and airplanes and my son has no interest in either. On weekends when I'd be working on old ww2 p51 mustangs I would invite him to come a long and lend a hand but no interest. At home he has only driven a tractor once and he is now 18 getting ready for university so that part of childhood and growing up is gone.My daughter though was always there to fix something and would jump at the chance to blow snow but she to eventually will move on to university and out of the rural life. Even though neither had a interest in tractors they both have always been supportive of my hobby and that part makes me happy, unlike others in my household....
 
I have never understood how some kids could have an entire farm given to them and not want it either. My dad and grandpa farmed and I always tagged along with them always helping them, watching them learning things, we always had old machinery that needed fixing and I learned so much from them, fast forward when I was choosing what i wanted to do for a living and knowing that farming wouldnt work out I knew I loved fixing things so I became a mechanic, I work everyday on JD combines, planters, SP sprayers ect. and I also hobby farm some as well and I hope that when I have a son that he follows the same path as I have and be interrested in the same things I am because I wouldnt trade a minute of the times I spent with my dad and grandpa on the farm or at tractor shows, auctions ect.
 
it doesn't seem to pass down in some genes, mine has shown no interest in any kind of engines,he'd rather take apart a computer, [ this is the kid who blew an engine in high school simply because he never checked the oil, now he's in the navy working on weapons fire control computers and making twice what i ever did, go figure
 
(quoted from post at 00:43:19 11/14/12) Someday our kids will complain that their kids aren"t interested in computers or video games.
LOL Maybe the young boys will discover "girls"!
 
We had a ol neighbor years and years ago that had one boy that had NO..i mean NO interest in the farm..cattle..sports..just nothing....would stay in the house and work on a science project and stuff....
Went all though collage on scollerships...got to meet the then president Johnson because of his out standing grades...when he was young people thot he was a dud....sorry,,,,realy sad but true...

last i heard he was a med Doctor and living in Iowa
 
When I was growing up, we had a pile of scrap metal behind the shed, and kept a good supply of baling wire on hand. When an implement broke, you went out back and found a piece of metal to fix it with. I always had an interest in machinery, and helped Dad fix everything. He taught me how to repair bicycles, and from there I progressed to vehicles, motorcycles, and small engines. When My son was young, about the only real interest he had was fishing in the local farm ponds. (with permission, of course.) He would help me repair things, and was good at it himself. I was surprised when in his senior year in high school he said he wanted to study electronics. He went to the local community college and studied, electronic engineering technology, which sounds big, but it was basically a two yer introduction to the field. He ended up a certified Apple
Tech. Oldest daughter always had "uptown" tastes, but when she married a man with a few acres I was surprised at how fast she caught on. They divorced but she got the place and has her own tractor and equipment. Youngest daughter always exhibited mechanical ability, and when when got her first car, she told me she wanted to learn to change oil, tune ups and change tires. She said that even if she did not do it herself, that if she knew those things she would know when and if she was being ripped off.But she has always done most of it herself. This weekend I had to bleed the brakes on my old truck, I told her to get in and pump the brakes. She said, "I want you to show me what you are doing under the truck." I showed her and she said, "Now, YOU pump the brakes while I do this. I don't want you crawling under the truck with your bad knees." And she did. I guess I'm just lucky. BTW, she just turned 40 herself.
 
I spent my whole life in the construction business. Wanted better for #1 son. Started the your going to college thing early. We had a few arguments about it when he was a HS Senior. He finally told me "If you think college is that important YOU better go Dad" That ended all arguments. He became a carpenter just like Dad. Has now moved into the office estimating and putting together project bids. Kids are just that,KIDS. Play wii, x-box with them,they will be gone too soon gobble
 
My dad ruined me as a young mechanic. I always had to help and I was the tool fetcher and parts cleaner. Any time something broke I hated it. If I grabbed the wrong tool I get yelled at. And a part was never clean enough for him. Then I was a young married soldier with a kid. Couldn't afford to have someone work on my car so I learned it myself. After a bit I could hold my own against my dad. By the time I had started doing my repairs until 6 years later I thought my dad was a god at repairs. Then while home on leave his auto tranny went out and I had to rebuild it for him, he never got that far.

With my own 4 sons. #1 was real interested in mechanics until he figured out that it takes years to master it and just about the time you got it down pat some jerk with a slide rule changes everything. #2 can do mechanic work but is very pleased that he makes enough to pay someone else to do it. 3# only loves exotic cars. He nor I can afford that. #4 wants to repair guns. When he's home he will help out with any repairs I'm doing and he would be a good mechanic if he wanted to go that route. Being in the Army I could never build that dream car or tractor with my boys.

Get rid of a couple of tractors and get an old Jeep. Tell him that he's gotta do the work while you hand tools and supervise.

DO NOT TAKE HIM TO AWAY TRACTOR SHOWS! He will be bored and evening entertainment is stuff he most likely will not like. Most kids today don't want to listen to old time country or folk/Gospel music. He will be bored to tears. Once he starts doing OK work ask him to give you a hand on your tractors. He may develope an interest.

Rick
 
I figure you can't force others to like something, or someone, for that matter. Just give them the opportunity to choose.....yes, guiding within your parameters as to who/what is acceptable while they live under your roof. Hopefully you can make a variety of options available to him. And none of them need to break the bank. Your time being available to him is more valuable than anything else.
 
Give him time, 12 is still young. Wait till he is 16 and is chasing girls, that will be his hobby.....He wont be able to spell tractor let alone work on one.
 
I have son thats 40 don"t give two shits about a tractor but loves to collect guns. witch is fine with me.your son will be watt he wants to be don"t forse him in to some thing you like
 
Same thing here. Son is like his mother who is a carbon copy of her dad so son is like my father in law who never liked doing hands on stuff either. If it ran on gas and quit he left it where it quit and went and bought a new one. Son likes paper work and flapping his gums and has been succesful at making a living. To each his own. I did try to run outboards in the yard also but used an old garbage can to do it.
 
Same Here John. My Son loved them when he was little,he would say "Strat-duh". When he was big enough I got an 850 Ford for us to work on together His interest didn't last long. You are right there are other things We do together.
I am one of four brothers.The oldest never cared for any of it. I was second, I love working on them and don't care that much for farming. #3 would rather farm than eat and will work on them as a means to an end. #4 loves tractors that He can make money on doesn't care to work on them or farm. I guess you are born to those things and you certainly can't force it.
Ron
 
Im not sure if mines is not interested,or just busy with his own life. he certainly doesnt like getting dirty though.
 
'Sort of an opposite example, but my dad was a CPA...pretty much a mathematical genius. I always had a tough time with math.....but really liked tractors and farming as we lived on a small farm (just to get us kids out of town). Daddy could have cared less for the livestock we had and he showed it with his attitude about it. My brother and I pretty much took care of the cows and what little equipment we had. When I went to college I had to take an accounting class. I failed it. Daddy got ALL bent out of shape over that....absolutely couldn't understand how I couldn't grasp it. He couldn't fix a lawnmower if he had to.......but as he got older, he would drag all his worn out, never maintained, old junk over to me and I'd fix it. We had a respect for each other that developed over the years. I couldn't do what he could and he couldn't do what I could. We loved each other.
 
My son is almost 18. When he was younger he like to drive anything I brought home, lawn mower tractor, truck, you name it. He never had an interest in helping me restore a tractor. I did restore a farmall H for him but it took 4 yrs and he let me know how long it took. As with your family funds are tight here too and time is limited. Well after getting his H finished he wanted to sell it for a car. Which I thought was a good idea. We got $2500 for the ole H. My son now loves tinkering with electrical things on his car and knows how to wire things.
I would have to say that all of us are going to go where our interests take us! Then when we hit 50 and beyond we say to ourselves why did I get into this...LOL!
It doesn't bother me that my son isn't interested in restoring old tractors. I'm proud of the few times he comes and asks me for advice though.
They say the hardest part of being a father is when our children don't ask us for advice anymore.
Keep the lines of communication open and it doesn't hurt to peek in his room once a week, the daughters' too! Just talking from experience.
 
My son is almost 18. When he was younger he like to drive anything I brought home, lawn mower tractor, truck, you name it. He never had an interest in helping me restore a tractor. I did restore a farmall H for him but it took 4 yrs and he let me know how long it took. As with your family funds are tight here too and time is limited. Well after getting his H finished he wanted to sell it for a car. Which I thought was a good idea. We got $2500 for the ole H. My son now loves tinkering with electrical things on his car and knows how to wire things.
I would have to say that all of us are going to go where our interests take us! Then when we hit 50 and beyond we say to ourselves why did I get into this...LOL!
It doesn't bother me that my son isn't interested in restoring old tractors. I'm proud of the few times he comes and asks me for advice though.
They say the hardest part of being a father is when our children don't ask us for advice anymore.
Keep the lines of communication open and it doesn't hurt to peek in his room once a week, the daughters' too! Just talking from experience.
 
Just when I was old enough to work on the farm we moved to town. Grandpa sold his farm the same year. Grandpa said there was no future in the small family farm. That was 1966. His 180 acres has sold several times over the years. Last time it fetched $200,000 and is corporate hunting ground now. I work on most anything with an engine to pass the time.
 
Not really,but they aren't fast enough for him. He works in Lansing building high performance engines. Put one in a pulling tractor and he's all over it. In fact,in college,he had some classes with Jesse Petro of NTPA two wheel drive truck fame.
He lives and breathes,race cars,race boats,snowmobiles and quads.
 

If you enjoy the hobby, don't give it up. Your children may NOT enjoy the hobby, but one of these days there will be grandchildren. :D :D
 
Hobby? HOBBY?????????? Tractors a hobby? To me, they're a tool..........like a hammer, post driver, fencing pliers, ground engaging implement, etc, etc,...........albeit, a more complicated tool.
 
Formative years. Formative years. How was this kid's time occupied in his formative years? I'm talking 2, 3, 4, 5, 6? Was he outside helping dad in the shop? Working with grandpa on the farm? Helping grandma in the garden? Assigned responsibilities/chores?
Another thing I cannot resist highlighting is the fact that there are several of you on here who are airing your grievances concerning your own children on the INTERNET, with mostly complete STRANGERS, which ANYONE can read. Jeeez. Can anyone say communication barrier? Maybe that's why your sons have distanced themselves from your interests. The fact that you feel more comfortable anonymously posting your disappointment rather than addressing it with your own kin says a lot. Have any of you that are complaining and "wondering where you went wrong" ever tried to express any interest in what your kids are interested in?
 
Yeah, my oldest son is about the same age and hates everything about animals, tractors, and being outside. Says he wishes he lived in town instead of on a farm.

I've done all I can think of to try to get him interested, but people like what they like, I guess. Maybe he'll come around, maybe he won't, but there's no sense in trying to force what I like on my kids I figure.

Luckily, I've got two younger ones coming up who seem to love the farm (for now!). His baby sister in particular loves tractors and cattle. I don't remember that attitude from either of her brothers at any age. Maybe loving tractors is just something you're born with (or without) :)
 
I have a two year old. One of her first words was "ouside" while standing at the back door. I have to be very carefull now about leave'n keys in stuff, she can get on the four wheeler and start it by her self. I can not say the words "feed" "cows" or "pigs" around here with out her latch'n on to my leg wanting to go with me. Her favorite place is the pole barn where the tractors, cats, and steers on feed live. She cried after the first frost when I told her we couldn't pick tomatos any more. I know people change but I hope her love of critters, plants, and contraptions never does.

Dave
 
My son is turning 6 and loves everything about our cattle farm, tractors, hunting, and just being outdoors. He has always liked them without any pressure from me. Although during his first 4 years that was all he knew. But, I expect his interest to change once he hits the teenage years. Then it's fast cars, loud stereos, atvs, and women. I won't blame him, I was the same way growing up. Loved to help Dad farm, go hunting, and help him work on things (saved me $$ through the years), but I went through that teenage stage of cars, music, atvs, and women. It wasn't until I was in my late 20's that I realized I had quit doing everything I liked as a child. Needless to say, I am hunting, farming, restoring tractors whenever I get the chance.

My son is just now getting into sports (basketball/baseball) so we spend a lot of time practicing. I loved sports as a kid and couldn't get my dad to play with me at all, so I am taking the time to play with my son. He's getting quite good for his age too. But we still make time for the cows, deer, turkeys, and tractors.
 
other way around sort of, for me. dad farms for a BTO so in the spring and fall he cant help much. we work toghter though on the 4-H and FFA steers and some times on equitment. dosent really like the old stuff though. but i still like him because he is my dad and helps out on other stuff too. my maternal grandpa though like to work on tractors and once owned a Allis-Chalmers dealership. so i am pretty much on my own in the spring and fall but i have other family members and neighbors who will help out if i need it.
 
hobbies are just that... something you like to do. Not something that has been forced on you. If he likes to make stuff, you can set him up a little shop in the space you could park a tractor and let him do what he likes. If you can afford the space, maybe put a decent project tractor on ice in case the mood hits him later... If he likes to build things, support him by dumpster raiding and bringing home scraps. He can generate some nice pocket money by building bird houses, feders, dog houses, etc....
 

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