My father had a TO-35 that was abandoned on his hunting property in the mountains. It wasn't pretty, but it was nice to have around for mowing and other tasks. One day while running the bush hog, it stopped. My Uncle Larry worked on it for about a week, then gave up. He isn't the best mechanic and was too stubborn to let me help him, so there it sat for the last five years with no one paying it any mind. My father since bought another tractor for mowing.Over this past Labor Day holiday, I decided that the ol' Fergie had sat there for far too long and made the 180 mile trip to retrieve & revive the neglected hulk. With a load of tools, supplies and a 16 foot flatbed trailer in tow, I headed to the hills. I arrived at the family hunting camp and there she sat with the bush hog still attached, still neglected and barely visible through high grass and weeds. The first thing I did was mow the field to be able to work on the ol' girl. After that, I had a multitude of wasps to evict from the tractor. The trip, the mowing and the battle royal with the insect world had taken the entire first day, so I decided to clean up, make myself some barbecued ribs for dinner and start fresh in the morning. Day two started with evicting some remaining wasps that just didn't seem to understand that I was taking the tractor with me and they weren't invited. I detached the bush hog and started the resurrection. A few hours later, a new battery, new cables, a tune-up kit, an oil change, a few wasp stings and the ol' Fergie groaned back to life! The initial cloud of smoke that burst out of the tail pipe sent the previously undetected wasps in the muffler, off to find another home in a hurry. I was so excited that she started and was idling that I set the parking brake and hopped off of the tractor to clean up the tools. I wanted to warm her up and let her juices flow a little before I took her for a spin around the mountain. While I was bent over, I noticed a change in the sound of the tractor. I turned around and she was no longer parked next to me. She rolled and turned down the 18% grade and was headed right for a cluster of cherry trees! My dog and I just stood there with our mouths agape. I wasn't going to try to stop 3200 pounds of tractor that was racing down the mountain. Luckily, she didn't hit any trees. She went right through the only space large enough to fit (I measured) and went over the 12 foot cliff (I measured) behind the trees. She bounced on all fours and launched the battery out of the hood. With the hood now fully tilted forward, she barreled another 50 feet (I measured) and plowed into the flatbed trailer that I rented to transport her. I was afraid to look at the damage. The trailer only suffered a dented steel railing and bent jack from being pushed sideways. That left the rest of the energy absorption to the tractor. The hood is mangled, the battery support has the hold down bolts ripped out, the radiator and fan are demolished and the front axle is bent. I've started to put her back together and should have her running shortly. I would imagine that the hood will be the toughest item to find in good condition. The thing that I find most curious is that the parking brake now works. Can anyone tell me why it didn't at first? Could the shoes have been rusted to the back plates and the impact jarred them loose? Once I finish with the damage, the brakes will be done before I attempt to move her.
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