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Mark: Sorry for the delay; was on the road a couple of days, up in 9 land ! Grew up in western Ohio on a 160 acre Grain/hog/dairy farm. Most of my farming uncles, Granddad, and Dad, used JD, one used IHC. Grandpa made the decision to trade the Fordson for a new '36 "A" while my uncle Ed argued for a Massey-Harris 4 wheel drive. That started the family on the road with JD. We did most all of our repair work at home, generally on a dirt floor. I seemed to take to the repair work more than the other brothers, so they became three engineers and a dentist. That left me to become a computer systems consultant after 26 years in aerospace manufacturing and degree in biochemistry. Seems right, huh ? Had the opportunity to dig into quite a few different models, and helped to repair lots of stuff for the neighbors. Rescued our '48 "A" from under a willow tree when I was in the eighth grade, got it running again, and that started the bug. I have always had to have a JD of some type around. My wife is a city girl, but she finally pretends to understand. My brother and I taught ourselves the code and were licensed in the summer of 1968. I was WN8ENS, and ran a Globe Chief Model 90 Xmtr and an RME-45 Rcvr. Year and a half later, I took my fresh General class ticket and my hay bailing money and bought a Heathkit SB-100 that I used for a number of years on mostly wire antennas. I have an ICOM 735, but sadly, I have not even taken it out of the box since we packed it to move here in 1994. I need to put up a Rhombic ! In '94, accepted a job transfer from Ohio to extreme south Georgia (just north of Tallahassee), and decided to settle on the Florida side (no state income tax !). Stayed with that company until Sep.2000, when I made the jump to consulting. Over the years I have rebuilt a number of JD's, mostly for my own use, though I did sell a few to farmers and collectors. I did the '48 "A" which is in Ohio with a friend, a 56 lawn mower, a 68 lawn mower, a 70 lawn tractor, a 214 garden tractor (which I used for 10 years), a '41 "B", '40 "H", a 4440 that had had a cab fire and power shift problems, a '64 4020D, my current 855 Auction special (had electrical problems), constant maintenance over the years on our 45 round back, then a gas 4400, and finally our 70D which is now the only surviving original tractor from our farming days. My Dad passed away in 1995, but my mother still has the farm, which she rents, with no intention of selling it, so it will likely remain in the family for at least another generation or so. Sorry for going on, but that's my grimey past. I do need to get up some wire antennas now that I have some land and some trees. 73's ! Frank-in-Tallahassee
70D // 855
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