memories ,,through Y/T pictures

A while ago Bruce from Canada posted picures of the inside of his tie stall barn,with all the cows in it,It brought back a 43 year old memory to me. Here in NJ, most kids cant drive till they are 17.There is a special license where 16 year olds can drive with a vehicle with farm plates,,,at 16 years old.I got my farmers drivers licence at 16,Driving was supposed to be farm related.My father made it VERY clear,,,any bending of the rules,,,no more driving,,,I really wanted to drive any chance I could,Dad said,,,,,drive to the next town over and stop in and see Johnny,,,an old friend of his who was a dairy farmer.I never did hook up the milkmachines,but did fill up the cart with silage and put some in front of each cow,the same with feed.His gutter cleaner was broken,to shot to repair,to expensive for him to replace,,,so he backed the spreader in each night,I Forked one side on,and most times other friends of his dropped in and grabbed the other side,while Johnny drove the JD 730 Diesel. Lots of good stories took place too,besides the work,My mom used to make a plate of food to send along to Johhny too,He eapecially liked any kind of cake or dessert,,,,Johnny has long since past,his barn is gone,Mcmansion houses sprouted up in his pasture.

Talking about driving.... In Nebraska, when I was 14, you could get a school permit. Dad took me to get mine the week before my 14th birthday, as that was when the license examiner was in Brewster, the county seat. Passed my written test with no problem, and got ready to take the driving part. He asks how many years I had been driving? Keep in mind I was only 13 still, and I told him honestly I had been driving for 11 and a half. Don't think he believed me, but Dad verified it.
I don't ever remember a time in my life, I haven't driven a vehicle, or a tractor, or ridden a horse. Pretty sure I was doing all 3 before I could walk much.

I remember getting my school permit in Nebraska also at age 14. You were supposed to be limited to driving to school and to school activities.

With a little creative thinking, you could tie almost anything to a school activity. Plus, in a small town I think the police looked the other way quite a bit rather than get into an argument as to what actually was a school activity.

Truth was, I'd been driving long before that. We lived a mile and a half from a grain elevator, and I was hauling grain with an old truck when I was 11 or 12. Don't know if we grew up faster back then, but I think we shouldered responsibility at an earlier age.

Larry, I am making new memories! Have some pics of my farm in 1993 and just recent of my neighbors farm. That's me and my future wife on the milk house step and my White 2-70 that I never noticed before in upper left corner. Greg

Goose, I agree with your comment about shouldering responsibility at an earlier age. In North Carolina, we were not able to get our drivers license until 16, but Dad put me on a tractor at the age of nine. It was all I could do to hold down the clutch pedal on the 9N. But, back then, driving was not just recreation, generally, on the farm, we did it out of necessity and we took it seriously. Few kids today have the faintest idea of what it was like then.