My nominee for oldest tractor mechanic

My father turned 94 in July. He still lives alone, and drives himself where he needs to go.

This summer he decided to do some repairs on his old tractor. A Ferguson 40 that he has owned for 30 years.

By himself, with almost no help, using tools, ramps, etc to aid in the lifting, he did the following:

Took out the gas tank and cleaned it, then reinstalled it.

Replaced the intake and exhaust manifolds, and reconfigured the exhaust pipes to work with the
different design of the replacement manifolds. Installed and hung a new muffler.

Overhauled the carburetor, and modified the governor linkage for the new manifolds.

Rerouted the air intake tube to the carburetor.

Replaced the oil pressure gauge and installed a new sender tube.

I am happy to report, that the tractor runs great with the new manifold (old one was broken and very noisy).

I think this is a fancy bit of work by a man in his 9th decade. His father (my grandfather) lived to be 94 and ran a full time retail business until he was 85.

My peers and I are quite impressed by Dad's mechanical ability at this ripe old age.

For you purists out there, yes, the tractor was repainted MF red (vs original cream) 30 years ago.

A great man, I second it.

Great little tractor. I have one, I'm the second owner. Its great your dad is healthy enough to keep at it!

Wonderful that he can still cut the mustard,and is a wise man I'm sure.Glad that you still have him!

Well done Great DAD and my comment is that: those who sit in front of the flat panel all day in retirement have reduced happiness. (those that cannot be active physically need to keep their mind going. With neither it is difficult. Jim

Your father's of an age to have been in the Big War. Is there a story there? In any event, he's a member of a generation that knew no limits. Bravo!

Take him another tractor. That needs repair.

Yes he was in the big one. In the south Pacific. Motor pool sergeant for a front line mobile hospital unit evacuating the wounded from the island invasions. He tells some amazing and harrowing stories, and still proudly wears his ribbons to the Veterans Day celebrations. He was in the staging area expecting to be part of the invasion of Japan, when the bombs were dropped ending the war. I was a one and a half years old when he got home to saw me.

He was lucky enough to be included on an Honor Flight to see the WW2 memorial in Washington DC a couple years ago.
He is very proud of his service and the local American Legion post honored him in a ceremony a year or so ago.

"He is very proud of his service"

As he should be! Please pass on my thanks for his service.

He's done great work on that tractor too.
I love to see people keep active as they get older.
I firmly believe it helps them live longer.

SALUTE!!!