driving Tractors as a kid

Re: Ultradog posted 19 pages back ,,,i read many of your experience ,And I wish to share mine ,,
imust have been 4 going on 5 that summer . Pop and Arch looked at Me , Arch Said Joonie we need a
tractor driver, And wit that Pop set me in the seat of a SC Case that was purring away .We were the
2nd team pikin up alfalfa hay . My brother was 7 and on a DC piking up with my cousins , We had a
couple Negros helpers that lived off the Ohio river bank in the summertime.There were 2 square balers
with wagons behind them. Later on , the Ford Jubilee, and 35 Ferguson Deluxe were safe trzactors
for me to drive ,, off limits was any 2 popper JD or hand clutch tractor . Finally atage 11 Dad let
Me rake with the
DC ,we just got it , and
i was notsupposed to use 4th gear. By the time i was 15, i had plowed corn with a WD allis , Mowed
with a 430 -and 830 Case ,,. literally stayed on a tractor 15 hours a day and
loved it ,,.
the only thing that turned my head was the neighbor gals sunbathing, aint' No way i was pumping
manure and hauling out to those fields with the 800 Case then.
when i got my driviers permit , i drove pops truck to pump manure with a 3020 Deere ,, Boy ! that
was a sweet tractor , But it sure Loved Gas . I will be 66 in a couple weeks , My dear Sara turns 63
tomorrow , Ihave a week off from school Bus , and I need it ,Still having trouble getting My breath
,, That durned Ol World wide flu just about killed Me last dec .

Great story. Stay well.

Another good one. Love to those stories. RB

Good story, helps to know I wasn't the only one glued to a tractor seat.

Awesome story, thanks for sharing. GG

...and nowadays youtube channels get shut down for 90 days for "child endangerment" for showing what happens on a small family farm...

For sure a video of a 5 year old kid puttering along in a straight line on an old tractor would result in the police knocking on your door.

(quoted from post at 10:47:32 10/10/22) ...and nowadays youtube channels get shut down for 90 days for "child endangerment" for showing what happens on a small family farm...

For sure a video of a 5 year old kid puttering along in a straight line on an old tractor would result in the police knocking on your door.

Click to expand...

Ain't that the truth!! Sad.

I couldn't have been much older than that the first time I drove a tractor. We had an 8N Ford and a John Deere MT and Dad put it in low gear and let me go up the driveway. I used to drive the Ford pulling a trailer picking up hay bales in the field. Then it was following a pull type combine around the oats field pulling a wagon.
The first time I drove The Minneapolis Moline UB, I could not reach the clutch pedal while sitting on the seat. I stood on the platform and pushed in the clutch pedal and Dad came up from behind and put it in and out of gear!
Times have definitely changed!

IMO the SC Case was the easiest, safest tractor for a kid to drive. Ergonomic angled steering wheel.
Easy to push/pull(natural action of go/stopping)clutch lever.
Individual brakes located on the side you needed to turn to, if the driving got complicated.

Cousin had his dad's WC Allis equipped with a hand clutch.

The JD Jump-Jumps had a long clutch lever throw and a ship type steering wheel without the variable ratio steering they used to have with the older series. But they had better brakes you could stand on if you had to.

Even at age 12, I had a hard time reaching the clutch on an Farmall Regular, and forget about those hand brakes.

And you did not have to sit up high like a crow on a telephone pole like the JDs, Farmall H, M. Of course you ate more dirt sitting lower!

My 8 year old sister piloted the Case while dad and I were in the hay wagon with a rope to the clutch, just in case she did not hear dad yell whoa....ah those memorys! Leo

Yep on all Counts ,,. I pulled 2-16s behind the DC Case, i was maybe 12 , put it in 2nd gear and
pulled the trip , that
ol gent would plow forever. Btw ,, the hand clutch lever was engaged by my foot most times.

used the hand clutch on a John Deere A cause I couldn't reach the pedal. Mostly learned on a Massey Ferguson 35, had to stand up, one of the transition ones with the scalloped hood. Was eventually allowed to drive that one by myself without anyone around in low gear, and one day I shifted to high and WOW, I was flying!

A friend of mine and I went out to help his dad pick up some hay. He put his daughter in the Chevy to drive for us. She kept killing the 4 speed truck,I told Bud to put it in 4 wheel drive and low range,he scratched his head and decided that might work. End of the herky jerky!