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What was the first tractor you remember driving on your own?

T

Tony Vidlak Sr.

Member
What was the first tractor you remember driving on your own? Mine was a 1923 Cletrac Track loader.Here's a picture of my friends Dad,Glenn Mohr of Bennington,Ne.Thats him standing on the tractor.The tractor is a 1926 Hart Parr,Glenns father purchased this tractor new and it was Glenns first that he operated on his own.This was at the Camp Creek Threshers show last summer in Waverly,Ne.Glenn is 83 years young in this picture.I think stories like this are just awesome.
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'47 BN, sittin' in my garage now. I got promoted to that when I was nine. I seem to recall LBJ was startin his full term that summer. Up till then, it was a Panzer mower, rugged little rig, cast grille, with a belt drivin a pulley turn a sawed off Plymouth rear end, about a 10-hoss briggs on it IIRC. Painted kind of an odd turquoise color. Gutsy, too. They had ag tires on it and until I got to move up to the real tractors, I got to mow and move empty hay and grain wagons with it.
 
My first was a model 50 John Deere. Purchased new by my grandfather just before I was born. Now sits here reminding me of a lot of memories of both my grandfather and father.
 
Neighbor's Farmall B. Dad borrowed it so I could rake hay while he ran the chopper with the Farmall H. I was 7 years old, and thought it was as good as life could get.
He rode one or two rounds with me, then put it in 2nd gear at about 1/3 throttle. The H was pulling a JD forage chopper in 1st gear, and was always about 50 feet behind and two windrows to my right.
The next summer, I got to cultivate corn with the H.
 
Dad's IH 1086. I was riding with my brother while summer fallowing, he moved out of the seat and said "take over." Had to learn sometime, I think I was around 8 or 9 years old. Was left alone in the field with a tractor at 10 years old, I think.

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fbwe-9VXxOc

I hope to be able to afford it someday to keep in my collection.
 
1960 Ford 861 with fwa and fel pulling two wagons from barnyard out onto the road. I was watching the wagons clear the bar way and ran into the mailbox on the other side of the road. I was 14 years old at the time. The fella I was working for thought that it was funny though.
 
Allis Chalmers D-14 purchased by my grandfather in 1960. Still have it in the shed and it runs great. Would really like to get it repainted soon.
 
1950 farmall C narrow front i was probably 10 at the time i thought id hit the big time then grandpa had a M too but i wasnt allowed on the "big" tractor untill i was 14 or so
 
1934 Case L on steel, pay was FIFTY Cents per hour, I was ten years old, This was in 1946, I have the tractor in my collection now.
 
A 1959 Massey Ferguson 50LP Row Crop. It was in 1973-74. I was about 5+ years old then. It was the last tractor my grand father bought new. I have it in our collection today completely restored. There are 4 generations of my family that have spent time on this tractor. I am 41 years this year. What a tractor in its day.
Marcus
 

Fordson F, don't know what year or what happened to is after Daddy sole it. I do have the tractor that replaced it, a 1942 Casc S.

KEH
 
1948 Allis B pulling the feed & water wagon to feed Dad's 2000 laying hens. Ran over a few feeders and water pails in the first few weeks, but eventually I learned. I still have the tractor that he bought new in 1948. It'll be the last one out of the barn when I'm gone.
Paul
 
1953 NAA Golden Jubilee Ford at 6 years old. Dad bought it new and the dealer delivered it and got it off the truck. Dad put me on it, put it in first gear and told me to take up behind the barn. I can still see that guy's jaw dropping!
 
I learned on an Allis Chalmers CA pulling a ground drive side delivery rake at ten years old. Then I used it a lot using the mechanical trip bucket equipped front end loader.
 
It was the old Farmall Cub, on the East or North side of the field, pulling a sort of home-made wagon with a few of my cousins in it. The adults around said just keep it in 1st gear & THIS SWITCH HERE SHUTS IT OFF IF ANYTHING GOES WRONG. Unfortunately that Cub hasn't been in our family since the 1960s & if it still exists it may be in the Twin Cities (MN) area. Mark SW Wis.
 
Ford 960. Dad brought it home from the auction, and I got to drive it up the driveway when I was 7. I didn't know the Ford 5 speed shifts unusually, as that's what I learned on. :)

Just used it today to disk a few cornstalks that need to go to beans yet.

--->Paul
 
when I was 4-5 yrs old ,I steered a SC case Straight thru the square bales ,down on the level Ohio River bottom fields .. was told where the kill switch was in caSE SOMEONE HOLLERED TO STOP,and not to touch anything else.So I guess the Case don't count .. When I went to 2nd grade , I was able profess to everyone that I could start the 35 Massey, back it out of the shed , and bring it up to Dad ...
 
1940 9N Ford that dad bought new. I don't remember what age I was when I first drove it but, I have a picture of dad holding me on his lap on the tractor when I was about a year old. I don't have the tractor but still have the cultivator that was attached to the tractor in that picture.
 
Grandpas 41 A when I was nine. In spring '42 at ten it wqas my job to pull the apple tree sprayer while my uncles sprayed. Would go to school full of lead arsenate spray. Henry
 
when i was 10 years old i was discing in the field on my own with a 1952 W6 mccormick pulling a 10 ft. JD disc.now if you sent your kids to do the same job you would most likely get reported for child abuse.and another thing is i had to start that tractor wih a hand crank.was that the good old days or what?even used to get stove boiled coffee in a pint jar later on.that combination was a taste of its own that you never forget.just talking the other day when mother was brewing coffee you could smell it across the yard.now a days you cant even smell it if your right in the house.
 
Farmall H. I was 8 and it was HUGE to me, even bigger than the Allis C and that was pretty good sized to me at the time. Yep, a couple of real monsters back then. Chuckle.

Then again, that fella that rumbled up to the 5 and dime gas station on his Advanced steamer when I was walking out with a bag of candy, now that was a monster, truly a real monster bigger than anything we had. I figure I was about 4 or so and didn't quit runnin until I got home. Dropped the candy, through the barbed wire, through the thickets, through the corn, all the way home. Sure wish I had that thing now that I know that it wasn't the fire breathing devil come to take me away. Sure didn't resemble any H or C or anything I'd ever seen up till then. Grin.

Mark
 
52 JD R, Dad said that the only way you could fall off was back wards, and just grab the clutch lever on the way off and it would stop, lucky we had mostly level ground!
 
My very first was an old black Craftsman riding mower with a cast aluminum deck, I was about 10, then when I was about 12 I graduated to a 450D, which I still have today. My dad mounted an 8 ft. snow plow to the fast hitch and plowed our 3/10 mi. driveway in reverse. One day he made 2 piles of snow in the field, had me get on the tractor, showed me how to work everything and told me to drive around the piles and get used to using the left and right brakes.
What a memory.

Adrian
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9N. Dad bought it in 41. It was a dealer demonstrator and came with 5'4" Goble off set disc. He paid $395. I came in 42. When I was about 6 or 7, I would drive the 9N pulling a French Plow and a wood sled with dad handling the plow. I was not heavy enough to depress the clutch and had to pull up on the steering wheel to assist. Lost dad in 66. Still have the 9N, disc,and farm. Still use it but has been superseded by a JD2030.
 
The kind of stories that would have some government agency, such as CPS, knocking your door down now days. Dad farmed land away from home & we were there on day when his original plan was to go work a few hours while brother & I played, but decided the tractor needed some work before day was over. Since it was 2 or 3 miles back to the house & no adult around, he decided that I at the ripe old age of 5 or 6 could steer the F-20 back home. Put me in the seat, showed me the STOP and said he would follow & jump out & run up to stop me if needed. Well all went well till we got home. Then I hit STOP, but for whatever reason switched it back on, it popped, "neat" I thought...I guess, so I kept up the on/off routine until my mother in the yard thought I was going to run it up on the chicken house & turn it over on myself. Dad caught up & shut er down.......then caught all billy from mom for letting my drive the old F-20.
 
a 1945 John Deere B, when i was 10 or 11 yrs old raking hay. Still have that tractor in the barn. I should get it running again. Not a darn thing wrong with it other than a bad head gasket
 
I was around 5 and the first tractor I ever drove was a 110 John Deere Lawn Mower. When I was about 7 or 8 I graduated to a John Deere 530 and a 4020, and then to a 4030 and a 4230. We also had a 170 Allis that had a loader on it that we upgraded to a 175 Allis. Spent a lot of hours packing silage with it. And all before I was 10. :D Dandy Dave!
 
1979 John Deere 950, I was 8.

Dad bought the tractor new, about a week after I was born. Wish we still had it...
 
1939 oliver 70. Used to come home from 1st grade and follow dad around the field chopping corn until the wagon was full and then back up to the wagon and dad would hook up and away we would go to the silo. He would only let me use 1st gear and the ign switch to stop. Thought I was doing a hell of a job ED
 
'51 JD A
When I was 4 and 5 years old I'd stand in front of my Grandfather and steer (or so I thought). When I reached the grand age of 6, I was left by myself to drive it down the rows between the crates of potatoes while Dad and Grandfather loaded them onto the wagon. Couldn't wrestle the wheel around at the end of the rows - I'd yank that big old clutch handle back at the end of the rows and Dad would jump up and turn her around for the next row. Great memories!

I now have a '46 slant dash A that serves me just fine hauling hay wagons.
 
A 2N Ford to disk down 3a. of rye when I was 7. (got bored and did figure 8's all over)Grampa had tow show me how.............the second time!

My dad always talks about operating a Fordson when he was 12, and remembering how hot the seat got from the worm gear while disking
 
I drove our 1937 long frame John Deere B in 1943 pulling a hayrack and hay loader loading hay out in the field. It was sold, but I sure would like to find her.
 
Oliver 90. Possibly/probably an 80 before that but I don't remember - the clutch angle on the 80 was probably too difficult for me at the age of probably 7 or maybe 8.

The 90 was new about a month after I was born. I had to hold on to the steering wheel to be able to push on the clutch pedal, or jam myself against the front of the seat to get the leverage. That wasn't easy as the seat was the revolving type. Still got the tractor.

Regards, RAB
 
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