Go to just about any farm, any where, and I'll bet you'll find an old tractor (or 2 or 4 or more) bidding time by the barn or forgotten field. This one was trying to hide in the grass at Jim's brother's place.
There's just something about a tractor that makes it hard for a farmer to let go of, even if the tractor is past its prime or flat out doesn't run.
I have to contemplate this: could it be that a farmer's tractor becomes like a beloved friend? After all, think of all that the two go through over the course of a career. Weather.Bugs.Bumper Yields. Drought. Bugs.Famine.Floods. Bugs.Breakdowns (from both parties).
I mow on an ancient Kuboda. When it gets tired, it coughs and spits a bit, then faints from a choking attack. There's nothing to do but get off the thing and let it rest. Yet I prefer it over our zero turn XMark.
Go figure. (hint: I need the breaks as much as the Kuboda!)
Yeah. I get it now. Tractors may not appear to have personalities like Old Nellie or Trigger, or Sparky, but really, they do. Becoming One With the Tractor is like having a business partner; the business being growing food. And when the machine has to be replaced by a newer, more efficient model, well...I can relate.
Marcheta *peddle to the metal
Well said. But even more than this is a connection with heritage. "My Dad used" or "I used to help Grandpa" on.....More and more are being lovingly restored. There is a respect for the machine that one never has with an automobile. Old tractors pop up on T-Shirts, magazines, replicas, funeral caskets, etc. They are a connection that never die.
ReplyDeleteThanks for this insight! Farm machinery, to me at least, are works of art...in more ways than one. My husband's father was on his tractor until we had to take his wheels away because he kept falling off. That is when I realized how much farmers love their tractors. :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for posting.
Marcheta