Some old Photos for your enjoyment

[462]

I love the old tractors as well. Here is a 1942 Massey Harris I traded a boat for so I could have it for yard art. Sits right inside my gate.

On returning from Viet Nam I was stationed at the old George Air Force base, outside of Victorville, for 21-months, and for most of that time shared a house with two and sometime three other guys. The house was old, even for the time, and situated on a dirt road. Now, if you substitute that tractor for a clapped-out '55 Chevy and eliminate the weeds that surround it, the picture would just about duplicate it.

A lot of weird stuff happened at that old dump, like a housemate who decided it would be fun to chase Rommel in his '61 Thunderbird. He invited me along and we bounced over some rises and down the other sides till the car became stuck in the sand. It was still there a year later. Then there was the time I stepped out the front door just as the guy standing on the porch took a shot at a roadrunner with his 1911. My ears were still ringing the next morning when I had to take my discharge hearing test.

 

[glassparman]

Yep, the houses are still there. It's a civilian depot and desert aircraft storage facility now and the houses are empty and falling down. Adelanto is about 70 miles east of here. I'm just south of the town of Mojave

 

[Rockydoc]

Rabbit Hunt 1920s.

They are pretty dressed up to go hunting. The British gentlemen dress in “sporting clothes “ with jacket and tie for shoots, but that is a very different deal.

 

[462]

Yep, the houses are still there. It's a civilian depot and desert aircraft storage facility now and the houses are empty and falling down. Adelanto is about 70 miles east of here. I'm just south of the town of Mojave

The house was off base. Three bedrooms and rent was $90 a month. I used to frequent a beer joint in Adelanto, think it was called Ray's.

 

[Bret4207]

I love the old tractors as well. Here is a 1942 Massey Harris I traded a boat for so I could have it for yard art. Sits right inside my gate.

I have to thank you! Until your post it had never occurred to me that my non-running broken farm equipment that my wife dislikes is actually "YARD ART"!!!!! You have just given me new ammunition in my fight against scrapping my stuff just because it hasn't moved in 10 or 15 years!

 

[Mitty38]

We had a fellow at the Sportsman's club. Always wore a tie when shooting, or hunting. Died at 98 two years ago. No one ever asked him why. So I guess the reason died with him. One of his ties hangs in our club house.

 

[Jeff H]

You like steam tractors? Eaton, OH, as an extremely large steam tractor show and pull every May/June. Even in the 1950's they were heavily used by the tobacco farmers for sterilizing beds, so you would see them going down the roads every spring.

Steam tractors and threshing machines in Ohio...

This is second-hand information, but my mother had described to me how the thresher would go from farm to farm and all the local farmers would follow and help at each farm until all was complete. The wife of the farmer who's fields were being threshed was responsible for feeding the crew. You can imagine the gossip which may have traveled around the Township or County with that crew, as well as the appetites. Some men were well known for one or both.

One evening, my grandmother was proactive and sought out the crew due at her farm the next morning and asked how many pancakes each fella could eat and one said "ooooh, ten or twelve." She was astounded and miffed at the greed and gluttony of a single "hand," but tallied and kept her opinion to herself. The next morning, that particular farmer found out that grandma's pancakes were the size of her biggest skillet! He was used to "dollar-sized" pancakes.

 

[358156 hp]

I have to thank you! Until your post it had never occurred to me that my non-running broken farm equipment that my wife dislikes is actually "YARD ART"!!!!! You have just given me new ammunition in my fight against scrapping my stuff just because it hasn't moved in 10 or 15 years!

Bret is a trendsetter, and didn't even realize it

 

[StrawHat]

That is neat. But I can see how it'd be a pain to transport to shows/events.

I did some modification to a furniture dolly. The legs of the base would set into 4 holes I bored in the correct spots. A ratchet strap held it in place. A ramp to roll it into my van.


Pop taught me, “work smart, not hard”

Kevin

 

[JonB]

I love the old tractors as well. Here is a 1942 Massey Harris I traded a boat for so I could have it for yard art. Sits right inside my gate.

During the 2008 (peak of scrap metals prices), a buddy of mine was clearing/selling his father's old farm Iron from a 100 acre grove. There were 3 or 4 old tractors that got sold/hauled away. I told my buddy I wanted one of them, for Lawn art, a neat display on the corner of my City lot. This Massey is the one I wanted. He said I could have it for the price of scrap ($800), plus I had to haul it out on my own, which would have been $200-300. I struggled with that $1K decision and decided it was foolish, and would have likely got me into hot water with the City. I settled with a nice small fieldstone pile display and rhubarb planting.

 

[Pressman]

JonB, that is an Oliver. You made the correct choice to not get it. Massy Harris is the only true red tractor. That other brand is an imposter.

Ken

 

[JonB]

JonB, that is an Oliver. You made the correct choice to not get it. Massy Harris is the only true red tractor. That other brand is an imposter.

Ken

Oh? good to know.
There were some yellow ones in that grove as well, but I never got photos of those.

 

[Bret4207]

Olivers and Deere are green, Massey, IHC, Cockshutt/Co-Op were red, Allis and older Case were orange, Minneapolis-Moline were yellow, early Fords and Fergusons were grey. In later years there were variations and multi-colors added. In the end they're all sort a rust color...

 

[PED1945]

They are pretty dressed up to go hunting. The British gentlemen dress in “sporting clothes “ with jacket and tie for shoots, but that is a very different deal.

 

[PED1945]

Hunting in Britain and Europe was a classy pastime. I have a Waffen Franconia catalog from 1959 which shows hunters all decked out with jackets and ties and driving Porsches.

 

[Rockydoc]

International Harvester Farmall tractors were red. I don’t know if they qualify as a “true red tractor “ or not. I am not sure what that even means.

 

[Missionary]

First tractor I drove on my own was a 1928 Oliver hand crank start. I had to stand up to get the beast to turn as a 12 year old. Had sassafras brush guards to keep the floor board clean for brush busting making trails through the scrub.
Yea I got flipped by that crank first time pulling it over. Owner thought it was real funny.

 

[popper]

Like cranking a model A. Don't set the spark right and you could get hurt.

 

[462]

Back in the States, my squadron used a Ford tractor to haul the munitions trailer round the flightline. It was a tricycle type with a between-the-legs gear shift, hand throttle, and foot pedals for the clutch and brake.
As the saying goes: it'd turn on a dime and give you nine-cents change.
Can't readily find a picture to copy.

 

[Mitty38]

Learned to drive on a 1932 Silver King. Still have it it still runs.Although it is in pieces right now.
This a shame the cans rusted off the pipes on that Oliver. It would be revivable.