Re: NOSTALGIA

Posted by Lyle (sask) on March 26, 2003 at 09:39:27 from (207.195.115.126):

In Reply to: NOSTALGIA posted by 70D on March 25, 2003 at 16:09:59:

First, thanks for this post, it's been great reading...

I grew up on a farm, and still think of it as my first career. I probably started driving tractors in about 1973, and moved off the farm to go to college in 1983.

My dad ran a mixed grain and cattle farm in the Canadian Praire.

Our big tractor was always a JD 4020 diesel, power shift, I'll never forget that tractor as it was made in 1965 (Same year I was born...)

We also had some helpers to the big tractor over the years, first a John Deere 60 low seat std.

Later a John Deere R diesel with the gas starting motor.

Finally my dad picked up a 2nd 4020 (1966 with synchro transmission) and did all the farming for the last few years with the 2 4020's.

Everything from seeding, to summer fallow, to harvesting, to snow removal in the winter.

Some of my fondest memories were watching the 4020 grunt when you hit the field in the spring with 24 ft of disc seeder to plant wheat. The discer had a fairly large seed and fertilizer box, and it was all the 4020 could pull if the ground was kinda wet, we used to run in 3rd gear with the button pulled out to rev the engine to about 2400 rpm. Dad had that 4020 pump turned up to put out about 120 HP. The tractor stood up well to that work (ok bit of abuse), but like anything I think the tractor was built to work hard, and always seemed to come back for more...

The most fun with the tractors was probably snow removal around the yard in the winter, some years we used a front blade on one of the 4020's, some years we used a JD 46A Front end loader with some snow bucket extensions that slipped on over the manure forks on the bucket. My dad also had an 8 ft Mckee 2 stage snow blower that mounted on the front of the tractor, and ran off of the front pto on the 4020's..

I just moved out to my acreage 2 years ago after spending 18 years in various cities, and realizing that my wife would unlimber the frying pan if I picked up a 4020 to mow the grass, I'm starting her off on getting used to my 1942 2N ford...

I have got my eye on a neighbour's JD60. He has the same model as my dad had, and the 60 was the first tractor I ever drove. I'm also considering trying to track down the exact tractor my dad had, though it was probably sold almost 20 years ago.

I also loved cutting and square baling hay during the summer using first the 60, and later the 4020's...

Starting and Driving the JD R was a wonderful experience, especially when we used it for harrowing in the spring. There is nothing to compare with an early morning ride up High on the R across a freshly seeded field with wildlife skittering around the countryside. The sound of the R as it chugged it's way up some of our steepest hills will be something I wish I could share with my kids some day ..

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