Chapter Nine
WARNING: Contents may not be suitable for all audiences. Reader discretion is strongly advised.
It had been a long time since I had acquired a "new" old tractor. Consequently, it had been a long while since I had taken a trip to bring a "new" old tractor home to the farm and I was getting "the itch" so I decided to consult my "go to resource" to resolve these types of problems, ytmag.com . I got on the site and as I hadn't been there for quite a few days, because of that da** (darn) "honeydo list", I had many pages of photo ads to go through. Somewhere around page six or seven, I found a Farmall Super C. The photo showed the tractor in high weeds out behind a barn and although the weeds were fairly high, the tractor didn't look too bad. (I had learned by this time, not to rely on what you can see in one picture, but as I said, it did not look too bad.) The price was right but the best part of the deal was that the tractor was "available with a wide front at an additional charge or you could take it with the narrow front that was on it at present". I decided to email the fellow who listed the tractor and to get some more information.
A few days, then a week went by and I hadn't heard anything. Then, one day, there was an answer and this started a series of emails back and forth between me and the seller. Each time I would email him, it would take considerable time for him to get back to me and on several occasions, I figured that the deal had fallen through. We finally settled on a price for the tractor and then we started negotiating for the wide front end. Finally, it was agreed that I would take the tractor with the narrow front end that was on it AND I would get the wide front end for an additional, nominal fee. By the time we had everything finalized, a month and a half or so had passed. I sent a check and the seller told me that there was no hurry to come and pick the tractor up. Now, started phase two of "How To Buy An Old Tractor Here At The Farm", how to arrange a trip to the finger lakes region of New York State? HMMM. I guess I lead, or at least back then, I was leading a charmed life.
A week or so passed and my lovely wife came across an article about an instructional course called Women On Target which was put on by the National Rifle Association and which was to be held at a shooting range in Maryland. The object of the course was to instruct women in the proper way to shoot a handgun. Living with me for almost forty years, Jan was no stranger to firearms and was a pretty good shooter with both long guns and handguns but as the course was advertised for "women only, no husbands or boyfriends allowed", I guess the prospect of having a "girls only weekend" appealed to her so she called seven of her female friends and made arrangements "to go to the range". I was beside myself. Oh, what was I going to do all by myself, all weekend long, all alone......???
Oh wait, since I was going to be alone and since there would be nobody around to wave the "honeydo list" in front of me, I might as well make good use of this time and take a ride to New York to retrieve the Super C. I called New York and made arrangements. On the appointed Friday afternoon, Jan and most of her group of friends met and left for Maryland and I fueled the truck and hooked up to the trailer. Early on Saturday morning, I headed for New York. The trip was fairly uneventful. The finger lakes region of New York is absolutely beautiful with vineyard and wineries everywhere. (Note to self: Bring wife up here for a long weekend and do some wine tasting.)
I got to the appointed farm at mid morning, got my first real good look at the tractor and for the most point, was very satisfied. The tires were like new, it had a new battery, the tin was straight, it started right up and ran well. The only downside was the paint job. The farmer, a young fellow, said to me, "I painted it myself".....apparently with a brush and with a red paint that had, over time, faded to a pretty light pink. He explained that for many, many years, the farm grew sweet corn and that this little tractor was used for that purpose just about exclusively, plowing, disking, cultivating, etc.. When they gave up growing sweet corn and went on to raising other AG crops, the Super C sat idle and finally, he had decided that it was not needed anymore so.......
We loaded the tractor and then went into the barn to dig out the wide front end. It had apparently been in the barn for a while as the bolster was filled with black walnuts and hickory nuts which some squirrel, chipmunk or maybe a mouse, a very big mouse, had apparently stockpiled at some time in the past. We cleaned her out, loaded her up, I chained down and started for home.
The trip home was also uneventful but again, the scenery was really beautiful. (Note to self: Bring wife up here for a long weekend and do some wine tasting.) I got home in the afternoon and as I did not want this little tractor to spend one more day out in the weather, immediately unloaded her and found a nice warm place for her in the barn.
A few hours later, the little lady came home sporting a bunch of silhouette targets which she had shot over the weekend and explained to me that, "all of the shots were center mass". Oh, happy day! Everything was good for a few days then,.......it was not so good. I had run Rand McNally's map program on the computer and it seems that I had not deleted it so the little lady wanted to know, #1. "Why I had been looking at those directions. #2. "If I had gone to New York over the weekend." and #3. "If I had gone, What The He** (heck) For?" As I was formulating my answers to these perplexing questions, I quickly went around the house unloading several handguns which are always kept at various locations for security reasons.
Anyway, no animals (or humans) were hurt during the time that this all took place and because of her history, the Farmall Super C got named "Sweet Corn" and has lived here ever since.
(Note to self: #1. Do not leave any evidence,.... uh stuff on computer after you are done with it.
#2. Do not go to get tractor when wife is learning how to shoot better.
#3. Take wife up to finger lakes region of New York for a long weekend and do some wine tastings!)
(To be continued.....)