I'm kinda a strange duck about a few things. After I did my first enlistment in the army and started college I was walking through the park after class and saw a bunch of guys in armor beating each other with sticks. I thought it looked like fun so they armored me up and then some old fat guy proceeded to beat me to a pulp. So what did I do? I kept going back until he couldn't beat me anymore and then continued going back until I was in fact the old fat guy.
I should have seen that one coming I think.
By the same token I should have seen this latest development coming too when I decided to move into the world of old, small tractors and implements. It's a world in and of itself and there is in fact a learning curve to deal with among other obstacles.
There are literally millions of different agricultural implements out there and so many different types of hook ups, PTO shafts, hitch pin combinations, PTO speeds and horse power considerations it's damned near a full time job to keep up with them.
The problem is you almost have to learn all of this to find the gems among the trash if you are trying to build a mid 1900's small tractor operation.
Besides being rather stubborn into the realm of stupidity at times I also don't like wasting too much time on small payouts or passing up an opportunity. I kept looking and poking into various locations searching for one implement or another and would come across something unexpected. By the time I looked up at one point I had three brush hogs, two tillers, and two rakes setting here this Summer.
I was kinda amazed at what a little research, elbow grease and repair ability brought. I fixed or repaired these old implements, found out what conditions or shafts etc. they were actually designed to be used with and resold them. This is turn completely funded the acquisition of the implements I was planning on keeping and allowed me to build my entire hay baling setup in only a few months.
In fact I have to say this resale of old equipment proved so lucrative I quickly moved up to small tractors a time or two. I purchased a little diesel number not long ago that the sellers said wouldn't run and it turned out all that was wrong with it was a dead battery and a stuck glow plug that had burned out.
Sure I am gambling that even in a collapse scenario that some fuel will still be available to continue operating these tractors and implements. Even if it is not though I have been gaining some valuable skills on all the different flavors and ways they are put together and more importantly financing my continued Homesteading and implement buying hobby.
There actually is a high demand for these old tractors and implements and it was well worth my time to learn the basics in this case. Of course one thing I have learned is that no matter how much I htink I know there is always something different I didn't expect.
Keep Prepping Everyone!!!!!
That last sentence is so, so true. I do have to say, that I think the tractor implement business a better one that the armor and sticks one. More useful and you'll probably live longer.
ReplyDeleteLeigh - Well at the time beating guys with sticks had a pretty high girl groupie payoff that was worth a lot to me then :)
DeleteI don't see old tractors and implements bring that particular benefit tot he table though.
Learning about old tractors and their parts sound very interesting, and in another life I would probably have a go at doing so. But I also fancy ploughing with a horse, again that would be in another life. But I don't think I would do guys and sticks, unless I was born a man, and there were girls around who I needed to impress.
ReplyDeleteVera - Well in all honesty I didn't start cause of the girls back then. It took about a year of practice before I got good enough to discover there were in fact tourny groupies :)
DeleteI thought about the plow horse route then decided against it because of the fodder issue. With the diesel tractor I think I can keep it fueled indefinitely at least to some extent even in a grid down situation.
I have only progressed to one tractor that will drag a plow and small disc that I made 3pt from horse equipment, sometimes it all works. Between the tractor, tiller and chain saw, I think I could get by on about 20 gallons of fuel if I did only what I had to. If the EPA could be eliminated there would be more regional refineries and eliminate so much transportation. Centralization has really hurt us in so many ways over the last century but it was necessary for a small group to control the country. Anyway you really have to learn all about what you want to do whether it is tractors or anything else. One of the main reasons is so that you won't listen to all of the experts who say you can't do what ever it is, there are always who will tell you something can't be done. The key to success is the ability to ignore them.
ReplyDeleteWhen they were teaching us to fight with bayonets (kind of ridiculous as the other guy will likely have bullets) I remember pissing them off by saying that I would be too tired from running to fight with a bayonet but seriously the order of fighting is bullets, running then bayonets. They call it pulling back to a stronger position when the officers do it.
Sf - I need to get a plow and disc next. I tried to buy an old converted one bottom plow the other day at an auction and it went for over 200 bucks. People want them as yard ornaments it seems.
DeleteI remember bayonet training. I had a tired that was full of water and when I butt stroked it in the groin it would splash dirty water all over me. The drill instructors laughed the bastards.
What was the beating with sticks called? Sounds like fun!
ReplyDeleteKev - It was an SCA chapter. Society for creative anachronism. They kinda roll play all eras of the dark and middle ages but use weapons made from rattan. I liked it because it was pretty much full contact no holds barred. I tried some live steel stuff later but felt too restrained by the rules so no one would get hurt.
DeleteIt was a lot of fun while I was young and could run and gun but an expensive hobby with all the traveling around it required.
Regarding old PTO driven accessories: Never, ever step over a spinning PTO shaft. Unless you want to be known as a Transgender person. Emergency rooms can vouch for this kind of accident......
ReplyDeleteAnon - No kidding. It's especially important if your using the old non-live PTO tractors where the PTO's have to be spinning in order for the hydraulics to lift. I usually try and use my 8N for non pto purposes and stick with the 861 for the pto driven stuff.
Deletein one of the older editions of 'backwoods home magazine' a fellow wrote an article on how smple it is to make your own gasoline. see if you can find it.
ReplyDeletei didn't understand a word of it but i'm sure you will.
there's your fuel for a breakdown of transport, and you can sell it to others or barter it.
the epa exists not to protect the land, air, and waters but to hector the innocent and poison them [indians in the southwest-- they are not helping those affected by the epa 'accident' at all] and to centralize all operations for ultimate control. may they all go to hell, and that soon!
DH - I will look into that. I know many people used the methane converters at times and diesel isn't that hard to make but I never though of trying gasoline. I have run straight alcohol a time or two but that will damage an engine quick. Would be a damned good skill/knowledge to have though so thanks for the heads up!!!
DeleteAre you talking about a wood gasification unit? With all the wood you burn to heat your home, this seems like a natural extention for a vehicle there.
DeleteMatt - From what little I understand of it I thought it was actually much easier to convert a gas engine over to methane than wood gasification. I could be totally wrong of course but I know several old timers around here converted their stuff over to methane during WWII. My grandfather told me about how they produced their own methane and that it took just a simple carburetor switch out on those early engines. He said they used to put the methane into an inner tube but they could only get a couple of gallons at best.
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