EPISODE 809 1963 FARMALL TRACTOR TO THE RESCUE….APRIL 30, 2023
alan skeoch
april 30, 2023
Sometimes good things happen when least expected. Who could possibly expect
a tractor built in 1963, a Farmall Row Crop tractor. would be capable of rescue in
a sea of mud on a rainy day on April 30, 2023. The tractor is 60 years old. Long past her prime.
A large iron bin had been put in place for obsolete equipment. The scrap man waited.
This is a feel good story.
Sequence of events
1) A rain swept day with heavy fog. Lots of mud at the farm sale of
Elizabeth Kilner and her husband at their farm near Ballinafad, Ontario.
2) Among the farm equipment was the Row Crop Farmall Tractor which
had been repainted sometime in the past. It looked fine…better than fine.
3) Mechanic Bill Brooks pushed the ignition button and immediately The Farmalll began to OOMPA OOMPA THEN VAROOM.
Purred like a kitten.
“She’s been reliable ever since we bought her back in 1963….allways starts. It has a block heater for winter days.”
4) Auctioneer Doug Donaldson opened with his sales pitch. “Runs perfectly, who will give me $2,000…Start me then, your choice.”
Someone opened at $500 then the bidding got serious Jumped in $50 chunks…$100 chunks. Until finally I could not resist
and shouted a couple of bids. I bought her (You can only guess at the price..I am not telling you.)
5) Marjorie and Elizabeth were not too interested in what happened next. They talked about
cats and the forthcoming arrival of kittens. Woody showed no interest at all.
6) Then, a day later, Andrew Skeoch arrived to move the Farmall to our farm. The rain kept coming.
The field became a morass of mud in places.
7) Out of the fog and the rain came a farmer who was in trouble. His truck was stuck in
the mud. No one around but us and the Formal. “Could you drag me to the road.?”
And that was when the Farmall, at age 60, did an heroic thing by hauling his truck from
a muddy hole to 32 sideroad..
8) After that Andrew and the Farmall headed up the Fifth line bouncing from pot hole to pot hole. Rain kept coming but both Andrew and
the Farmall felt good