Tractor Trivia January 19
The Thrill of Victory and the Agony of Defeat.
By Auctioneer Eric Mickelson
When I was a kid the TV show The Wide World of Sports was on every Saturday. The first episode aired on April 29, 1961. In the famous intro besides seeing Soviet weightlifter, Vassily Alexia, lifting a huge amount of weight, probably the most memorable scene was a ski jumper falling on approach and flying through the air before bouncing on the snow covered ground. The skier’s name was Vinko Bogataj. He was competing for Yugoslavia in a 1970 ski jumping championship. If you remember the narrator of the show’s intro, Jim McKay, uttered the words “The thrill of victory and the agony of defeat…”, as the skier fell to the ground.
Let’s get back to tractors! The threats of blizzards and cold reminded me of a few stories. Nowadays there is less need for the daily chores of the typical farm of years gone by. When I was growing up, after the morning milking dad would clean the barn, then spread manure, and finally drive to the nearest haystack to load enough hay for the next day or so. This daily ritual required a tractor that would start in the winter without the use of an electric block heater. Our dairy barn was built with a unique feature. It had ten foot ceilings and doors so the tractor could be parked inside with the cows where the temperature was above freezing.
One of the many tractors that took a turn inside that barn was our 1949 R John Deere. On one normal day of chores dad pulled into the field with that R on eyed the winter’s deep snow. Farmer Mick and his trusty R issued a challenge to the snow covered hay meadow. “Can you stop us before we reach the stack?” To give the snow a chance dad left the R in road gear, and NO, the R would not be stopped. Although snow was accumulating in front of the tractor and pushing as high as the grill, they reached the stack!
But for every success story in the battle against Mother Nature, there are some not so successful ones. Our driveway was always a challenge in the winter, and still is! I remember on another cold winter day following a blizzard, the driveway was solidly drifted. There was an especially large drift at the edge of the yard near what we called the west barn. After carefully surveying the situation, Farmer Mick again issued a challenge to the driveway. The 4010 John tractor was backed up as far as it could be from the BIG drift. Pointing west, like Babe Ruth pointing to the outfield, the 4010 with Farmer Mick on board zoomed straight ahead, in road gear! Mom and I waited in suspense then the 4010 and Farmer Mick disappeared in a cloud of snow…….this time the drift won the battle. We grabbed our scoop shovels and started clearing the snow from under the 4010……...Like I said sometimes it’s the thrill of victory and sometimes it is the agony of defeat!
How about a little tractor trivia!
1. What model was John Deere’s first diesel?
2. The model R John Deere tractor was manufactured from 1949- _______?
A) 1951 B) 1952 C) 1953 D) 1954
3. In 1960, John Deere introduced the 4010. How many cylinders did it have?
4. In 1961, John Deere introduced the 3010 How many cylinders did it have?
5. In 1959, in Marshalltown, Iowa, what 4 wheel drive was unveiled?
Answers 1. The Model R 2. D. 1954 3. 6 cylinders 4. 4 cylinders 5. The 8010
Eric Mickelson
Green Magazine
RIchard's Publishing
Oklee, MN 56742
218-791-9157