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Ol' Ready
To Run
(continued
from page 2)
We plowed, brush hogged, and
used "Ol ready to run" for all the usual tasks
assigned to a tractor, and was pleased with the
performance of the wheeled plow horse, until one
day when we had been working "Ol ready to run"
particularly hard and discovered that the thick
coat of paint the previous owner had applied to the
engine had an alternative and dubious purpose. It
seems that the paint covered up a major flaw in the
engine block. Apparently at some point in time
someone had failed to protect the coolant system of
the tractor with anti-freeze and extremely low
temperatures had froze the water in the block and
this ice expanded cracking the block. This defect
had been carefully patched with "Bondo" an auto
body repair compound, that is commonly applied as a
paste then allowed to dry to a very hard surface
than can be sanded down and painted over, never
leaving any tell tale signs of it's use. So
skillfully had this patch been applied that we
never noticed it's existence until that day that
"Ol ready to run" was hot from work and the patch
failed allowing coolant to gush forth from the
previously hidden crack in the engine
block.
Dad was devastated with the
apparent demise of "Ol ready to run,"this most
recent revelation of yet another undisclosed defect
in his dream tractor was the final straw.
Frustrated, he walked away leaving the wounded
beast in the field to it's own demise, a memorial
to his now dashed dreams of farming his little
corner of the Ozarks.
Several years have passed
since the summer of "Ol ready to run," those days
of operating a Ford N series tractor and my person
being compared to Oliver Wendell Douglas, now just
a fading memory. No actually I still haven't quite
got over being compared to that sitcom character,
but oh well such is life.
But the story of "Ol ready to
run" doesn't end here, on a sad note, but rather
like all good stories this one has a happy ending.
Dad did finally find a buyer
for "Ol ready to run" much to Mother's relief as
she no longer has to look at what promised to be a
permanent fixture out in the pasture. And recently
Dad did manage to find a replacement for "Ol ready
to run" reviving his dreams of small scale
farming.
A pretty little red, 3
cylinder diesel tractor, from Japan, has now become
part of their extended family, a tractor that is
actually ready to run and performs its assigned
duties above and beyond expectation. Dad is happy
with his new "horse," Mother is happy to have a
tractor that works and does not occupy some part of
their place as a non-operable museum relic, and all
of us "adult younguns" are happy to have a constant
supply of fresh vegetables from Dad's ample garden.
So all is well that ends well, as you can't beat a
story with a happy ending, well almost happy.
You see, Dad's new imported
tractor features controls and instructions labeled
in Japanese lettering, now if we could just
translate all the characters into English, we would
have it made.
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Stone
Creek Crossing
