A Man and His Tractor

My dad doesn’t have that many hobbies. Sure, he occasionally goes golfing and once a year or so he’ll go to a dirt-track race on a Saturday night with my cousin. And every week he’ll get his guitar out on Sunday mornings and sing.
Usually he’s so tired after working on the farm all day that he likes to sit in his chair and eat ice cream and go to bed early. Every night.  No time for hobbies for this busy guy!

But there is one past-time that he is religious about. And that is tractor restoration. He is either working on a tractor or looking for a tractor all the time.
Three weeks ago he sold his latest restoration–an 8N Ford from the 1950s–and I knew it was only a matter of time ’til he found another.

And sure enough, he found this gem–a Ford 3000 tractor–in a field a couple of weeks ago. Its had a hard life sitting (and rotting) in a field for who knows how long and Dad even had to get a new starter and battery for it just to move it to the farm. But he says it’s a diamond in the rough. He says it’s a high-powered diesel tractor that can handle anything our farm can throw at it {which, honestly, is just a little plowing and taking kids on a bazillion hayrides each year}. And I believe him.

He started taking it apart earlier this week and ordering parts that needed to be replaced. He actually found the date it was manufactured through the serial number and even though the date is incredibly creepy (June 6, 1966; uhm, YEAH, 6/6/66) it’s also incredibly cool that they kept that good of records in a time where there were no computers.
After he gets all the parts off that he needs to, he’ll sandblast, repaint, and put all the parts back in where they belong. It’s a tedious and meticulous task to restore tractors and my dad loves every minute of this very hot and very sweaty hobby.
I’ll keep you updated on the progress of the tractor. His goal is to have in working order by Thanksgiving, if not sooner.

Oh and just so you know, there are tinsel lights in the garage because this is where the Christmas tree farm gift shop is every year, not because it’s party central–haha.

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