Posted by APB on SI [67.84.143.155] on Friday, March 29, 2013 at 15:12:11 :
The conversation down below about buzz-kill reminds me that this spring marks the 30th anniversary of an event that falls under the "I'm gonna fix her up someday" syndrome.
Thirty years ago this month, I attended a farm auction on Eastern Long Island and bought a nice 1940 Farmall "M". It had lousy tires, but a 3-point hitch and a PTO pulley. It needed some work, but had a nice modification to the front wide end. Someone had reversed the front axle and modified the steering linkages to shorten the wheel base.
The tires were "see throughs" and after a few joy rides around the block, one, then the other, rear tires blew out.
I had remembered seeing a pair of 38" tractor tires leaning up against a tree out in the middle of a horse field over on the mainland of Long Island. I drove over a few days later, knocked on the front door of the farm house, introduced myself, and asked if the tires were for sale. A nice white-haired lady said that her son needed them for a tractor he was restoring. I said goodbye, and ultimately bought two new tires from Scotty the Tire Man.
As I said, that was 30 years ago. The tires were still leaning against the tree as of yesterday.
Follow Ups: