The rest of the (tractor) story

If you've been following my tractor stories thus far, I left off HERE, with a WC Allis sitting idle that I just couldn't sell because it had ties to my Uncle Leo. There's another thing Cliff mentioned today: my sister's late husband was the one who restored the fenders on the tractor. With so much family poured into the WC, and with my name on it, how could we let it go?



When Cliff mentioned a couple of weeks ago that we should sell the tractor, I reluctantly agreed. But only because my cousin Carolyn, Uncle Leo's oldest daughter, had e-mailed me some time ago saying that if we ever decided to sell that tractor, her son Brian would like first shot at it.

I let her know we were ready to sell, and very shortly she answered back saying Brian would take it.

He came today to pick it up. Cliff told him all about the peculiarities and eccentricities of the tractor.

So my dear departed Uncle Leo's grandson has the tractor now. It's still in the family. It looks like everybody is happy with the deal!

Brain handed us a check and left; when Cliff looked at the check later, he saw we'd been paid $300 more than we asked. Isn't that something?

Back to the tractor stories

Cliff had quite an adjustment to make, once I became a confirmed old-tractor addict. He'd spent his entire married life hearing me say, "We can't afford it." Now, suddenly, I was willing to beg, borrow or steal in order to get any old tractor that sounded like a good buy.

One time when we were visiting at my Uncle Leo's farm, we went moseying around the place peeking into all the outbuildings. In a dark section of his barn I spotted a tractor; I suppose it would be more accurate to say "part of a tractor".

"What kind of tractor is that?" I asked. "Does it run?"

Uncle Leo said it was a WC Allis that he'd bought for parts; his WD had needed a radiator, and buying the old WC was the cheapest way to get one.

"Is it for sale?"

Now at this point, Cliff was starting to squirm. He loves all tractors, but he had no desire for a WC Allis. It was one of those old relics that came in and took the place of horses, and it had absolutely no bells and whistles. The hand brake was impractical. This wasn't something Cliff would ever need or use. Honestly, it was junk. But much to his dismay, Uncle Leo gave us the tractor. Here he is with the old beast on the day we loaded it up and brought it home.
We checked the serial number on the frame and found out it was one of the first "styled" WC's made. A friend of Cliff's brother gave us another WC parts tractor; and honestly, there may have been more of that one in the finished project than Uncle Leo's. But the end product was a sight to behold, and became quite a conversation piece at tractor shows.
We won't even talk about how much time and money went into the tractor, although Cliff says he thinks it was less than he put into the Farmall H he and Arick restored. But remember, this wasn't a tractor Cliff even wanted. He did this one all for me.
The twins next door drove the WC in the Parade of Power at a nearby tractor show.

And then gas started going up, up, up. Our pickup gets about ten miles per gallon, and we really couldn't justify hauling tractors around the countryside for shows. The WC sat in a corner except for perhaps twice a year when Cliff would use it just to make sure it still worked.

Our interests changed. I started spending a lot of time on horseback, and the two of us rode the motorcycle for recreation.

But that WC reminded me of my favorite uncle, now deceased, and I wasn't about to let it go anywhere!

To be continued.

uncles and old tractors (part 1 of a continuing story)

First of all you have to realize that I wasn't a lovable kid. I was my mom's only baby (by birth). I was strong-willed and contrary. I never really learned how to deal with other kids, and I didn't have a lot of friends. Nor did I feel I needed them, to be honest.

But I did have a wonderful extended family. I had uncles and aunts and cousins who accepted me, just the way I was.

I hate to confess to having a favorite, but I did have one: My Uncle Leo.

He laughed at my silly jokes that nobody else saw humor in... like this one: "What does FORD stand for?"

"I don't know."

"Fix Or Repair Daily."

I remember Uncle Leo laughing a lot at that one. Of course we were riding in his Chevy at the time.

As a kid, I'd spend a week every summer at Grandma's house. This meant spending a couple of nights at Uncle Leo's and Aunt Mary's house, since they lived up the road about a quarter-mile. He had four children: Carolyn (who was born an adult at heart and didn't play with us kids much), Betty, Royce, and sweet little Linda.

I never had a lot of friends, but I had cousins who were stuck with me. And by George, all my aunts and uncles made sure they were nice to me.

Because of memories like these, we ended up with my Uncle Leo's old parts tractor, a WC Allis Chalmers that he bought because his WD Allis needed a radiator, and that was the cheapest way of getting it.

(To be continued.)