The search goes on

I count it a blessing that Cliff and I have not, to my knowledge, been covid-positive, not that we've been tested.  So many get tested and are positive even though they haven't a single symptom.  That's what confounds me about this virus; there are so many factors we don't know about or understand.  I decided Sunday to stay home from church rather than put people at risk, since  I'd been in huge crowds at the airports we went through going to and from Georgia; I'm sure there's a good chance that some in the crowd were carriers.  But when I don't go to church, the week just drags along.

Here's what we found out from our day of tractor-shopping:  Most tractor dealers have very little to sell right now, thanks to the pandemic.  One of the places we went had a used tractor that would have fit Cliff's needs, but we didn't get down there in time; someone else bought it.  Cliff would much rather buy a used tractor because it would save him some money, but everything is in short supply.  One thing we learned:  He can choose to buy a larger tractor than the model he has now, or he can buy a tractor with a cab on it the same size as his current one... but he can't have both features unless he comes across a decent used one.  The new ones aren't that much out of our price range, but it's too much.  We aren't borrowing money, as tempting as the dealers make it sound... zero interest, rebates... because we are on a fixed income and I don't want to cut things that close.  

Same size as our old one

Cliff took pictures yesterday of some more things he'll try to sell on Facebook Marketplace, Craigslist, and other online selling spots.  We'll try to get those listed this morning.  The John Deere salesman we talked to Monday offered us a decent trade-in price on Cliff's John Deere, simply because Cliff kept it in such good shape.  We saw has a cab tractor Cliff really likes, although it's the same size as our present John Deere; he wanted a larger one, but a cab adds $2,000 to the price, and that puts us over our limit.  He also looked at a new Kubota that's the size he wants, but has no cab.

He really wants a cab:  He'd have air conditioning in summer and heat in winter.  Since he's developed asthma in his old age,  that's something he needs.  For the last few years, just mowing the pasture has given him difficulty breathing for days afterward.  The cold winter air isn't good for him either.  We are at an age when we don't have that much time to do things we'd like to do, and when a senior citizen has a dream he can turn into reality, he'd better do it sooner rather than later.  

We really haven't settled on anything for certain, but we are circling the wagons.  I'll show you two we looked at:

The dealer had rented this slightly-used Kubota to a grain storage facility down the road 
from him.  He took us to to see it.  It's in our price range. 

To my Canadian reader who couldn't comment on my blog for years and now wonders why she can finally comment, there was a setting I had never noticed:  when I discovered it, it was set to only allow people with a Google account comment.  Once I changed that setting, all my readers could comment.  

Another reader commented that her son's father-in-law is an Allis Chalmers man:  Well, that's my favorite classic tractor because my uncles and one cousin had Allis Chalmers tractors when I was a kid visiting on their farms.  Cliff likes them too; we had one that was our main tractor for years.  Both kids learned to drive on it.  Now he seems to favor the Olivers, but he loves all the old tractors: they were simple to work on and built to last!  

Speaking of which, either today or tomorrow the 1855 Oliver will head for its new home in North Dakota.

Enjoy your day, dear readers.  I wish I could share our weather with you this week. 

It appears we'll be waiting awhile to find out who our President will be for the next four years... and that's all I'll say about that.

What a strange situation

My faithful readers know that around here, tractors are a big deal.  I won't even drive a tractor, but thanks to my husband's enthusiasm for them, I've learned to love the old antique and classic models myself:  You can drag an old, rusty Farmall with rotten tires that hasn't run in thirty years out of a weedy fence-row and, with the proper tools and knowledge, make it born-again; when that thought settled into my brain, I was hooked.

It is with surprise and a little sorrow that I now tell you that Cliff has lately sold every restored tractor on the place, including Big Ollie, the 1855, crowning glory of his collection.  He's also been selling various implements he doesn't need any more.  We may as well forget about the antique tractor club.  However, there is a method to my husband's madness.  Besides, when you get right down to the nitty gritty, the tractor hobby has been his, and I'm just an observer.  Ever since I told him to keep the money from any machinery and tractors he sold, it has truly been a self-supporting venture; this makes it none of my business what he does with his money.

He will often sell a tractor, then buy another one or two, but I thought the Oliver 1855 would be the last one he'd ever sell.  He priced it fairly high because he didn't really care whether he sold it or not; he likes the old monster.  We put ads on Craigslist and Facebook Marketplace, and listed it on a Facebook Oliver-and-White Tractor group.  A few people called and messaged about it, the kind of folks Cliff calls "lookie-loos":  They only call to talk about tractors; they might even come to look at the tractors, usually older men who remember one they grew up with, and they still love the rusty (or restored) beasts of yesterday's farms.  Cliff enjoys talking to them, but he knows from the git-go that they aren't buying anything.

Big Ollie hadn't been listed long when Cliff got a call from North Dakota; it was a man interested in the tractor... but who is going to travel from North Dakota to central Missouri to buy a big tractor like that?  We've never had any way to haul the beast ourselves, so we could only take it to nearby parades and tractor shows... by "close" I mean within 25 miles.  Have you ever traveled 25 miles on a tractor?  Take my word for it, it's a long, slow drive.  He used the tractor on occasion for mowing or plowing, because it isn't good to leave tractors parked too long.  It's a matter of "use it or lose it".

The guy from the north country wanted the tractor, but he also wanted a lower price; Cliff was not going to sell Ollie for any less that he was asking, but he came up with a compromise:  He would lower the price if he could keep the canopy and the weights that were on it.  The buyer was willing to do that.  He's finally found a trucker friend to haul it for him, and he'll be here this week sometime.

Cliff had me list the canopy in the online ads (the canopy is the thing overhead that shades the driver and also serves as roll-bar to it to keep him from getting smashed if the tractor rolls over on a hillside).  Getting the canopy off required some help from younger men, but they succeeded in their efforts.  He also had me list the weights.  Within 24 hours, all the stuff was sold to one buyer; after the buyer loaded the weights and canopy on a big trailer, Cliff showed him our one remaining classic tractor, the 550 Oliver.  This man liked it, had my husband put a price on it, and loaded it up with the rest of his purchases on the trailer; Cliff said the guy got it for his grandson.  

Oh, and Cliff made more money on the weights and canopy than he would have if the buyer of the 1855 had kept them.

So now Cliff isn't looking for another classic tractor, he's wanting a different farm tractor to use as his work-horse around here.  He really enjoys his little John Deere, but he's always wished he'd gotten one the next size bigger.  He'd like to find a used John Deere like that... the newer type of John Deere like he has now, made of plastic instead of iron, but bigger.  One of his friends told him to be sure to get one with a cab, but when Cliff puts his money together, I doubt he'd be able afford one with a cab; but we'll be looking around.  He will look at Kubotas, too, because they're good tractors.  We'll start at the dealers but no doubt end up buying something from an individual.    

Cliff says the search for a tractor is just as much fun as actually having one.

Just so you know, he does have two ratty old Olivers sitting in the wings that really need some TLC.  It isn't over till the fat lady sings.

And that's it for today.