Name:
Robert
Join date:
1-10-2008
Member number:
8867
What city, and state, do you live in?
Raynham MA
Are you married?
No
Do you have any children?
No
Do you have any grandchildren?
No
What do you do to earn a living?
Disabled now, due to curvature of the spine and stomach ailments..was an auto parts counterman for over 20 years previously, also worked in a salvage yard..
How old are you?
58
Military service?
No
How did you come to join MTF?
Google Search, when looking for info on old Sears tractors..
What are your favorite forums and why?
Sears/Craftsman because I own Sears Suburbans--I also read most all of the other forums too.
What do you like most about MTF?
The variety of forums, not only just tractors but others regarding vehicles, house repair, garages, etc..
Please list your tractors and/or equipment:
6 Sears Suburbans, 4 of which are operational, one is lacking an engine right now, another SS-16 is just a parts chassis..also own a 1990's Yard-Man 20 HP lawn tractor. I have several push mowers, chain saws, leaf blower, weedeater, a small generator and a old Lincoln welder powered by a Onan 16 HP twin, which needs work still..
What is your favorite tractor or piece of equipment and why?
I like all my tractors, but the one I seem to be using most is a '67 Sears SS-12 "beater". I put an old 6 HP Briggs on, I use that one for all the yard mule chores like dragging logs, plowing snow, leaves and towing other dead machines around..
I have three others--one has a snowblower, another has a plow I made into a scoop/dump bucket and one I use just for mowing...I have difficulty swapping attachments around now, so I decided to have a tractor for each attachment..its a toss up though, keeping 4 tractors all running well is a chore in itself..
Is there a tractor or piece of equipment you'd love to own someday?
A full sized farm tractor with a front end loader, maybe a small backhoe or a Bobcat...whether I'll still be able to operate it is questionable..
Tell us some of the tasks you use your tractors and/or equipment for?
Mowing, plowing snow & leaves, firewood hauling and dragging trees, all the chores I couldn't do without them..
Could you describe your property for us?
1-3/4 acre lot, about half is wooded, the rest is lawn or driveway. The driveway is 110 feet long in 2 directions, "Y" shaped, so lots of area to clear snow from..
Is there something you'd love to build or restore someday?
If I were up to it, an old muscle car like the '69 GTO or '66 Buick Wildcat I had years ago or a '56 Chevy pickup I had in the 80's..
I always wanted to build a small log cabin in the woods someday..
Most memorable tractor moment?
When I was in vocational school shop class, I was told to fix an old Wheel Horse tractor...took me a few weeks to figure out why it wouldn't run--the points had a cam lobe that was keyed to the crankshaft and it was installed wrong, so the timing was way off.
I took it for a "test ride" one day when our usual teacher was out sick and we had a substitute teacher..
When I went to pull into the shop bay from the parking area, (after doing several wheelies!), the tractor suddenly lurched forward when I pushed the clutch in, the belt actually got tighter instead of slack, it had "jumped" under the idler pulley..
I tried my best to steer it between 2 cars on lifts at full speed, ended up bouncing it off both sides of the cars, then I hit a gunk tank that had a lot of tools on it, knocked it over, 5 gallons of gunk solvent and the tools all fell into the floor grate and landed 6 feet below the floor..
I got suspended from school for 3 days, we were not allowed to drive the things we repaired..the 2 cars belonged to teachers in other shops, they had the auto body shop repair the damage I did to them..
Earliest tractor memories ?
A neighbor left a 1960 Craftsman "sit down mower" out at the curb on trash day when I was 8 years old--the kind that had the looped handlebars instead of a steering wheel..
I pushed it home and my older brother got it running, but the crankshaft bearing was so loose under the flywheel the points couldn't stay adjusted and they got soaked with oil quickly--it threw a rod within a few days--another elderly neighbor helped me adapt an old "REO" engine from a reel type mower onto it using a jackshaft and pulleys..it had a 3.5 HP Tecumseh vertical shaft originally, the REO was horizontal shaft..it would go 20+ mph wide open!
One day I was riding it around a school parking lot just up the street from my house and a cop car came up behind me--they chased me, I hit a curb and flipped it over and ran off into the woods--the cops put it in the truck of their cruiser and took it to impound..
I got it back about a month later, but we moved shortly after that and it was stolen from my friends house before I could go get it....
Do you have any other hobbies or interests that you'd like to share with us?
Going to country & bluegrass concerts, fixing up old GM trucks, going through old junkyards, they are like museums to me..
What do the other people in your life think of your "tractor" hobby?
Most are OK with it--my parents used to groan every time I'd drag another tractor home, but they did say I could have had worse "habits"..some of my friends think having 6 or more tractors is a bit much, but they have their collectibles and I have mine!