I have a 1952 Ferguson TO-30 tractor named Bessie the Tractor. I love that thing, although I abuse it to death as regular readers of this blog can attest. I belong to FENA, the Ferguson Enthusiasts of North America. I received an email from them a week or so ago saying that one of it's members had a 1951 TO-20 that he was giving away for free here in the Ocala area of Florida. It was disassembled and in boxes. Thinking this might be a fun winter project, I contacted him.
Now, I've said before that this is a small world, and posted here about all the people I've bumped into in this sparsely populated area. Well, I called Bob (with the TO-20). He asked where I lived.
"Eureka."
"Really? Where?"
"Not far behind the Kwik King." (Down here, everyone uses businesses as points of reference).
"I'm about a half a mile from you. I'm on the road before the Community Service Center."
So I arranged to go over to look at it. It was mostly all there, and with a lot of new parts. It seemed doable. I went home and went to see my next door neighbor, Denny. Denny and his friends are all retired, and they spend most every day working on various restoration projects. They're just finishing up two trucks, a '65 and a '66. Denny was a boiler maker and can fabricate and weld anything. Tas is a great mechanic and body man. Poor Boy is a mechanic, and a good one.
I asked Denny if I took this tractor if he'd help me fetch it. See, Denny has every type of tool and piece of equipment you can imagine. Sure, he said. Let's go over and see what it will take. Which is what we did. Denny decided that the small stuff would be easy, but we'd need his friend who has a bobcat to load the biggest piece, which was the back half of the tractor.
A tractor is really nothing more than an engine and transmission bolted together with wheels stuck on and a seat bolted on top. On the front half are the steering wheels, and on the back transmission half are the huge back wheels and PTO (power takeoff unit). The engine half was removed, and so the back half, with the huge wheels, would be difficult to move.
Denny, Poor Boy, and I went to get the small stuff. We'd need Jerry with the bobcat for the back half. Remember what I said about this place being small? Jerry lived next door to Bob! So we just walked next door to fetch Bob and the Bobcat. What happened next is in this video.
You're welcome.
Now, I've said before that this is a small world, and posted here about all the people I've bumped into in this sparsely populated area. Well, I called Bob (with the TO-20). He asked where I lived.
"Eureka."
"Really? Where?"
"Not far behind the Kwik King." (Down here, everyone uses businesses as points of reference).
"I'm about a half a mile from you. I'm on the road before the Community Service Center."
So I arranged to go over to look at it. It was mostly all there, and with a lot of new parts. It seemed doable. I went home and went to see my next door neighbor, Denny. Denny and his friends are all retired, and they spend most every day working on various restoration projects. They're just finishing up two trucks, a '65 and a '66. Denny was a boiler maker and can fabricate and weld anything. Tas is a great mechanic and body man. Poor Boy is a mechanic, and a good one.
I asked Denny if I took this tractor if he'd help me fetch it. See, Denny has every type of tool and piece of equipment you can imagine. Sure, he said. Let's go over and see what it will take. Which is what we did. Denny decided that the small stuff would be easy, but we'd need his friend who has a bobcat to load the biggest piece, which was the back half of the tractor.
A tractor is really nothing more than an engine and transmission bolted together with wheels stuck on and a seat bolted on top. On the front half are the steering wheels, and on the back transmission half are the huge back wheels and PTO (power takeoff unit). The engine half was removed, and so the back half, with the huge wheels, would be difficult to move.
Denny, Poor Boy, and I went to get the small stuff. We'd need Jerry with the bobcat for the back half. Remember what I said about this place being small? Jerry lived next door to Bob! So we just walked next door to fetch Bob and the Bobcat. What happened next is in this video.
You're welcome.
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