Resurrecting a Farm Tractor
Larry comes to life when he adopts an old neglected vehicle that was abandoned
and forgotten in some barn or field or woods. He is happiest when he sets out to resurrect it.
There have been a few classic cars in his life before the classic tractor I'm about to tell you about, but none of those
old classics captivated him more than the 1973 Satoh S650G.
The old Satoh was parked out behind his uncle’s
barn and apparently had been there for many, many years. Tall shrubs and grass nearly hid the old tractor from
view. No one on the farm paid any mind to it -- it had a flat tire, bent axle, dents
on dents, and it smoked and choked and just was a piece of junk.
Old Tractor Surrounded by Tall Weeds and Left to Rot
But not to Larry. You see, he used to ride on that very tractor when he was a young boy and it was a good memory
for him. When Larry glanced over at the old tractor, he saw how beautiful it could be and he knew he had the know-how
to make it purr like a kitten.
The
Satoh haunted him for nearly a year before he made the decision to buy it at any cost and bring it home to roost. He came into the kitchen one evening and said, I bought you something!”
A Project Car Tractor Widow is Born
I’m thinking it was either a chocolate bar or a garden tool or maybe
even flowers so I smile and eagerly ask, “Oh, where is it? My nephew is hauling it over here tonight on his trailer,
he said, hardly able to contain himself. He then hugged me and said that I was the new proud owner of a farm tractor.
You’ll love it. It’s just the right size for you to handle. You
can start that truck garden and do landscaping and . . .then
he paused and said, But now I need to warn you, I have to do a few little things to it before you can use it. And those
words were the beginning of the project car mystery phase that many a project car widow understands completely.
It was while he worked on Susie, he named it after me, that I saw great
happiness and joy on his face, even if things weren’t going smoothly. Sure he’d rant and rave and cuss a storm
when a bolt broke – but he loved it – he loved the creative challenge of perfecting a machine he admired, respected
and loved. Larry worked on that old tractor every spare moment of every day for nearly six months.
Engine Purrs Like a Kitten for first time
Then, one morning, after he’d done some fine tuning on the engine, he
came upstairs to get me. You want to see something cute? he asked with a beaming smile.
I had no doubt I was about to see our beagle cuddled up with our kittens or
something close to that. We walked out on the deck and looked down into the yard and front drive area and he said, Look at
that! Isn’t that sweet? but I couldn’t see anything except his tractor.
What? I don’t see anything, I said, still pretty sure I just hadn’t
spotted the Beagle yet. Then he pointed to the exhaust stack on the Satoh tractor. Watch closely, he said, proudly. See the
flap? I could see by the gleam in his eye something wonderful had happened.
The tractor was running and the exhaust flap was popping up and then laying
down ever so smoothly, and slowly and it was making a soft sound as if it was breathing in its sleep plumff, plumff, plumff.
That soft action was what he wanted to show me.
The Project Car Renovator Achieves Satisfaction
To Larry, that will always be one of his treasured moments in time.
And I’ve concluded, that all project car men, and a few women too, work with true love on their chosen classic car or
truck or tractor for months, even years, just to achieve that moment in time when the flap on the exhaust on their restoration
says I love you too.
Man with Tractor Equals Woman with Garden.
And Larry is one happy man -- he has his very own farm tractor. And you know
the old saying: A man who owns a farm tractor eats more garden vegetables.
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
New Comment on Orange Vega Story
Fun to read these stories. The “millionth
Vega” pictured below was my first car in the late 70’s. My dad bought it new in 1973, when each Chevy dealer
was given one by Chevrolet, so there were quite a few of them, at least a few hundred, I suppose, all identically equipped,
with the door handle stickers and the white stripe.
As a high school geek in the late 70’s,
I was a little embarrassed about the BRIGHT orange color. It ended up (as did several other aluminum block Vegas) burning
almost as much oil as gas, and eventually threw a rod circa 1980.
This picture was actually taken after it stopped
running, when I had already swapped its cooler-looking-than-these wheels with its replacement – a ’74 Vega wagon!
(Two Vegas in a row; yeah, I suppose I really was a geek!) -- Randy
|
|
|
|
|
|
Enter content here
|
|
