Does anyone else's son not like this hobby?

[redtom]

I have 2 daughters and one son, in that order. My son is now 12 and he has always hated this hobby. When I was his age I would've rode a boat motor around the yard if I thought it would go. I did anything to ride or drive or fix an engine. I built stuff from wood too, mostly junk. My mom always made me help my dad which I never really liked cuz it was usually late at night and cold. He worked a LOT of hours. I didnt know it at the time but I was learning. Later on, I did more of the work-he was still on a lot of hours. We never farmed, we rented out, but he let me play around with various tractors we collected. Now, my son is 12, and he hates anything to do with engines or tractors. Let me point out, we are barely getting by money wise and buying a big project is out of the question. I have to work a lot of hours too with just enough time to get the minimum done and he does do sports-something I always hated. He's does computers and some games which we limit but, all kids do, and I'm not going to begrudge him that. In this day and age if you stifle computer growth you're only hurting your chance of advancement. Thats what I did in the 90's, hated and fought puters all the way and paid for it at my job when promotions came and I was PC retarded. I try to get him out with me but he really has no interest. Heck, i bought a quad last summer and saturday he said "you drive". What?! He does want a Willy's jeep to restore but funds are short. I thought he would be my tractor restoring partner but now I'm thinking of selling most of them off. He's real good with his hands and likes the building and mechanical type stuff but hates the outdoors and tractors. Does your son hate tractors?
 

[Bob Huntress]

My son has no use for tractors, either. Years gone by my wife bought him a mini bike, and he never rode, till one day his friends asked him to. He rode that one time, and that was it. He can"t even change his own oil. My little girl has to do that for him, no kidding.
 

[Kow Farmer]

Mine has no interest in farming or tractors at all. It bothers me some too, but I can't live his life for him. Not all people have the same interests, even if it is your own family.
Kow Farmer (Kurt)
 

[Bill in IL]

Since money is tight could you trade a tractor for a willy's? They have belt pulley units and 3pt hitches for them too. It may be a way to get him interested in the tractor side of things.
 

[Will Herring]

I work with computers for a living, but old tractors are my favorite hobby. Go figure.
 

[Mark-Mi]

I raised 2 sons. Neither of them interested in old tractors or farming. Sometimes wonder where I went wrong. You will get used to it. Not everybody is alike. I dislike things they like to do. So I guess were even.
Both are doing good and have good jobs.
 

[Royse]

[Bob Huntress]

BTW, as long as he has solid marketable interest and plans toward that, I wouldn't worry much. It sounds like he does have skills and interests that are marketable, from what you post. He just doesn't like tractors.
 

[Ray]

I have 600 acres and a full line of like new equipment i got from my dad when he passed.I have a 28 year old son that doesn't want anything to do with it or the 10 collector tractors i've restored.I finally rented it out and sold the equipment because i couldn't find any help.I still mess with the antiques,he's still looking for a job.
 

[JD Seller]

I guess I am lucky. All four of my sons play around on machines and stuff. They like the farming bit as well. They realize that they are not going to be able to make a living by just farming. The youngest is the least interested in tractors but he is a speed freak right now. So it is 4 wheelers and motorcycles for the moment. The others where kind of that way when they where younger but now they play with the old iron as well.

They are not into the real old stuff. They like the 1960 and 1970 tractors. My taste has changed over the years as well. I only have 3 JD two cylinders anymore. I would not have them but they are family owned so that means a lot to me. Give me a good foot clutch and power steering any day. LOL
 

[Tom in TN]

We have three houses on our farm. My wife and I live in the old farmhouse. My son and his wife and four kids live in a large, modern house on the farm, and my daughter-in-law's mother lives in a cedar chalet.

If it doesn't have a keyboard and monitor on it, my fifteen year old grandson has no interest in it whatsoever. He's a really nice, really smart, really respectful boy, he just has no interest in anything related to farming. I have two horses - not interested. He has two dirt bikes - not interested. He has a great dog - not interested. We have guns and go hunting - not interested. He has a Wii and an Xbox 360 - very interested.

C'est la vie.

Tom in TN
 

[Fritz Maurer]

As parents we gotta do things we sometimes don't want to do. You're going to have to put the tractors on the back burner, and concentrate on his interests. Don't be disappointed because he doesn't share your hobby, he may take it the wrong way and think you're disappointed in HIM. Find out what he wants to do and throw as much coal on that fire as you can. Well, don't over do it. Just be there for him. That means find a clean sheet and cover up that motor you're working on, when your son needs you. Remember, the more time he spends with you, the less time he spends with the drug dealer and/or some promiscuous seventh-grader down the street. Plus, he will absorb your values so he will have the brains to avoid such people later on.
 

[Dean Olson]

As a kid I hated the old junk Dad had for us to use and work on. But he made us do it so we did. His reward for us working was to buy us sleds and motorcycles. Junk also, but we had the skills to keep them running.

The mechanical aptitude I gained from that made me a lot of money as a plumber. It has saved me countless thousand$ over the years on repairs to most anything as I didn't have to hire it out.

Fast forward 30 years I now collect antique tractors and implements to fix them up.

I forced my son to work around the acreage and run as a plumbing apprentice with me. He resented it and was the source of many a fight. Off topic but I never would have dreamed of fighting my father like my son fought me. Different times I guess.

He has very little mechanical aptitude and has no interest in it at all.

I lost that battle.

He is 21 & doing well in the animal sciences program at Texas A&M, and wants to be a Veterinarian.
 

[toolz]

I only have one child, a son, now 23. He was an absolute joy to raise, but never had an interest in any of my hobbies. I was never into sports, but he is tall, very athletic, and played them all. As he was growing up, I drag raced, boated, and played with tractors, but he had no desire for any of it. I even had a junior dragster bought for him when he was 12, and built a cool "66 belvedere for him when he was 15. Still nothing. We"ve always had a good relationship, but different interests. We did ride 4 wheelers together quite a bit. Always dreamed of my boy following my footsteps, and feel that I missed something, but who knows. Your son"s gonna make his own path, as mine did. I would have scripted it a little differently if I had a choice, but I"m also happy that he"s his own person.
 

[steve706]

I work on both tractors and airplanes and my son has no interest in either. On weekends when I'd be working on old ww2 p51 mustangs I would invite him to come a long and lend a hand but no interest. At home he has only driven a tractor once and he is now 18 getting ready for university so that part of childhood and growing up is gone.My daughter though was always there to fix something and would jump at the chance to blow snow but she to eventually will move on to university and out of the rural life. Even though neither had a interest in tractors they both have always been supportive of my hobby and that part makes me happy, unlike others in my household....