Ted in Sacramento
Member
First I want to say thanks to Yesterday’s Tractor for hosting the website and thanks to all who participate and share knowledge. I know it’s been said before but it is a tremendous help to the novice, which I still am after five years. I’ve purchased parts from folks who post and sell here; parts were shipped before money was received, where else would that happen? Tractor people are the best.
So here’s my tractor story. I watched this Case VAO sit in a field for years, at the time I didn’t know it was an orchard, for that matter I didn’t know it was a Case. I tried to purchase it from the owner but he always said it was recently rebuilt and he had paid two thousand for it and had to have one thousand as a fair price. Not to be the fool, and knowing it had not been started or moved, I always offered him two hundred as my best offer and as neighbors we parted in disagreement about the value. I had never examined the tractor, but had always made the glance each time I would pass and made the annual offer for about six years. My neighbor passed.
Some months later on my way home from work I saw the scrap man pulling the Case with a forklift. After some negotiation I bought the tractor for two hundred plus twenty extra for him to pull it to my house. That event in 2002 brought me to this website.
I grew up in Western Minnesota but not on a farm, the people and posts on this website helped me with each difficult step, from getting it unstuck to running perfect, and sheepishly I add informing me that you don’t shift these tractors. It was missing parts when I got it, but after finding a carb, a rotor, oil filter, plug wires, etc., I swear after sitting ten years it fired and ran on the second crank rotation, I guess maybe it was rebuilt. I always tried to return it to original parts, but loved it like it was and didn’t try to do a restoration.
I lived in city limits on 5 acres and used this VAO to pull a small trailer around and pick up after my wife’s continued tree butchering (trimming). I always complained but I’m quite sure she knew how much I love to drive that tractor. It was part of the family, everyone drove it, there is something about a tractor that makes people want to take it for a drive, and the look on their faces when the governor kicks in is priceless. It starts as if it is always running and you pull the switch and press the button just to have the noise. My proudest moment was when a neighbor asked me to pull his shiny 8N out of a field when it got stuck, no problemo, I think he was so embarrassed he forgot to reward me with the cold foaming beverage I so richly deserved.
I’ve moved to a mountainside in Northern California, don’t have a level space to drive on and with serious melancholy I’m forced to sell. If someone is interested in seeing pictures it’s on Ebay, Item number: 260140504191.
I haven’t posted here in a long time but stop by frequently to read about tractors, with my first interest being the VAO, I know I still will. I tried to keep this short, I could go on for pages, but the point is my thanks again to everyone who helped this city boy enjoy a fine Case tractor.
So here’s my tractor story. I watched this Case VAO sit in a field for years, at the time I didn’t know it was an orchard, for that matter I didn’t know it was a Case. I tried to purchase it from the owner but he always said it was recently rebuilt and he had paid two thousand for it and had to have one thousand as a fair price. Not to be the fool, and knowing it had not been started or moved, I always offered him two hundred as my best offer and as neighbors we parted in disagreement about the value. I had never examined the tractor, but had always made the glance each time I would pass and made the annual offer for about six years. My neighbor passed.
Some months later on my way home from work I saw the scrap man pulling the Case with a forklift. After some negotiation I bought the tractor for two hundred plus twenty extra for him to pull it to my house. That event in 2002 brought me to this website.
I grew up in Western Minnesota but not on a farm, the people and posts on this website helped me with each difficult step, from getting it unstuck to running perfect, and sheepishly I add informing me that you don’t shift these tractors. It was missing parts when I got it, but after finding a carb, a rotor, oil filter, plug wires, etc., I swear after sitting ten years it fired and ran on the second crank rotation, I guess maybe it was rebuilt. I always tried to return it to original parts, but loved it like it was and didn’t try to do a restoration.
I lived in city limits on 5 acres and used this VAO to pull a small trailer around and pick up after my wife’s continued tree butchering (trimming). I always complained but I’m quite sure she knew how much I love to drive that tractor. It was part of the family, everyone drove it, there is something about a tractor that makes people want to take it for a drive, and the look on their faces when the governor kicks in is priceless. It starts as if it is always running and you pull the switch and press the button just to have the noise. My proudest moment was when a neighbor asked me to pull his shiny 8N out of a field when it got stuck, no problemo, I think he was so embarrassed he forgot to reward me with the cold foaming beverage I so richly deserved.
I’ve moved to a mountainside in Northern California, don’t have a level space to drive on and with serious melancholy I’m forced to sell. If someone is interested in seeing pictures it’s on Ebay, Item number: 260140504191.
I haven’t posted here in a long time but stop by frequently to read about tractors, with my first interest being the VAO, I know I still will. I tried to keep this short, I could go on for pages, but the point is my thanks again to everyone who helped this city boy enjoy a fine Case tractor.