Do you remember your FIRST?

Tractor build that is...  

I remember when my Dad got his first riding mower. I was probably 9 years old or so. When he bought a new mower, he gave me the old one. I was really excited about it. I was maybe 12 or so by then. We lived on 3 acres and had access to a big forested area that was family property. Hills and a creek, everything one would need for an ‘off yard’ tractor. So, I stripped off all the stuff related to mowing grass and painted MY new tractor. Enamel and a brush of course. I rode that thing all over, had a hoot. I don’t remember what brand it was or much about it now. That would have been about 1959 or 60. I do remember it was green.

This is a ‘59 Springfield, it sure looks familiar. Maybe it was a few years later than I thought.




Do you remember your first?

I was about 7-8 years old back in the early 80's.  My parents bought a 75 Sears Suburban ST/16 same year I was born.  When My dad took the mower deck off to garden, he would let me drive it around.  I would take the thing all over the yard and try to go through mud puddles.  It was a blast.  About the same time, my dad flipped it off the back of the pickup and busted the nose cone off. (Also the beginning of some engine issues for the 16hp Techumseh in it.)  That didn't matter, it was still a blast.
Fast forward to about 5-6 years ago, I was able to get it's rotting carcass and did a resto-mod to it.  I cleaned up the chassis, repainted and repowered with a 13HP engine.  Still going strong today.

White Lightning is my first build and the first I’ve owned, but the first tractor I ever drove was a long time ago when I was knee high to a grasshopper. My grandfather had a ‘59 John Deere 2520 and I used to steer while he changed gears. Not a lawn tractor but that was a cool old machine. He repainted it and sold it due to lack of use about 3 years ago. Emotional time for sure. I don’t have any pictures of his, but here is one that is identical in specs, except his was a gas.

Oh yes! I'll never forget my OG build. I still own her! I will have owned her for 4 years in September. Here she is a little after I got her. I pulled the deck and a few other related parts off at this point. She was a free hydrostatic Murray Widebody BTW.



This is her about 10 months later I believe. I had finished the mods about 2 months prior.



A few months later I tore it down to frame to take the whole build up a notch. Well it sat around as I was building the MM during that time. I later would put it back together to a degree and then let it sit around for another 6 months. I then tore it down again and actually did some work when I entered it in the last BO. I then dropped out as I was not going to be able finish it in time. Well it's now been in pieces in the same spot for a year now which is the pic below.



Eventually I'm gonna pull it back out and go ham on it. But the MM is my test guinea pig for it so that's priority. If anyone who hasn't seen this build wants to see more of the build it's the first link in my signature 'Ole Blue'.

Neat, now I’m off to read Ole Blue. You MUST put her back together. At least the carcass parts are organized.

Nevadablue wrote:

Neat, now I’m off to read Ole Blue. You MUST put her back together. At least the carcass parts are organized.

Oh trust me, I won't let her rot away! Might be a little while before I start wrenching on her again but she'll come back better than ever. Guaranteed!