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Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Goodbye to the yellow tractor

I was looking at craigslist one day and saw an ad for a 60hp diesel tractor with a front loader, and the price wanted - $500 - seemed too low.  I figured it was some sort of scam and didn't think too much of it, but curiousity and all that, and I called. 

The story was that a man had a working massey ferguson tractor and decided that he wanted a new front axle, and to rebuild the engine.  So he found another tractor with a front axle he thought would work, and removed a fuel injector for sizing purposes, and... well, that was it for this poor tractor. 

So I went over and picked it up one day from his wife, who'd divorced the fellow by that time -- starting projects and not finishing them is pretty unpopular with the wife, especially if this was the main tractor for their small horse farm, and she was glad to see it go.  I ended up picking up two front loader buckets, the front loader frame and hydraulic pump, the rear axle and assorted other parts and pieces and brought it over to my property, where it promptly became the project that I didn't work on, too. 



In total I'd guess it weighs about 12,000lbs in total; 1.5 diesel tractors.  We carefully picked up all of the pieces -- anything painted yellow went, and the cab, and the cab glass, and various lengths of tubing and air cleaners and all of the other parts. 


I'm glad that they brought a heavy-duty trailer to pick it up.  I think we're at the weight capacity today.

This fellow spotted the tractor from the highway as he drove by one day last spring.  I really didn't know how important highway visibility is for me, but every day I get reminded that it's a pretty efficient way to sell stuff.  No sign, no phone calls. 

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