How far have you gone
 

Just putting this out there to see & to start a conversation!!!



whats the farthest you guys have ever driven your garden tractor ? how many miles & for what purpose it was for ?



many years ago i had an old ford i drove down the mtn to our community country store (closed now) my intentions were to just to pick up some gas & maybe a bologna sandwich about 15 min in the trip i realized it was going to be a long one but figured id gone to far to turn back ! To make a long story short upon getting there i was nervous as a cat, the last 45 min or so worrying about the tank running dry or some unforeseen breakdown! I stepped off my tractor spent a few min stretching & filling my tank & lil gas jug, paid & went out & sit on a table they had under an old beech tree eating my sandwich & listening to my motor cool ! while a feeling of pride & accomplishment slowly replaced the nerves & stiffness (maybe it was the sandwich) After about an hr i was feeling pretty sure of myself & my trusty ole tractor i even went in & bought a pop for the road lol! LSs i proceeded home up the hill & never looked back ! with a feeling that my ole tractor could do anything if i just take care of it ! I guess that's the feeling i get today when i accomplish something & what keeps me interested in the whole garden tractor seen! Anyway enuff nostalgia i figured this would interest some of you guys & maybe get some of your stories as well ! Thanx for listening !

When I lived in town as a kid, I used to drive my Husky Bolens, then my Deere 210, then my 782, all around town within a couple of miles for mowing and snowplow jobs.

There is a guy in Ames, IA that has a 425 Deere and he drives all over town mowing yards and cleaning up leaves. He has a trailer for the hauling of his tools.

However, you have to be the longest drive I have heard of. You made me laugh at the comment about running out of gas. That is one heck of a drive!

Where we live it's a little community. Our house is on the main road but off the beaten path, so at Halloween we never get any kids at our house because it to far out of the way for them to come to. So this past halloween I took my "O" and the #2 cart and filled the cart full of candy and drove it all over out neighborhood so we could hand out candy. I even dressed up in my bib-overalls and IH gear to do it. I figured that my son (now 10) had been trick-or-treating from them for so many years it was time to give some candy back. I had at least a half a dozen people came up to me and say that their dad or grandpa used to have a tractor like that, I spent more time talking and letting kids sit on it and get picture's taken with it then driving. I guess in all I went about 4 miles. It sure put a smile on my face to see those kids looking at that tractor, make's all the work worth while. I had a guy come over to me and asked about the tractor, his grandpa had one and that's the tractor that he had learned to mow on. He started to tear up when he talked about his grandfather and the tactor. He said that I had made his day. I told him where I lived and he could come by anytime and mow my grass, he thought that was pretty funny. Here's a picture of it I took before I left, my wife took picture's of me driving it that day but they were erased somehow before I downloaded them to the computer. Anyway great stories and cool thread.:biggrin2.gif:

Awesome story....sounds like a great time to me.

The farthest I have gone is probably around the 3 mile mark ...my old neighbor had a JD 318 that was leaking oil from the front seal pretty bad.... I told him I'd pull the motor and fix it for him, but he insisted on taking it to the local JD dealer which is probably a tad over 1.5 miles from my house...He said he knows the owner..blah, blah...BUT the dealership wasn't able to come and get it for some reason. Anyhow, I offered to bring it there with my pickup for him, but just so happens the day we decided to bring it, my axle seal started leaking on my truck... I ended up dragging my neighbor on his 318 to the JD dealer with my Cub 1211. I felt kinda silly towing it all the way there..buit it was my last option to help this guy out..took time off of work to help him and everything! Should have seen the faces on the guys at the JD dealership when I pulled his 318 in there with my Cub..:biggrin2.gif:


If any of you have time to catch a great flick..check out this one..its about a guy driving a lawnmower across the country..great film!

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0166896/

heres the trailer http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8OnsVDKjhpc



Jeff (teet)

Well, it's not quite a garden tractor story, but it's a Cub Cadet big brother story and slower than a Cub Cadet. Someone asked me once if I wanted to cut a pasture down for them. I drove my '67 Cub Lo-Boy 3-4 miles one way including a steep 1 mile hill that I had to pull in 2nd. It took about 45 minutes one way, but with a tank full of gas and a reliable tractor, it was actually really enjoyable and worry free. I also drove it to a parade 5 miles away once. I'd never put the Cub Cadets on these main highways like that though.

That's a really good movie. Based off a true story. Makes me want to watch it again.

I know....really touching story. Very well done....now I gotta go find it again too..lol

Jeff (teet)

Now that would have been funny! that woulda been worth the trip just to see the jd dealers faces! lol! Can you imagine being a customer @ a jd store looking at a jd & seeing one pulled in with a cub! i would be like "grab the kids honey were going across the rd to the cub place" lol! thats funny!

It was a priceless moment , I'll tell you that! I happened to know the guys there as well, as I have picked up some Kohler parts from them over the years..great bunch of guys. They shook their heads and walked back into the shop...I made sure to pull the JD right by the front of the showroom on my way through the gate to the rear repair area. Definitely got a few looks from some customers....

The funniest part was...my neighbor was now a mile and a half from home, and I'll be danged if he's gonna sit on my lap while I drive him all the way home...he volunteered to walk.

Jeff (teet)

yeah now that woulda put some looks on some faces lol!

Great story Eric...thats what its all about..memories, and having a great time :)

Jeff (teet)

That's a funny story! My tractor place is a cub and a jd. Some guys love those green things but i love my cubs!

That was an awesome movie, I'd like to see it again, myself!

well last spring/summer I drove to Newfane, NY around Niagara Falls to get a 127. It was about a 7 hour one way drive and I dunno how many miles from southern WV. It was a great trip!!!

:biggrin2.gif: It would have been even better if you had brought a #1 cart along with ya and threw your neighbour in the cart to take him home! :LMAO1: That would have been a classic! :ThumbsUp:

That never even crossed my mind Mike...lol. Imagine that.... a Cub, towing a JD, with a IH trailer in tow at the end...:ROTF2:

It would look like one of those Australian road trains...:bigeyes:

Jeff (teet)

i a few times had to drive full size tractors from a dealer in Escanaba MI to our farm in Marquette MI, about 60 miles. I remember one time it was only 10 degrees out. I had 3 ski masks on ,snowmobile suit and boots. I would stop about every ten miles and warm my face and hands next to the motor and get going again. I was 14 at the time and thought it was great. I forgot all about that, until this thread. thanks for the memories reminder

Along the same lines, maybe 20 or so years ago I bought a Massy 510 combine @ an auction.
I drove it 43 miles home, with a 16' wide grain head,---- @ 12 MPH max speed.
Long ride, but uneventful thank goodness.
Another time, my son & I drove from Michigan to Boston, to pick up a vintage motorcycle, thank goodness it was @ highway speeds.

olGEORGE Ive spent some time on the road with a jd combine when i was younger 43 mls had to have sucked lol! i woulda fell asleep 4sure ! i guess if i had 2 of moved it with the head on it that would of been more than enough to keep me awake though lol!

What was worse,was my son was following me in the stake truck with a 6 row corn head, he sure was bored with only an am radio to keep him company.
But that is how memories are made:beerchug:

Back in college I worked for an IH dealer. They sent me down the road in a 1600 series combine, and were laughing at me as I left. I pulled into the yard (20 mile drive later), and the trade in was a nasty old model 403.

THat was a bad drive home!