[MT127]

In 1997, my wife and I had just bought a bigger place and needed a mower/utility tractor. Being short on funds, the only thing I could find was a 127 that looked rode hard and put up wet. I knew tractors pretty well but was not familiar with CC other than on a passing level. One look at the differential, hydro, and overall construction convinced me that this was a substantial machine. I take it home (much to the dismay of my significant other who says - YOU PAID $500 for that ?) and went to work with it. I spent that first summer trying to kill it so I could justify a new tractor. When not mowing 2' pasture grass for days on end I'd pull a five foot drag harrow backwards against the angle of the tines, stacked up several railroad ties for bite to plow up tree rows and the arena - often in +100 degree temps. This went on for several years, all the time earning more and more respect from me and appreciation from my wife. After deciding I couldn't kill it and would probably never need another tractor this size I started to take better care of the poor old thing. All these years later, I still work the tick out of it and have only broken minor components like spindles and drive shaft keys - but now it gets to live in the garage with regular lubricant changes. So I guess I'm a partially reformed abuser, but a huge fan of older CC's.

If every thing was built like this you'd only need one car, one washing machine etc in a lifetime! Sorry for the long post but had to clear my guilty conscience.