When we first bought our house in Titusville I knew I would need a tractor to take care of the yard. I would need one with a mower, maybe some attachments like a snow blower or plow, and a hitch to pull a yard wagon. Of course, I couldn't make it simple and just go and buy a new, now never new, John Deere or some other mobile that all you needed to do was turn the key and go. Nope not me.
I started looking in the spring of 2018 and on May 6th Theresa and I made the trek out to Amish Country in Lancaster to pick up my 1984 Case 224 tractor. It had all I wanted and needed, and for $1,600 I thought it was a good deal. Theresa, chimed in, "What are you buying now?", just digging me for buying something else, that in the end, won't work.
I was happy as a clam with my new tractor. Soon after I got it home I couldn't wait to set it up and give it a go. I mowed the grass in no time. I had attachments. I was ready for big winters and snowfall. This snow blower could grind you up and probably throws snow 100 feet. Well, the problem is I've
never done anything with it. Why? Because the second time I went to mow the grass the engine blew. Theresa was right, and had all the ammo she needed. So the tractor sat from 2018 until two years ago. I found a guy in Pennsylvania, about 1-1/2 hours away that loved to work on tractors and lawn mowers. He had an engine for it and would swipe it out or rebuild the one that was blown. In the end he did
both. So I came home with a rebuilt end and a newer one under the hood. So I figured I was all set and went to driving my tractor. That lasted about a month before the thing wouldn't start. I put in a new plug and a starter and I was good to go until I wasn't. The tractor went back to sitting.
When the transfer case went in my 2002 Chevy Silverado I found a rebuilt one at Collis Truck Parts in Northampton, PA. I took the ride with my mother and purchased it for $1,600. It was really $1,400 but if you return the "core", the old one they give you $200 back. I was surprised that when I went out there I passed Mike's, the tractor guy, house. So I devised a plan. When, and if, I return the core I'll bring him the tractor for hopefully the final rebuild or whatever. It wouldn't make sense to return the core for $200, since it would cost me that in gas with a 2002 2500HD pick-up.
So yesterday was the day. Return the core. Get my $200. Drop off the tractor. And while out here, let me pass by Laura's house for a visit and take care of some boat business. I loaded everything up and grabbed the wife, who looked at the operation and said, "Oh, this doesn't look good". Before we left I grabbed a spare tire for the trailer and two jacks, hey, what could go wrong.
The trailer is a fine trailer. It was put together by my buddy Charlie "Bunky" Limpert. You know Charlie. Ex- Upper Delaware guide. Was my instructor at guide school. Was with me that December 4th, 2020 day when my 1995 square body GMC took a slide down off the ramp. It was Charlie who jumped in and tried to save the day. So this trailer was his but he couldn't take it with him last year when he headed back to Maine. It was the first time I used it since I got it.
About a mile from the tractor guys house white smoke started to pour out of the rear passenger side of my truck. I thought I had blown an engine. Luckily it was just a tire and this Boy and Girl Scout duo made quick work of changing it out. It wasn't Nascar pit-stop speed but it was pretty close.
So after that drop off it was off to Collis Truck Parts. If you're a truck guy, old and new, this is a slice of heaven. Hundreds of acres of trucks and truck parts. It's organized, computerized, and the staff below is very helpful and knowleageable. It may look a little Pennsyltucky, because, well it is.
Now $200 richer it was off to see Laura. "Hey, it must be close", yeah right. An hour and half later we were pulling into her driveway. It's been a bit since we've been out there and our favorite is spending the night, a few hours of a visit isn't enough. Besides wanting to see her I had some debt to settle up and I can embarrassingly say the note on the boat has been paid in full. Only took and extra few years.
While I was out there we again took a walk into the pole barn to see if there were more parts to the boat. Jim, well you know Jim by now, he made everything, including all kinds of stainless steel learning posts, a poling platform, light bars, and I'm sure there's more. So we did some digging and found some
some of it. There's one piece that we can't put our eyes on but I am sure it'll pop up. When Jim bought the boat in 1996 it came with a Yamaha 130 and no poling platform. Jim went and repowered with the 175 and built his own platform. Below is Jim with the boat, now over 25 years ago. That is one happy
camper. I would love to one day return his, well mine now, boat to it's original grandeur. What am I up against. A metal gas tank, wooden parts under the way-too soft deck, and a myriad of wires that just I can't figure out. What it needs is to be stripped down and rebuilt. I may reach out to Donny Jones, the owner of Jones Brothers, to see what the lead time is for having a boat redone. And while I'm there, maybe throw a new 4 stroke on it. That should only come to about $30,000. If I won the lottery today I wouldn't buy a new Jones, I would get Jim's redone.
