Frank drove a tractor for the first time when he was twelve years old. Ever since then, he’s harboured a secret dream of having his own machine. We didn’t have much use for a tractor whilst living in the suburbs and I could not agree to buy one. Albeit, my reservations changed as soon as we bought a farm.
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Frank persuades the owner to sell him the tractor
Consequently, a few weeks after we’d bought the farm, Frank came across a Massey Fergusson that appeared to be out of use. It wasn’t advertised for sale, but he tracked down the owner who agreed to sell it to him for 25000 NOK. The tractor was from the 1970’ies and looked the part, but it was in running condition.
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Frank has become the proud owner of an old and battered tractor
Restoring an old 70’ies Massey Fergusson
The iron monster looked rather tired. It was rusty, lacked some windows, had a leaking roof, and the interior was in shreds. To Frank, it seemed to cry; “Please Love Me,” which my dear husband did without reservations. Maybe he has an eye for the old and tattered (like me). He immediately started to bring about its hidden beauty, and after receiving a few spare parts and a coat of paint, the old beast returned to life.
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The tractor was ready for a makeover
Hoping that having his own Massey Fergusson would put an end to the whining, I gave it the name Fred. In the Norwegian language, Fred means Peace.
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Painting the tractor
The Advantages of having a Tractor
Henceforth, Fred turned out to be an asset to our little farm. In fact, he participates in almost anything that we do, much like a family member. With the advantage of 4-wheel drive and a loader arm, it is our most used tool when it comes to lifting, moving, and digging. In effect, we seem to use Fred for almost any task on the farm.
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Fred can be used to transport water in the garden
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He can also be used to transport firewood
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It can also replace a scaffolding when you need to reach up high
However, having one tractor didn’t put an end to Frank’s dreams. To be honest, having one is good, but having two is apparently better. Accordingly, one day an even more worn out tractor found its way to our farm. I’ve named him Lillebror (Little brother) after my husband tried to pin it on me by calling it Little Rita! I admit I’m not as slender as I used to be, but being perceived as big in comparison to a tractor, that was slightly over the top. My husband accepted defeat in the naming battle, and now I have a chain saw named after me instead. I don’t want to dig too deep into the symbolism of that image 😉.
The plan was to use Lillebror to run the wood chipper, but it turned out his engine is too weak for that. Instead, he’s mainly used for transportation and running different equipment like the winch and wood splitter.
Without doubt, we’re depending on these two old machines.
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Fred on his way to his new home in Sweden
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And for others it can be an exciting place to play
