Tractors on Tombstones

Like lots of women, my mother worked hard and long hours. Yet I never remember her complaining. She seemed to link work, love, farming, family, and satisfaction in a way that made her happy to be alive and, when she was near the end, reluctant to die.

For about a month before she passed away, she was confined to a bed and hooked up to an IV and oxygen. Talking was difficult for her. Nancy and I visited with her regularly on week ends, and during the week I would stop to visit after work before I went home. These visits provided precious moments for both of us as we often talked of her life on the farm.

Memory:
 "...and what did you enjoy most during your 60 years farming with Dad?" I know the question is stupid the moment it comes out of my mouth, yet I say nothing more because I see her dark blue eyes sparkle a little as she blinks. The oxygen tubes slow down her speech as she struggles to position them with her free hand.
Finally, she says,"Your dad, he was such a wise guy, always pulling jokes, always racing to do things--always he was the center of attention." 
She pauses a moment before she continues. "What I liked best was when I pulled the silage wagon with the newer 850 Ford alongside the field chopper when he was pulling the field chopper with the older 860 Ford. I had more power and speed and just by pulling the throttle back I could gain on his older tractor. Gosh, I loved pulling ahead of him!"


She smiles widely, uninhibited by the tubes pinching her face. Her eyes tear and we laugh softly.

In less than a week she passed away. When it came to picking out a stone, I conferred with Dad and he agreed with my suggestion. Since the tractors looked identical, I supplied the engraver with just one picture. The numbers are too small to see on this picture, but the tractor above Mom's name is labeled "850" and the tractor above Dad's name is labeled "860."

Mom on the 1957 

Model 850 Ford

The wheels are wide for cultivating corn.

Are you Positive?

Whenever I see a picture of my old WD I have to chuckle as I remember my first experience replacing the battery.

About 30 years ago, I bought a nice-looking WD with a loader and a wide bucket because I needed something to clear out my driveway. It started easily, sounded good, and was reasonably priced. A couple years later, I was not upset with the prospect of having to replace the battery. I figured it was due.  Nevertheless, I disconnected it and tried to charge the dead battery over night to make sure I needed a new one.  After an over night charge, it was still dead.

First, I need to explain that I did not grow up servicing Allis-Chalmers tractors. My folks had Fords, and although I was familiar with driving AC tractors, I had never replaced a battery.

When I came back with the new battery, I discovered I did not know if the tractor had a negative or a positive ground. Since I had already removed the old battery the day before to charge it, I could not simply copy the old hook up. I only briefly tried to remember how the battery fit in when I heard Nancy calling me for dinner. I just left the battery by the tractor and went in to eat. While we ate, I had an idea. "I'll call my cousin Danny," I said. Nancy thought it was a good idea too.

Danny, a long-time Allis owner, was one of my many older cousins I looked up to as kind of a big brother. All my older male cousins were mechanically inclined. I was not.

Danny was a talented bricklayer who owned his own company. Although he didn't farm anymore, I knew he still had his WD 45 Allis-Chalmers, and I was sure he could tell me the battery hook-up off the top of his head.

Memory:
I punch in his number and he answers. We exchange a few of the expected greetings before I spring the  question. "Is your Allis a positive or negative ground?'
I sense that the question hits him like a meteor out of the night sky. 
After a pause, he says hesitantly, "Positive, I think."
No one speaks for a long moment.
So I ask, "Are you sure?"
"No, wait. Maybe negative."
"Are you positive?" I ask.
"Negative," he says.
I pause to think about this. Then I ask, "Negative you're not sure it's positive or negative you're positive it's negative?
After another moment of silence, I hear a sound that I fondly recall from my childhood. Danny is starting to chuckle. In a moment we are both giggling like a couple of kids. I'm feeling especially happy because....well, you know how good you feel when you giggle with your older brother?
Holding back bursts of laughter, we exchange a few more absurd questions and answers regarding whether the WD has a negative or positive ground. We laugh at everything.
Finally he says, "I'll go look at the WD 45 and call you back.
A bit later he calls, and I install the battery without problem.

Danny "Red" Cervenka

1939-2001

I do not recall now if the ground on the WD is positive or negative, but that phone call will stick in my head forever.