I Squashed a Tree With This
10Thursday 17 October, 2013 by Uncle Spike
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This was arguably my favourite set of wheels of my junior years.
The mighty Bolens 1050 tractor, a 330cc little monster weighing some 300kg (700 lbs).
It produced 10 BHP, had a high/low range transmission, 8 gears and could tow, plough and do all the stuff it’s elder sibling tractors could do. It wasn’t perhaps that fast, but when you’re a small kid – it WAS fast. These were the specs 🙂
Now, going back to, err… the early 70’s, here are a few of my memories of said beastie:-
Doing the lawn every week for pocket money.
Not being able to reach the brake pedal – had to holler for someone to chase me and stamp on the brake when I wanted to stop (health and safety freaks would go nuts these days!)
Seriously denting the cutting blades when I reversed over a concrete paving slab.
Hanging on to the back of the ‘grass sweeper/collector’ as my brother went at top speed around the garden – had grass stains for weeks 😀
Destroying a few small trees – totally by accident of course.
Taking it up the road once when the parents were out!
Good times indeed. Little did I know then that I would one day, many moons and 3 lifetimes later, I’d become a farmer on a different continent. Trouble is, the nearest I have to a tractor nowadays is my old 1988 Renault 11, ‘Ellie’…
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It does make one wonder about the over-protective age of today …
Before I was ten I had my own motorbike (98cc but classed as a bicycle because it had pedals), drove the family Plymouth for long stretches of country roads, and could pilot a Hornet Moth.
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….and still here to tell the tales.
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Just so! 🙂
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[…] This week’s fourth and probably final entry from me for the Weekly Photo Challenge takes me back to the early 1970′s, when I remember the elated feeling of achievement, having conquered the art of driving, and crashing our small tractor. […]
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[…] In this next shot, my wheels had certainly progressed, even if my driving skills hadn’t. Read the full story here… […]
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[…] tractor. It was a mean machine and my claim to fame was smashing into one of my parent’s trees (as told in this post about my childhood). The second vehicle was either the neighbouring farm’s tractor or perhaps the Landrover […]
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[…] In terms of having to earn our pocket money, we had chores such as taking the rubbish out and helping mom (now elevated to the position of Great Aunt Spike) with looking after the sheep, ducks, chickens, geese and all the rest of the menagerie. When I was that bit older, chores extended to mowing the lawn, but that was a cool job, as I got to ride the tractor every week during the summer months (this was my tractor – remember this?). […]
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Ah, love it! I have an old orange Husqvana ride-on tractor mower. Doesn’t plough but gets quite a steam up going down our very steep block with 18HP! Great stories as usual, Uncle Spike.
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18HP… I’d have mortally wounded my teddy for that when I was 7
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Pleased you enjoy the blog, feedback always help me gauge if I’m talking to a brick wall or to interested ears 🙂
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