Anyways, after the parade, I parked the rig by the farm museum in town. Later, a boy and his mom stopped by. He reminded me a lot of myself when I was his age, and was interested in all the tractors in the museum, asking what all the different controls did, how the gears were shifted, what a throttle was for, etc.

I asked him if he'd ever rode on a tractor and he said no (lives in town), so I asked if he would like to drive one. He lit up and said, "YES!" 

So I got the ok from his mom, then we went for a cruise around the block a few times on the 8N. I showed him how to start it, and when I went to put it in gear, he asked if he could change the gears, so I said, "Sure!" He's 12, and he had to stand up with both feet on the clutch to hold it down, but he followed the shift pattern around to get to first, and we were off!  

He did a great job, and eventually worked through all the gears (except for the flying 4th gear)

He had a great time, and so did I. It was fun seeing someone younger interested in this sort of thing. He drove and shifted like he'd done it for years after I explained it once, so he was definitely a quick learner. 

What really surprised me was when he went to change gears, he throttled down, pushed the clutch, let the tractor come to a stop each time, then shifted. He never ground a gear once! 

Thanks! Yep, I realize the importance of getting the young'uns interested. I remember when I was about that age (not too long ago!), I'd go to tractor shows and want to do something like that so bad, but nobody would ever let some kid stranger do anything. I decided I didn't want to be that kind of guy when I got older, so I try to get the younger folks involved whenever I can sense an interest! 

Bob Paulson gave a good talk at the safety meeting at Hutch this year, saying while it's important to put safety first, if we don't let the younger kids get involved in doing things, it will all die out. 

We all need to get involved in fun things for city kids.   

True! When his mom said they didn't have any farm connection, but he liked tractors, I was a little surprised, but I decided any interest was worth feeding. I have their phone number, so I may call them when we have our All-Crop field day next summer. Let him see a combine up close and watch it working. 

Dusty

Yep! They were homemade by the PO, but they work. 

I have an orange tractor, but decided to take the 8N because the starter is giving me fits on my B, and it can sometimes be temperamental when hand cranking. Just didn't want to risk having trouble starting before the parade. 

Plus, I think the 8N can run a bit slower than the B. I ran almost the whole parade at low idle in 1st gear, because everybody moves so slow. 

In this county we have a group    Ag in the Classroom,  I think they are trying to be nation wide. Today they are hosting all 4th grades from the area down at the  fair grounds. Always looking for farm people to bring a tractor or small livestock for the kids to let kids experience things we take for granted. Not the kind of thing I jump at doing but has been a good thing when I helped. Now my youngest son has taken that over and I stay home to tend water for the cows. Just another way to give a little and get so much in return. Because if we don't explain things to the city kids PETA and others have no problem telling them how bad we are.

That's true, John. 

I got my B when I was 11, and it was a stretch for me to reach the clutch. I could do it at that age, but I had to scoot forward, hang onto the steering wheel, and then I could reach it. 

Funny story...when I first got the tractor, the threads on the steering shaft were very worn, but I didn't know it. I was going to stop after backing up (I was 11), so I grabbed the steering wheel, tugged on it a bit to help me slide forward so I could reach the clutch, and the wheel just popped on! Oops! I got in some trouble for that, but Dad and i fixed it by shimming up the worn threads with a piece of tin. That piece of tin is still there now, and it's been trouble free. Lol