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I grew up on a farm with my father, mother, and grandparents. My dad constantly taught me to operate equipment by just saying "here, have at it". He taught me to drive a combine by giving me the wheel and then jumping off with it in gear and running. All he said was, keep the windrow in the center of the header. He never even showed me which of the pedals was the clutch or brake (there were 6 pedals). He taught me how to operate a swather by setting me on his lap (way too young too reach the pedals) and pointing the machine at the fuel tanks in the yard. I had a hell of a time dodging them as the steering was hydrostatic and I couldn't find the center without self-centering steering like a normal vehicle. He never looked up from his newspaper. He taught me to drive a tractor before I could reach the pedals. I had to climb down off the seat to use the clutch and then, once I was moving, climb back up. The first time I let the clutch out, he nearly fell backwards into the cultivator. Again, no instruction. Just, drive it. Many times I had to sit in the combine with my hand on the header clutch just in case he fell in while he shoveled chaff through it for a second pass to get better yields (we grew certified grass seed). I always remember knowing that the header takes about 10 seconds to stop. There's no brake. As such, if he were to fall, first the spikey part would pull him into the auger part, which would slice him up good and move him into the crushey smashy part. By then, the header should stop so we could bury his rear end and legs in the ground as the front half of him would be ground into paste. A lot of stress to lay on a 9 year old. I don't regret it or resent him. It made me self-sufficient. I always like to let people do as much as they can by themselves so they learn more quickly. It's faster and better, just more stressful.
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Apr 9, 2016 20:14
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| # ¿ May 10, 2024 08:05 |
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