1953 John Deere 60, Kewanee Keen Kutter Disc! & I lived to tell this!

Malaria_Kidd IV

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My Guardian Angel's save of an Indiana farmer's grandson..................
:D
Who still regrets bumping the gear selector from 2nd, as Grand Dad's good suggestion, up to 3rd.
:oops:


At 16 I was nearly thrown off a 1953 John Deere 60 pulling a 16 foot Kewanee Keen Kutter disc and a clod busting roller.
:blush:


After hitting a washed out hidden sink hole in a weedy (thick, tall foxtail) picked wide edge of an unharvested corn field. My grand dad's farm tractor's long green hood went up towards the blue sky. Besides the instant bump up, everything was cool! When the front two wheels came down transferring all that energy to the rear of the cab-less tractor my body left the seat upwards of 3 + feet!
:oops:


I wonder if I saved myself thru sheer luck? Or was it a helping hand guiding me to fall to the right side? Having the right side's long clutch handle put in front of my face for me to grab onto? There was no such handle to the left side! For too many seconds the big angled bars for tire treads were spinning largely mere inches from my T shirt!
:shock:
My left hand was still gripped like it was glued to the steering wheel. When I released the life saving clutch handle, it was time to grab the wheel "finally" with both hands!

I had to turn it hand over hand to hit the end of the Roll-A-Matic's short tie rod! I HAD TO STOP the steering wheel's turn to get back into the big yellow seat! In turning the tractor so directly West it was heading me towards a 40' wide 10' deep ditch! Tall un picked corn stalks were hitting me like a big brush coming across the axle. The wheel finally stopped turning and I pulled myself back into the seat! And then a fast turn left I went! Whew! I am getting out of breath retelling this!
:o


So in closing, I think it was my Guardian Angel who let me fall right handing me that 3 foot tall clutch handle with the big ball on top!
:mrgreen:


60-70 feet of corn was knocked down.
:oops:
But somehow, with my spirit guides help, I stayed alive sideways across the driver's platform and got safely re seated! Plus that ole Black River did not receive a John Deere 60 tractor with me on it!
:mrgreen:



MK IV ∆=⚾
 
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It's a story I relive everyday Debi; they sure are deadly. Especially if you cut corners to speed up like I did!:alarmclock::8ball::alarmclock: We must hope our Angel watchers have patience with their charges.

"Never drive faster than your Guardian Angel can fly!"

Every time I see a ROSEACRE FARMS semi rig hauling eggs from well East of Seymore on U.S. 50. I think of the local fire chief that died investigating a smoldering corn fire in a tall concrete grain silo over 30 years ago.:(

Farm families inherited dangers of making an honest living off the land are revealed sadly too often.

MK IV ∆=⚾
 
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Good story, MK. So many people don't realize how dangerous farming really is! Tractors and silos...deadly things.
Yep. My grandfather and uncle were killed on their farm back in the late 50s.
It's dangerous work.
 
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A harrowing experience. Your angel was there for sure. Every small town has a story that didn’t end so well. You were meant to live another day for sure.
 
Nothing that harrowing, but I think back to the many times a group of us kids, all cousins, rode in the back of my uncle's pickup truck on the dirt roads of rural Kentucky. We were fortunate none of us even got pitched out on our heads.
 
Nothing that harrowing, but I think back to the many times a group of us kids, all cousins, rode in the back of my uncle's pickup truck on the dirt roads of rural Kentucky. We were fortunate none of us even got pitched out on our heads.
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A bit off topic, but it reminded me of buying one of the last Sabaru Brats imported into the US in 1986/7. I noticed it did not have the two aft facing, plastic seats in the bed as did previous models. When I asked why, the salesman said because people had been stupid enough to sit in them, and Sabaru was tired of being sued because they were getting injured/killed. He further explained the seats had been installed only so the Brats could be imported as station wagons vice pickup trucks, thus saving import taxes. Apparently Sabaru never thought anyone would actually use them.

The Brat remains my favorite automobile of all those I've owned. It wasn't fast, sexy, or powerful, but that thing would go anywhere and was the most dependable vehicle I ever owned.

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