Behind the Lines: by David Heiller

David Heiller    One of the first things my nephew, Collin, asked when he awoke at our house last Saturday morning was if he could ride on my tractor. He remembered doing that last Christmas, which isn’t bad for a three year old. So he climbed up onto my lap on the Oliver 66, and we went careening down County Road 168, Collin steering and me trying not to smile too much. Then a little later, he asked if he could use the outhouse. We have an indoor bathroom, but I still like the outhouse. Maybe Collin’s way of saying thank you for the tractor ride was to pay his respects to my outhouse. Collin, mid-leap So I smiled again and we put on boots and coats and walked between snowbanks to the outhouse. It’s a two-holer, which fascinated Collin. He couldn’t make up his mind, which for some people could be a disaster, myself included. He had to open each cover to make an inspection of the contents. Then he chose the one on the left. Before he sat down, I asked him if h...

David Heiller The two dogs and I headed into the woods on Sunday afternoon. It was something I had wanted to do for several weeks, but work had kept it on the back burner. There’s something very inviting about woods this time of year. The ground is hard, so there’s no mud. There’s a little snow for contrast, but not too much to make walking difficult, and you can see everything. The view from our deck as well as all of the east facing windows. The river is down there, but also  our woods,  and what we refer to as Heiller Valley. It is now owned by the State of Minnesota. Our woods are even more of a magnet to me because I really don’t know them yet. I’ve walked over the hills a time or two, but it takes a while to get to know a piece of land, years really. I scurried down the hill, eased over a barbed wire fence, and entered the woodlot. My new Allis Chalmers WD tractor was in the back of my mind. “Could it handle this trail without tipping,” I asked myself a...

David Heiller David loved working with his tractors! (And he wasn't afraid of getting stuck, either.)   The field was wet and muddy But I trusted to my luck, And with a load of firewood I got my tractor stuck. My darling wife had warned me Not to take the tractor out To the woods on Saturday. “You’ll get it stuck, no doubt, Like you did the last time.” Yes, I remembered well, Hauling in a load of ash. It made me mad as heck. But part of making firewood Involves a little luck Hoping that you don’t get hurt Or that you don’t get stuck. I knew that it was a risky But that’s what makes it fun When you take a chance at work And when that work gets done. So I hung my muddy pants On the clothesline outside. And came in wearing boxers And a grin of manly pride, And I told my darling Cindy, And I took the “Told-you-so’s,” And hoped by Sunday morning That the soft would be froze. We had a low lying fi...

David Heiller Ray Schutz had the tractor ready for me when I got to his farm in Winnebago Valley on Saturday morning. A light mist was falling, and mixed with an east wind and 35 degree temperature, it was a recipe for a chilly ride home. I didn’t care though. A fine adventure was looming, and cold weather won’t dampen that. Ray gave a few pointers on the Allis WD. “The brake is locked,” he said, pointing to a wire by the right foot brake. “Step on the brake and lift it up and it will come free.” He pushed up the hydraulic lever. First the mower came up in back, then the bucket rose in front. I couldn’t ride home like that. but if he lowered the bucket, the mower would come down too. So he found a chain in his shop and bound the mower in place. Then he lowered the bucket. A typical farmer trick. Very ingenious. “Did you bring gas?” he asked. I answered yes, and unscrewed the cap in the front. “That’s the radiator,” he said, informing me that it did have antifreeze in it....

David Heiller The Oliver 66 Row Crop Tractor quit working about a month ago, which sent me on an adventure that ended tonight. David had many tractor adventures. He did love having a tractor.   I'm no mechanic. A long list of people start to tremble when I have tractor problems, because they know I’ll be calling and asking dumb questions. But first I did have enough sense to check the gas tank. Plenty there. I cleaned the sediment bowl to get rid of any water. The gas lines were clear and running to the carburetor. So Ι figured that it had to be an electrical problem. I called Jim Kephart first. I’ve been known to rouse Jim from a sound sleep to ask him tractor questions. Jim took a deep, patient breath. JIM: It seems to me you’ve got some bad wires running to the coil. Did you check those bad wires? ME: No. How do you check them? JIM: With a volt ohm meter. Don’t you have a volt ohm meter? Jim carries a volt ohm meter with him like some people carry, a pocket kn...

David Heiller This week’s Askov American includes our 1993 Ag Edition. We publish it every spring to coincide with National Ag Day, which is the first day of spring. This year’s Ag Edtion contains stories about accidents that local farmers have experienced. I started collecting the stories last year, after a North Dakota teenager had both arms torn off by an auger. He made national news because of his courage in making his way into his home and telephoning for help by holding a pencil between his teeth. His arms were re-attached, and he now has limited use of them. He is at-tending college. Life is a struggle, but at least he has life. No local farmer had farm accidents that severe, but some were potentially as bad or worse. They were “close calls.” Almost every farmer that I talked to had an accident story to tell. They didn’t have to think about it very long either. It’s a dangerous profession. One exception was Palmer Dahl, 83, Moose Lake. He farmed for most of his life ...

David Heiller The old tractor is ready and waiting. Don’t write any angry letters now, but it is waiting for snow, and so am I. A lot of people would just as soon let this pretend winter slip quietly into the record books. It’s February, for crying out loud. We missed our chance at winter. Even Rick Voshart is ready to let his sleeping snowmobile lie. Allis and I will politely disagree. It’s hard to speak for a tractor, seeing as they are mostly steel and rubber. But I sensed it on Sunday. That was the day that I picked up the Allis WD at Andy Moen’s house at the end of Klondike Road east of Freeburg. Andy had modified a tractor blade that I bought from Kenny Schaller of Reno. Kenny had seen my ad in the paper looking for a blade. Turns out he had one for an Allis C, and with a little tap here and weld there, it should work for the WD, Kenny said in his gruff voice. The price was right too. I won’t say it here, but when Kenny told it, he paused and then laughed. It wa...