Behind the Lines: by David Heiller

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...