Like JB, my first experience with field work was with a Ford tractor. But our 8N did double duty a saddlehorse too! It was the only thing we ever used to cowboy with until I got my first 4 wheeler about 15 yrs ago.
Dad would send me out to get the milk cows in with the 8N when I was about 5. Nothing fancy. Dad would always start me out in 2nd gear. I steered and ran the throttle, and just turned the key off when I wanted to stop. I wasn't into shifting gears or any of that advanced stuff yet.
Same program when I started raking hay with the Ford pulling a 6 wheel Farmhand rake in the hayfield.
When I was 7 I advanced to shifting, and I was good at it. So I was "promoted" to the old hay sweep which was a reversed 1950 Chevy pickup. The hay bucker had a rake seat mounted where the driver would normally sit, only facing backwards. The seat was too high for me to reach the pedals and not adjustable. So I basically just kinda stood there while driving and leaned my butt into the edge of the seat.
The 4 speed trans had a pretty good spring on it to overcome to shift into reverse. In those days, the Chevy shift pattern had reverse located toward the driver and down. My (left) arm just wasn't stout enough to shift that tranny into reverse. I always had to use both hands until I got bigger. Steering and clutching was easy.
The hay bucker had a ground-powered push-off on it. Basically a home built wooden push-off dragging a wood beam with a chisel point bolted on to it. When backing away from a sweep bunch, the chisel point would catch in the ground and help get the hay unloaded off the steel stacker teeth. The same bolts that held the chisel point on also had a length of log chain through it and the other end was fastened to the pickup frame so you didn't loose the push-off off the end of the stacker teeth.
When I was 9 Dad bought a brand new IH 210 draper swather with a 14' head. Didn't take Dad too long to figure out the swather and before the summer was over he had me running it as long as he was in the same field to supervise.
That 210 was really a fine machine for its day. Used it for 30 seasons but the cutting head was plumb wore out. Probably would still be running the tractor part of it if I could have bought a whole new head for it. Dependable and easy to run. Steered with twin clutch sticks, not that Mickey Mouse slip belt system of the MF 36 swathers. The MF swathers probably outnumbered every other brand around here 10:1 though.
Well I'm gettin' off track here. By the time I was 13 I could run every machine on the place including the combine without supervision. I didn't start stacking loose hay though until I was 16. That was with a Super M Farmall with no live power. I think that tractor wore out my clutch knee!
As far as kids nowdays go, and I say this with the disclaimer that I am not a parent. If the kid shows interest, let them go for it but always practice safety first! ALWAYS!
I helped fix a little fence last weekend in last year's fire burned areas on my aunt's place. 5 of us covered a heck of a lot of ground in one day. My cousin and I went out ahead of the crew and dug post holes for new corners and line posts. We also set steel posts with the loader. (JD 2840 w 148 loader) My cousin is a great tractor driver, I didn't dare shoot off my mouth about lady tractor drivers! :wink:
My cousin's daughter is 12 and interested in driving but her mom doesn't encourage it. I respect that, but when I get a chance I let the young gal drive my outfit. It would have been a perfect opportunity the day we fixed fence for her to drive grandma's pickup and bring the posts and tools along.
:lol:
