Moleskins, not always

From Futtner's Family Farm

The J. Peterman Company in their effort to compose a telling story for each of their goods writes "Moleskin trousers are what you might see on a man driving a 27 year old tractor, purring along over the velvety-green groundswells of England, lost in thought, totally unaware that soft rain has been falling on his head for a good 40 minutes."

During this past week I have found myself wearing my favorite loden moleskins, driving a 10 year old iron horse over a leafy brown forest floor in Mayberry, happily lost in thought yet fully aware of the soft rain falling on my head, and I have this to say:

Moleskins are horrible things to wear while conducting business on tractor seats.  The soft fabric is too slick for backsides on tractor seats and does not lend itself to safety as you change direction or incline.  I had the toughest workout of my week just hanging on.

When the weather gets tough wear moleskins, just not while tractoring.

Toad

In praise of Husqvarna

Three summers ago I replaced our dying lawn mower with a less used Husqvarna, known forever in these parts as The Iron Horse. Living in the woods I cut grass 3 or 4 times a season. It gets its greatest workout in the fall, mulching leaves.

The Horse is often rode hard and put away wet, and each winter I swear I'll tend to its foibles in the off season. I'm not that virtuous, so it needs fixing every summer. This year it was a steering part that needed replacement.

Once upon a time, boys learned how to tinker with mechanical things by working on their cars, especially if their car was British. Modern cars don't offer kids the same opportunity to learn out of necessity, it is their loss.

My first car, was a Triumph Spitfire circa 1963, purchased in 1970. I wanted to magnetize the bumpers to help catch the parts that rattled off every time I drove it. It's only saving grace was that the bonnet (hood) tilted forward so you could sit on the front tires while you worked.



It has been my experience from owning Triumph's, Jaguars, Lotus and Bentley's that Brit cars are gorgeous, poorly designed rolling money pits, but they are all fun to drive.

My First

The Iron Horse on the other hand isn't as much fun to drive, but it's a joy to work on. It's cleverly designed, logically engineered, well built and easy to work on. Best of all, any repair can be completed using only 2 tools. The perfect vehicle to teach rudimentary mechanical skills to an interested kid.

Toad