It was a long, cold day, but our new friend has a home. Oskar and I got up early and drove over to a horse farm near Chetek. Of course it was the coldest day so far this winter, and it was the day we were moving the newly acquired 1948 Farmall M to its new home at Feträ. I had contracted with another guy to meet us there as well with a truck and trailer to do the hauling. When we got to the farm it was a balmy 3 degrees. Oskar stayed warm in the truck while we tried to get the tractor started. No luck. We swapped out the battery from my truck and it started right up, but the engine raced up to max RPM’s. We had to shut it down right away. About this time I wondered what I had gotten myself into. No worries, with two people who new what they were doing, they had the carburetor pulled apart while I watched. Turns out there was moisture frozen in the governor rod. Once that was melted (with a blowtorch, yikes!), they put it back together and it fired right up and ran like a dream. We got the tractor loaded on the trailer, chained it down, and we were off to Feträ.
It was fun looking in the rear view mirror and seeing my tractor. Once we got it to Feträ, the driver backed it off the trailer, and it was my turn.
I pulled it around the truck and parked in our parking area. Our new friend was home. After a bit of playing around on it, it was time to go into Spooner and get some lunch. The girls met us in Spooner and we all went out to Feträ so everyone could see the new addition.
We took turns driving it around, and then it was time to bid our new friend farewell. It was a great day and the start of a new adventure. Welcome to the family Totoro the tractor.
