A Great Old Cat!

I posted earlier about the relationships that are built when you get involved within the hobby of antique tractor collecting or restoring. One of my favorite buddies that I had acquired a fairly close relationship with a few years back, (Maris Hall) got me very interested in an old caterpillar 15 tractor that he has. I had never driven a Caterpillar tractor of any kind before meeting him but because of the friendship that grew out of that meeting, I finally got the chance.

Maris brought his 1929 Cat 15 to the Matthews (Indiana) Covered Bridge Festival about 6 years ago and I was able to snap some photographs of that old tractor. You can view them and some of the history behind his acquiring of the old tractor and what he had to do to get it up and running on the regular Fastrac web site. This story is quite interesting to read if you like old cats.

Maris asked me that day during the festival if I would like to "take the old girl" for a spin and I, not being one to turn down too many chances at doing that kind of stuff, naturally obliged him. That "spin" " turned out to be most of the rest of that afternoon. The caterpillar was a very different experience for me in that I had never driven any old tractor (and that has been quite a few) that had no steering wheel. It was very cool the way you could make that old machine turn on a dime so to speak!

Strike up conversations with folks when you go to these types of events..... you never know what kinds of friendships can be made and what can happen within the resulting relationships.