So what do you guys do?

HeyBob

HeyBob

Member
Looks like there are more than a few tractor lovers here...............but,

What do you guys do for a living to support your hobby? I am a heating and air conditioning contractor by day, tractor junkie by night.

This time of year I have virtually no time to work on my stuff, just everyone else's! :eek:

My last tractor was hauled into the barn under cover of darkness while the wife was sleeping at 11 pm. :applause:
 
Well, let's see... Through the day, I get paid to be an estimator and project supervisor for a general contractor. :applause: In reality, I spend a disproportionate amount of my time playing on the internet when things are calm.:whistle: I've been here for almost 38 years, first as a carpenter, later moving into the office.;)

I had a small farm for near 35 years. It wasn't exactly what you'd call "production agriculture", more like attemting to add legitimacy to a growing collection of junk farm equipment. ;) While playing farmer, I bought and sold anything I could make a buck on. Old tractors, implements, even seed corn for a while. :beer:

2 years ago, I had a real estate developer show up at my door, checkbook in hand, and that proverbial "offer I couldn't refuse" in mind. I didn't refuse.

We took the money and ran. We bought a place just down the road a piece. As soon as I reach the point where I'm ready to retire, we head further out in the sticks.
 
Probably won't surprise yall to find out I work in IT. I am server administrator for over 100 servers. Most run Linux but we also have a few Sun's. All Unix though. We have some winders servers but other folks have to deal with those, and I'm glad of that. :D
I'm 12 years away from retirement unless I get that one little piece of paper with winning lottery numbers on it. I keep forgetting to buy a ticket so the chances of that happening are not so good.
We moved to the sticks about 10 years ago. Bought 50 acres and built our house on it. It is our retirement home so we don't plan to move again (yeah!!!!).
I like tractoring and boating and geeky stuff. I need the tractoring and boating to get me off the keyboard every once in awhile. I'm definitely addicted to the internet.
 
Doc said:
I keep forgetting to buy a ticket so the chances of that happening are not so good.
Click to expand...

Doc I have some used tickets I will let go cheap :moon3:

I'm a retired communications engineer. I was raised in a small town in Texas but spent most of my time at granddad's ranch. I left for the big city and college and never thought I would be on a tractor again. A few years ago we bought 5 acres, built a barn, and have horses. We own 30 acres in southern Virginia and we will build our retirement home there.

Jim
 
I spend my days as the manager of North American Operations for an international corp. We publish and maintain international electrical safety standards.
On weekends I have a small property maintance buisness that allows me to get as much seat time as possible and keeps me out of trouble.:D
 
I'm another IT guy. I do almost all of my work on mainframes and develop systems for hospitals.

So look out Jim S... I've been working on the systems that are in the big hospital in your county for the past couple years.
 
Hey Bob,

Yes, I paint tractors now. Kind of therapy for an old dude that painted since Nitrocellulose lacquers were still popular. I started painting in production shops and dealerships when I was 17, finally retired nearly 40 years later.

Thought I wouldn't miss it after owning 3 independent shops, taught I-CAR (Inter-industry conference on auto collision repair) classes at the local Jr. College, finished several classic and muscle car restorations and finally customized painting of cars, trucks, motorcycles frames, tanks, fenders etc...after staying idle for two years I built another shop on my little 2 acres out here in the sticks, and now do this at my leisure and truly enjoying the craft without the pressures of employees, competition and all else related to the industry. I still, occasionally, teach a few to paint giving then the guidelines of PPE (personal protective equipment), Paint chemistry, application, guns, tips, tricks and anything else they would like to know, and most often on their first paint project.

Mark
 
I am a clinical counselor/therapist at a coed therapeutic boarding school. I hope this will be my last position after 30 years in the human services. I live on a 12.5 acre property that is 1.3 miles from the school. I have driven my tractor to work on occassion to till the School's garden. This is a picture of me at work.

Jay
 

Attachments

  • jay B[1]..jpg
    jay B[1]..jpg
    131.6 KB · Views: 203
I'm an entrepreneur and a writer. You guys all sound like you have great and interesting careers! :applause:
 
bczoom said:
So look out Jim S... I've been working on the systems that are in the big hospital in your county for the past couple years.
Click to expand...

I was in there for a week in February, and a week in April the year before that and several one day outpatient trips this year. Can you get that place fixed so I won't have to keep going back?

Let me know the next time you are here. Meet you for lunch or dinner.

Jim
 
I am the Chief Electrical Inspector for the 15th largest city in the US.
Looks like TRO's outfit publishes the books that I live by.
 
Aspiring Gentleman Farmer. Just trying to get good at it. That's my joking reply when people ask what I do now.

I've owned this apple orchard for seven years. Grandpa bought it for his retirement home in 1950. Then Dad inherited in the 60's and spent all his summers here. I inherited it in 2000. Now I spend most of my time here.

The orchard always has been operated by a neighbor along with his larger orchard, but the owner (me) is responsible for replacing trees and getting them up to bearing age. Plus maintaining roads, utilities (I replaced the septic system last year) the outbuildings, and the 1905 farmhouse.

I retired in 1998, age 54, after better-than-expected investment results in those boom times.

Photos: Winter - the orchard and a pinot noir vineyard across the canyon.
Summer - digging out a stump, looking uphill. In 1951 I and Grandma planted one of those redwood trees, center of the right photo. I feel very attached to this place.
P1050870rOrchardfromstairsFeb.jpgP1120068rDigStump.jpg

 
I'm a Project Manager for an international performance management company. Specialize in fossil fueled power (electric) generation systems, operation, distributed control and training. The current status of the industry is keeping me hopping.

Free time is spent operating anything with an engine. You should see my new leaf blower ...............!

Usually tearing stuff up with the tractor (currently prepping a garage site) and ripping up turf on the quads. I'm an excellent chain saw operator too! I could go on, and on, and on ........ ;)
 
Mark777 said:
Hey Bob,

Yes, I paint tractors now. Kind of therapy for an old dude that painted since Nitrocellulose lacquers were still popular. I started painting in production shops and dealerships when I was 17, finally retired nearly 40 years later.

Thought I wouldn't miss it after owning 3 independent shops, taught I-CAR (Inter-industry conference on auto collision repair) classes at the local Jr. College, finished several classic and muscle car restorations and finally customized painting of cars, trucks, motorcycles frames, tanks, fenders etc...after staying idle for two years I built another shop on my little 2 acres out here in the sticks, and now do this at my leisure and truly enjoying the craft without the pressures of employees, competition and all else related to the industry. I still, occasionally, teach a few to paint giving then the guidelines of PPE (personal protective equipment), Paint chemistry, application, guns, tips, tricks and anything else they would like to know, and most often on their first paint project.

Mark
Click to expand...

Ouch, and I thought I was going to try to show folks how to paint their tractors? Talk about me doing it. You aught to do it Mark. I be a photog and tech geek and a self taught painter. I doubt that I hold a candle to you. And from the looks of that 1300 that you have, I aint even a close 4th. :respect:

Well, I be like California, a try to be gentleman farmer. Retired from the US Army, went into IT, ended up running my own consulting biz for years until I took a short fall off a long roof, or was it a long fall off a short roof. :whistle:
Regardless, I spent a couple years getting my leg rebuilt and in rehab and just chucked it all and moved up here to Colorado. Bought this place and havent looked back. I had alway been a photographer, had few published off and on and nowadays just a jack of all trades. My wife works, I rebuild stuff, trade or sell it, buy and sell and enjoy life in the country. Not wealthy by any means but we squeak by.

The photos are a view from my back door during one of our semi frequent hail storms this last spring. The faint batch of trees in the distance is my neighbors farmstead. Otherwise its a whole bunch of empty round here.;)
 

Attachments

  • hail2.jpg
    hail2.jpg
    129.5 KB · Views: 185
  • hail1.jpg
    hail1.jpg
    154.4 KB · Views: 187
Last edited:
I'm a manufacturing engineer tech. Spent most of my life working for big multi-national companies (Apple Computers, Kodak, Sea Ray, Moog) but got tired of being a small fish in a big pond so I recently joined a smaller company with less than 10 employees. With the other jobs, I had long commutes to the city, 2 hrs a day and regularly worked 60-70 hr week. Now with the small company, I'm 10 minutes drive to and from work with more reasonable hours. Better quality of family life but the change from multi national company to small time company is a big transition to me. There is a lot of multi tasking and a lot of international travel involved. Still not sure if I made the right decision almost 2 yrs on. More time spent with my wife n kids is my driving ambition... Family first I say...
 
After college farmed with my dad then myself. Helped build and manage a large dairy, then went to work at local coop jack of all trades master of none. Saw a need for pasture seeding , fertilzing, mowing and spraying so started business 2 years ago doing that. I also spray alot of drainage ditches for brush. Renovator
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top