Most old farmers are masters of making things work and just making do with what they have.
We live in rural areas miles from town and parts stores. Sometimes the parts we need can cost big money. Growing up working for a farmer taught me to be a master junkyard engineer and mechanic.
I started my junkyard degree and repair service when I was kid. I learned from those old timers – the best of the best. My mentor Lee Roy Hays, only went to school up until the 6th grade, but he was a genius when it came to getting by. Those old guys learned from living through the big wars where everything was rationed, unavailable, and most of the population was poor. They learned to save everything, as it might have a purpose down the road.
I’ve used red fuel hose for bicycle inner tubes.
I have welded things that should have been thrown in the bone pile but that are still in use today.
I have used permatex and cotton to fix radiators and cracked engine blocks.
I’ve had tractor tires that I bolted “boots” in when I couldn’t afford a new tire.
I’ve used soup cans, bailing wire, and inner tube by the truckload… the list just goes on and on.
I’ve done stuff that both mechanics and engineers would scoff at. But you do what you gotta do to get by.
You can probably go to town and buy the part and have it fixed in half the time, instead of digging for something that might work from the bone yard.
You can spend money on new stuff or try to make do with what you have, it might work or it might not. And if not, you try you something else.
I’ve done so much with so little for so long that I can do just about anything with a handful of nothing!
And it’s all because I was willing to learn and I had somebody willing to teach me. You know what they say, where there’s a will there’s a way. And, besides, I’d rather fix the faded than have to pay for the flashy.
Everybody needs someone to look up to and to learn from. Maybe I can pass some of what I learned on to the little sprouts.
After-all, I’m a farmer just trying to get by…
