Hobby Thread - September 12, 2026 [TRex]

Welcome hobbyists! Pull up a chair and sit a spell with the Horde in this little corner of the interweb. This is the mighty, mighty officially sanctioned Ace of Spades Hobby Thread. For this week, the Wheel of Hobbies (TM) is feeling lucky and decided on a farm tractor theme for this Hobby Thread.

A farm tractor theme? Yep. Let's get tractoring!

[Top photo: John Deere Model 80, Canfield Ohio Fair]

Vintage farm equipment is a huge hobby. Lots of people have a vintage tractor, collect vintage equipment and restore projects. Is it the pull of nostalgia? The pull of machines? The pull of farming and the feeling of being self-sufficient and productive?

Many Fourth of July parades feature tractors. Many county fairs feature antique farm tractors. There are events dedicated exclusively to farm and construction equipment where static displays witness active demonstrations. There is an annual event known as Classic Green dedicated solely to John Deere equipment and memorabilia.

If you grew up on a farm, chances are good that you learned to drive on a tractor before a car. Chances are also good that you remember exactly what kind of tractor (or tractors) your family had.

The sheer quantity of tractor rescue and restoration content on YouTube is a testament to the deep vein of interest. (Bulldozer and other heavy equipment rescue and restoration is similar.) Many videos have the same storyline of "sitting for years, can we get it to run???" Some are more or less polished than others. Some feel like more clickbait/artificial drama than others. (We better understand the incentives and importance of the thumbnails after our recent look into YouTube creator economics.)

Are you wise in the ways of farm tractors? Do you have one (or more)? If not, would you like a tractor in your garage? Have you restored a tractor? Are you inclined towards heavy equipment in general? Are you into tractor pulls?

What's your brand of choice? Farmall/International Harvester? Case? Steiger? Allis-Chalmers? Ford? Oliver? MF? (farmer people know MF is Massey Furguson rather than a common profanity)

If you're inclined towards steam engines, please weigh in as well. Close enough.

Full disclosure: The family of TRex is a John Deere family. We're friendly to other brands (and I'm irritated at the John Deere right to repair nonsense), but decades of family history ran with the Deere. The local John Deere dealer spoke at my uncle's funeral if that tells you anything.

What are you hobbying?

Tractors may not be your favorite but give it a chance before you judge and bail out. Any adjacent hobbying is in scope, so jump in with your interests, stories and questions.

In any event, the thread is not limited to to the theme. Anything (legal) you are hobbying is welcome. Even if the theme does not speak to you, you might learn something or be entertained. If not, offer something else relating to hobbying. If all of that fails, just check in and say hello.

As per usual Hobby Thread etiquette, keep this thread limited to hobbying. Leave politics and religion to threads elsewhere (unless your hobby is building or restoring churches). Pants? Nope. As always, puns are welcome and encouraged.

Play nice and do not be rude. Do not be a troll and do not feed the trolls.

Anyone been to the Keller's Retired Tractor Museum in Wisconsin?

You had me at "Parade of Power." This was in Du Quoin, Illinois.

Steel wheels but a heartfelt restoration video with lots of family history mixed in which makes the project more special.

Bulldozers are fun but they're not tractors. We'll do a separate thread someday for dozers, backhoes, cranes, dump trucks, etc., but this mini-Deere dozer looked too good to pass up. I also liked this one for the "hit it with a power washer and spray paint" backyard rough justice method of cosmetic repair.

Ever been to a Classic Green Reunion? Check out this walk-around video from the 2025 edition in Wisconsin.

Blacksmith John Deere did not invent tractors but did invent the steel plow in 1837.

Fast forward to 1974 when Landmark Winery in Sonoma, California was founded by Damaris Deere Ford. John Deere was her great-great-grandfather.

Every so often, you'll see touches in their branding that pay homage to their history:

Photocredit: stayradwineblog.com

Been a while since we've had a bottle of Landmark wine but we enjoyed many bottles in a prior life! Yum!

Follow-up from last week:

I looked for free pallets on Craigslist and was shocked at the volume of listings. Who knew?

ICYMI, JQ posted a link last week to 34 DIY pallet projects. If any among the Horde embark on pallet hobbying projects, send a photo. Thank you!

This has nothing to do with tractors, but I don't think I've ever seen a motorized scythe before.

Did you miss the Hobby Thread last week? We did a painting theme. The comments may be closed, but you can re-live the content.

Notable comment from last week:

Words of wisdom:

"Because despite all our troubles, when things are grim out in that wide round world of ours, that's when it's really important to have a good hobby." Posted by: tankascribe at June 22, 2024 07:41 PM (HWxAD).

Reminder: if you put links in the comments, use a URL shortener and describe what you're linking to. Failing to do either or both makes you barrel-eligible. Don't make people click to find out what you're linking.

Send thoughts, suggestions and photos of your hobbying to moronhobbies at protonmail dot com. Or just email to say hello. Do mighty things.

posted by Open Blogger at 05:30 PM

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