Mowing with child on your lap

4spdragtop said
I use to ride on my Grampas full size Massey Ferguson while he was tilling, raking, baling, etc. I would jump on and off, well one time I slipped jumping on and slipped right under the rear tractor tire, gramps never noticed me until he had driven over my leg! I was about 9 years old at the time, thankfully the ground was moist and soft, and the Massey pushed me into the ground more than it hurt me. Needless to say, shot offa the tractor grabbed me up and took me back to the farm and iced my leg. Nothing broken, torn, just Grampas nerves! LOL RIP Gramps miss ya every day. Id let ya run me over again to spend another day with you.

My grandfather and dad would both let me ride on the dozer & backhoe when they were working. By 9-10 years old I was allowed to operate both of them :D My dad would make jokes. 'oh ****, look out, chris is on the dozer! run for your lives" :D

By 10 I had learned to drive a stick, and spent the winters plowing snow in a 5-speed 4x4 dumptruck. Around the same time I had learned to drive a 4-speed stick with a 2-speed rear. Raise your hands, how many of you know what i'm talking about? A shifter sticking up through the floor, with a knob on the stalk to change the rear end gears :D In a '55 Chevy 6500 series Dumptruck.

and of course around 9-10 I was allowed to start using the Torch, Welder, Grinder, Lathe, etc to build/repair my own stuff. Spent alot of time chopping firewood too, and at 12 I got upgraded from an Ax/Maul to a chainsaw. Best Childhood in my opinion. I'm in my early/mid 20's now and others my own age (who lived sheltered lives) don't even know how to check their own oil, and if their food doesn't come in a microwaveable container they're clueless.