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07-20-2008, 07:59 AM
Let it be known straight off the bat, that my Great-Grandfather was a Farmall Man, and a very proud one at that. Despite having been approached several times by John Deere dealers, he had no interest in having one on his potato farm; one of the largest in Waldo County at the time.
Well as luck would have it, he was mowing hay in the "Cates Field" when one of his Farmall Tractor's got stuck. Really stuck. Sure enough, just when he was trying to get the darn thing out of the mud a John Deere salesman camealong and said...
"If you had a John Deere Fred you would not have gotten stuck."
"Well if your darn John Deere can pull my tractor out and mow this field,then I'll buy the !@#$%%^^& thing," he said; not uncommon for his type of language. Well the John Deere pulled the tractor out and then proceeded to mow the rest of the field. A man of his word, my Great Grandfather bought the tractor.
That did not mean he liked it. Even after he had it for awhile, he still hated it.
Well the John Deere dealers kept asking him about it, and while he tried to get out of it, they kept pressuring him to say a few words to the Maine Potato Board...a powerful organization back then. When he said he could not drive up there, they came down and picked him up and brought him there.
"Today we have Fred Johnson, one of the largest potato farmers in Waldo County here. He has 5 tractors and he would like to say a few words about his new John Deere."
My Great Grandfather stood up and indeed spoke.
"Boys, I think you are a little confused. You see I got four tractors and a John Deere."
That was how he got his revenge, obviously slurring John Deere pretty hard in front of a lot of potato farmers. Later he said that it was one long, quiet ride back to Thorndike (an hours drive from Bangor).
Well as luck would have it, he was mowing hay in the "Cates Field" when one of his Farmall Tractor's got stuck. Really stuck. Sure enough, just when he was trying to get the darn thing out of the mud a John Deere salesman camealong and said...
"If you had a John Deere Fred you would not have gotten stuck."
"Well if your darn John Deere can pull my tractor out and mow this field,then I'll buy the !@#$%%^^& thing," he said; not uncommon for his type of language. Well the John Deere pulled the tractor out and then proceeded to mow the rest of the field. A man of his word, my Great Grandfather bought the tractor.
That did not mean he liked it. Even after he had it for awhile, he still hated it.
Well the John Deere dealers kept asking him about it, and while he tried to get out of it, they kept pressuring him to say a few words to the Maine Potato Board...a powerful organization back then. When he said he could not drive up there, they came down and picked him up and brought him there.
"Today we have Fred Johnson, one of the largest potato farmers in Waldo County here. He has 5 tractors and he would like to say a few words about his new John Deere."
My Great Grandfather stood up and indeed spoke.
"Boys, I think you are a little confused. You see I got four tractors and a John Deere."
That was how he got his revenge, obviously slurring John Deere pretty hard in front of a lot of potato farmers. Later he said that it was one long, quiet ride back to Thorndike (an hours drive from Bangor).