25 Years!
The N-News is entering its 25th year and soon we will have produced our one hundredth issue. I personally had a hand in pulling together half of those issues, and soon I gained a firm grasp on the N-News. Today I publish the magazine. Twenty-five years after the first issue of the N-News came together on an old PC, it finds you on the Internet today. It's been a long journey. And it is you, the reader and subscriber, who has been the most important part of the N-News experience. Now, let’s work together and shoot for another twenty-five. |
Tech Talk from the N-News
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In 1969 my Uncle Gerard happened upon an 8N through a friend. It had been in a barn fire (it probably was the cause of the fire) and had been towed out to the manure pile. My uncle didn’t need a tractor, but a student at the high school, Luke, convinced my uncle that it was too good a deal to pass up. It was almost free - although it did need new front tires and rewiring.
My Uncle Gerard took on the project of bringing the 8N back to life and with help from Luke, the tractor came around. And my uncle used it all the time. It turned out to be the best wheelbarrow he ever owned! As he learned more about what the tractor could do, he also became fascinated with the history of mechanized agriculture. Luke helped inspire Gerard to pay attention to the 3-point hitch and how that hitch changed farming.
It is unfortunate that we need batteries, but we do. We need them because we are lazy, and not too patient. If you doubt what I’ve just said, find a 2N Ford tractor that is still original. It will have no battery, starter or battery ignition. In place of these parts you will find a hand crank sticking out of the grill with a magneto as the source of engine ignition. None of us like that arrangement! No matter how long our old tractors sit, we expect them to fire right up.