Farewell “Wheel” 1988-2008

It is with great sadness today that I announce the untimely passing of Wheel.

Wheel and I knew each other when he was just a toddler’s tricycle and I’m proud to say that I knew him and recognized his potential even then. He developed his lovely red shade, added a bunch of horsepower and gears – growing up into the fine lawn tractor you see in front you. I very proud to be his friend and mentor.

You see, Wheel ran our nursery for us. Hauling plants from one end to the other, towing two and three nursery carts at a time, loaded down with multiple racks of retail ready perennials fresh from the fields and nursery. He could haul more than his weight and his strength is legendary in our family.

In fact, when our children heard about the death of Wheel, their first reaction was gentle reminiscing about growing up under his protective influence. My eldest summed it up best by commenting that this was indeed “the passing of an era.”

My youngest on the other hand remembered several other facets of Wheel’s existence. He did tend to cut corners a bit towards the end of the day and she held the record for knocking down nursery benches with wagon trains of plants. We believe the number was 6 full benches of plants hitting the ground, knocked over by a big red guy and his faithful followers. I was also reminded how when we tried transforming Wheel from a puller to a common grass cutter, he responded by forcing my youngest to run over one of my very expensive, pure rubber nursery hoses making two fifty-foot hoses instead of the previous 100 foot hose. I’m told the snake that stuck it’s head up one day met a similar end when Wheel rolled on by under full steam.

My son still holds the record for wagon-surfing. After the plants were unloaded, the game was to let Wheel have his head and drive him as fast as possible (assuming the Head Gardener wasn’t looking but he often was smiling secretly to himself) while the siblings stood on the following wagons. My athletic son surely kept his footing quite well – at least well enough to keep himself out of the hospital as Wheel and company (the others safely seated on wagons) hurtled across the rough ground of the nursery.

Wheel passed away the other day in manner befitting horsepower of his age – he was getting old and simply threw a rod while trying to climb a hill under full power. A glorious ending – to go out with a bang rather than a flat whimper. The rough banging and grinding from the engine decidedly indicated a serious lack of internal integrity. It wasn’t pretty. Wheel is so old that the engine company no longer makes engines and the designated replacement, associated wiring harnesses and modifications are going to be more than the cost of a brand new tractor.

My good buddy Wheel and I ran my nursery and hauled everything from kids to peat, plants, and if you name it on a farm and nursery – we hauled it. It was a workhorse of a machine and I’ll miss it terribly. There are few stronger bonds than between a man and his tractor and I really can’t even being to tell you how much I’m going to miss old Wheel. Even when a new tractor comes into my life, there won’t be the history, the memories associated with Wheel. I know every scratch on the paint, every whim and whimsy of that engine and attachments. I’ve skinned knuckles, shared blood and oil and repaired more belts on the tractor than I have on me. I’m going to miss that tractor and the memories he brought along with him.

Wheel was predeceased by his faithful companion Eight’N and while she was a little larger than Wheel, there is no question who was the biggest worker with the biggest heart. With no children, they were the last of their generation; but will live on in our memories.

Farewell old buddy.