Wednesday, August 07, 2013

Imagine Airman Johnny's disappointment...

...when he transferred to the Air Force to get away from those tractors the Army recruiter hadn't told him about:

Note the enclosed cab on the USAF version. Army tractor drivers say the Air Force tractors have heated leather seats, intermittent wipers, eight-speaker stereos, and dual-zone climate control.

26 comments:

  1. ..and place to store golf clubs.

    Gerry

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  2. Probably don't have to plow a mine field either. Surprised it is not blue though. Maybe read for flight line duty as some kind of fire suppression or control device?

    Good looking tractor.

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  3. Poor Johnnie... took a trip and never left the farm.....

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  4. That's why i joined the USAF, people are not consumables. Non-consumables should be clean, dry and serviceable at all times.

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  5. You know why you won't find a Marine Tractor?

    It's because the SeeBees do it for them.

    Can Do!

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  6. Notice Alaska State flag, enclosed cabin good.

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  7. It's a USAF flag, actually.

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  8. "Enclosed cab"??
    Typical Zoomie candy-assedness...

    (Hobbles away laughing.)

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  9. This is what I get for jumping to conclusions. Next, you're going to post an actual tractor wearing the eagle, globe, and anchor.

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  10. "That's why i joined the USAF, people are not consumables."

    Well, that's why I joined the Army Infantry, because people are consumables... wait. Shit.

    Yeah, that wasn't real thought out of a decision. All I can say is there was a war going on and I thought I should be in it, or something. God and Country and all that.

    Aren't the USAF tractors for their flower beds in front of their cottages on base?

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  11. Oh, and Ian, that's my favorite game. I got the Jumping to Conclusions Kickstarter edition. It comes with a wooden spinner and a padded laminate game board.

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  12. Dammit, I missed that Kickstarter. Guess I'll have to console myself with the 28-lbs worth of Ogre Designers Edition coming my way in October.

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  13. "Dual-zone climate control"?

    For what, pray tell? I see room for only one in that cab :)

    On the other hand, I'd fully expect the Air Force to spec it.

    On the gripping hand, maybe you mean air conditioning for the summer zone and heat for the winter zone...

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  14. IA, I wanted to get on that Kickstarter so bad I could taste it, but Mr. Dave Ramsey held me back. No I could do it, but it's over.

    Fuzzy, Upper Zone, Lower Zone. Can't let their little toesy wozies get nippy can we? And all that glass has to turn the top into an EZ bake oven.

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  15. Fuzzy Curmudgeon,

    "For what, pray tell? I see room for only one in that cab :)"

    You might want your feet warm and a slightly lower temp in the upper part of the cab! :D


    (As God is my witness, the WV is "spoodata".)

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  16. Must be a different USAF.

    I have no memory of any USAF vehicle painted orange.

    Red was fire department, yellow was not-to-be-driven-offbase (usually flight line), and everything else was blue. Sometimes (AP vehicles) blue with white tops.

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  17. Now there is a small advert near the top of your page for: Get a Small Cat Dozer.
    What's special about a kitty that sleeps? Isn't that a built-in spec for all of them? Or, are they referring to something with tracks, as opposed to something that leaves tracks?

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  18. homebru,

    Adjust your monitor, because that tractor is (incorrectly, apparently) painted M-H red. :)

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  19. Woodman: they are allegedly making a couple thousand examples for retail sale over top of the kickstarter rewards. You might yet be able to get a hold of one, albeit without a few of the goodies. Bug your FLGS, since I also understand they're being released through the normal distribution channels.
    And if you do get one, be aware that Thirdpower has a counter sheet for sale, as well.

    Don't think there are any counters for the tractors our host is posting pictures of, though, on any of the sheets.

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  20. This is all making me nostalgic for Soviet Life magazines and those endearing "Boris Loves His New Tractor" feature stories.

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  21. No USMC tractors? Hmm.

    However, several days following the Blizzard of '78 in Massachusetts, a USMC marked camouflage painted bulldozer with a machine gun mounted on it out of NAS South Weymouth did plow my dead-end street. The snow was too deep and drifted for the regular plow that did the job.

    There was also a towing pintle hook on the back of that 'dozer.

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  22. I saw lots of tractors in the USAF during my tenure there. Many pulled brush hogs and other implements to keep the airfields properly maintained. That kept bird strikes minimized, too. (Always a good thing, as the friends I lost in Yukla 27 would tell you had they survived...)

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  23. I love this comments section more than any other comments section on the InterWeb, today.

    I've been lusting after my neighbor's restored 1940 Massey Ferguson for a year. It runs like a sewing machine and he bought it for less than new tires for it would cost. My wife calmly explains to me that we don't actually need a real tractor for a quarter acre lot.

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  24. ... and probably a direct line to the Airman's Club.

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  25. WAITADAMNMINUTE! I drove one of those Air Force versions for longer than I want to remember ... hauling Aerospace Gound Equipment (AGE = light alls, generators, -60s, etc) around and mine weren't even heated... they could pop one helluva wheelie tho-

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