Pretty much what the title said....

Do you have any hobbies outside of tractors or farming?

I could say that I'm a general "history nut" of course, with a priority towards mechanical stuff.

But I'm also having some fun with still photography. It was digital, but I've been trying film lately, and having fun with it (though it helps that I've got a camera with all sorts of bells and whistles to mess with)

Not the best photographer, but I like to play.


A calcium chloride spreader built by my great grandpa


His sawmill. Note the upside down horseshoe and blade in the background. I have to admit I cheated on this one. Two pictures into one to get everything in focus.

So, what do you guys do?

Brandon

nothing according to my wife. i do shoot the game films for the local high school boys and girls basketball team. i built the stands the volleyball judges use, the score keepers table and re do the ball hauling racks every other year. i set the light poles and leveled the in field for the girls soft ball field. i do volunteer work at a community help center. i do home repair and enjoy seeing how bad some guys mess things up that i work in behind. it always gives me a big laugh. i really feel for jq public when it comes to home repairs done by other than a name company. problem is that most of my customers want me to make it look gold plate and furnish the gold and labor and then not charge them for it. yeah, most of my customers are women and have the means to pay. they just don't like it, but i've not lost a customer since i started this in 2001. i've not gone back and worked for some, but it was my choice, not theirs.

Brandon, this is neat idea to come clean about our interests and hobbies. I'll just make a simple list that is in addition to old farm stuff.

1. Hunting especially pheasants.
2. Dogs that like to hunt pheasants. My labs Gus and Cassie.
3. Motorcycles. Love to ride and dream about buying more bikes.
4. Shot gun sports, Sporting clays, Trap and Skeet.
5. Golf . When I get a chance and find a new partner. (No I didn't hit my last one with a club, my son got married and moved)
6. Fishing
7. Gardening- vegetables, and fruit, stuff you can eat.
8. Computers, both for web development and games.
9. Helping my kids (life long hobby, and maybe my favorite)

That's about it. Now that I look at it, I think that is maybe enough!

Rav

I got a couple of hobbies on the go as well;

I started collecting Ruger revolvers a couple years ago, Blackhawks, Vaqueros, Single Sixes. I go to the shooting range and just plink at targets.
I play quite a few different instruments. I play lead guitar in a rock band, but I also dabble in some studio recording at my home. I am currently re-recording an album I made years ago in another band I was in.
I have a 2006 Yamaha Raptor 700R 4-wheeler that I like to ride during the "better" weather months.
I like to play video games on my PS3, Little Big Planet and Guitar Hero World Tour are my favs.
I draw houses and all sorts of other items I dream up using AutoCad and Inventor. I make our drawings where I work, but it's no fun drawing widgets all day....
I like to play with anything mechanical especially antique items like cars, tractors, and other machinery.
I am a single dad with the most wonderful 10 year old daughter. We like to play the video games together, and we also play with Lego & K-Nex alot of the time.
Most of my time is spent with her, so I don't have a lot of time for my hobbies, but I wouldn't want it any other way.

Look forward to reading what other people are doing.......
Moore-D

1) Antique Tube Radios: I have a Crosley Super 11 Console,,,,,,Zenth 11 Tube Console,,,My Grandparents 1936 Grunow Console,,,,,,Grunow Tombstone Radio,,,,,,Hallicrafters and Hammarlund Tube Shortwaves,,,,,,,,, Love to own a Waltons Radio, one of the Zenith Tombstone types as on Waltons TV Show, but theyre pretty expensive and I'm a tightwad

2) Old Time Radio Shows as MP3 Files: I have 6600 old time radio programs, drama and comedy etc from the 30's 40's and 50's all of which are on my 80 GB I Pod plus 2100 songs, plus my word documents and pictures etc.

3) Im a beginner 5 String Banjo player Wannabee

4) Knives, double barell exposed hammer shotguns, 50's and 60's Rock nRoll Music, old cars etc etc etc

5) Old women, had the same First (Test) Wife since 1970, gee shes a Lucky Woman .............

Ol John T Conservaive Nostalgic Fuddy Duddy

moore-d if you can do autocad you should try catia - 3d drawings. that will keep you busy for a while and out of trouble. hang in there with the kid.

Good Topic. OCB goes back 36 years and stands for OLD Clay Bxxxxxx. That says allot about my hobbies long before retirement.
Hobbies are practiced for interest and enjoyment, rather than financial reward

1- Old iron, any color and mostly rust but tractors are limited to JD and Cat. ( Greatest amount of time as Mechanic then operator)

2- Things of nature and being seasonal include Gardening, Wildlife watching ( mostly birds of the wild & observing as I walk), Hunting, Fishing .

3- Genealogy, old Photos and local history of an era.

4- Other antiques. I try to preserve Guns ( Flintlock to modern but old or rare), Pendulum Clock (Mantel & wall hangers), some misc including two old radios (Late ?1920's? Console "Freshman" with built-in speaker-horn 5 tube and Mid 1920's Hand Built Kit 5 Dial which I have used with a Magnavox Horn, sweet sound). My wife of 42 years (she is not to be includes as antique) handles Glassware and domestic items.

5- Qualifies as a hobby but a commitment, my civic duties is with Kiwanis, (Young Children: Priority One).

There are three types of people categorized by learning.
____ The most learn by reading.
____ Some learn learn by from hands on.
____ The rest learn by P'ing on the electric fence. ........... I think I learn by hands on.

Holy cow! You guys are full of suprises. Great to see all of your hobbies and interests. The running joke around here is I never get more than 5 miles from home and unfortunately there is alot of truth in that. Just the other day I told someone my hobby was taking care of the cattle, its alot of work but I enjoy it.
bill

Farmerbill says "I told someone my hobby was taking care of the cattle"
I guess that qualifies as defined above as I use to raise some pigs, no fiancial reward. lol
Watching all creatures is enjoyable.

my hobbies include:
working on old equipment and automobiles,
painting vehicles,
welding and metalwork,
woodworking,
camping and travel,
hunting and fishing,
and i will be getting into farming----got to finish the pole barn (my shop) i built with my brothers, then i will have time to start farming. it will be nice to grow my own vegetables and fruits instead of harvesting them from the grocery store. i am also currently learning blacksmithing from a blacksmith club whose founder has been blacksmithing for 55+ years and he still does demonstrations for the group's meetings.

Other then JD's...
1. Motorcylce's
2. Working on a '53 Ford F350 w/ flathead v8
3. Quail Hunting
4. Fishing

My hobbie are mostly learning how to do things, fix them, or build them. Woodworking (from felling the tree's to sawing the lumber & building what nots & furniture). Revolver target practice & re-loading. Metal fabricating, including blacksmithing. I used to enjoy picking the guitar, but these old fingers don't work well enough now a day's. Anything old and mechanical is tops on my list.

Grandkid's!

Enjoying the better half! Getting close to 37 years now and she's still trying to straighten me out. lol
M-MAN

A very interesting topic! I am trying to guess ages of everyone with their interests, I am 44. My best hobby is my wife and 3 kids (17,13,8) they get alot of my time. My side hobbies are numerous, anything outdoors, golf, woodworking, building stuff, and of course restoring tractors. Growing up on a farm you learn to be a jack of all trades. I still enjoy many of them except the milking cows part. gave that up a long time ago. Other interests include board member for fire dept and school and other community involvement.
My real job allows me to travel so I can mix in some tractor searching with it which is a hobby too I guess.

I'll throw in a couple of pictures also,

pic # 1- I had a good time pickin ear corn this fall with all vintage equipment
pic # 2 - My occasional tractor restoring team clowning around. ( I am not a good picture taker)

JimDeere

[quote name='Jim Deere' post='87902' date='Jan 9 2009, 12:34 AM']A very interesting topic! I am trying to guess ages of everyone with their interests, I am 44. My best hobby is my wife and 3 kids (17,13,8) they get alot of my time. My side hobbies are numerous, anything outdoors, golf, woodworking, building stuff, and of course restoring tractors. Growing up on a farm you learn to be a jack of all trades. I still enjoy many of them except the milking cows part. gave that up a long time ago. Other interests include board member for fire dept and school and other community involvement.
My real job allows me to travel so I can mix in some tractor searching with it which is a hobby too I guess.

I'll throw in a couple of pictures also,

pic # 1- I had a good time pickin ear corn this fall with all vintage equipment
pic # 2 - My occasional tractor restoring team clowning around. ( I am not a good picture taker)

JimDeere [/quote I'm retired now -I just finished a restoration on a 1955 model40-Idrove a race car for about 20 years- I have built many race cars -antique pick-ups and cars. I have a small herd of cattle to care for and I enjoy the grand kids- I like to go to antique tractor shows antique car shows and parades I spend most of my time out tinkering in my shop TJ

Not suprisingly many of us have some very similar interests. I'm sure as this list grows we'll see many list model trains as a hobby.

I've had and given up many hobbies over the years - modeling in general including trains, cars, trucks, etc. Had a race car for a few years (1/4 mile drag). Collected and sold off several collections of various types. Used to spend hours with D&D (if anyone knows what that is). Was heavy in the car hobby for years. Had and had to sell a nice 720 - that went hand-in-hand with my attempt at hobby farming.

Currently I spend my spare time with various duties at the local Fire Company - firefighter, treasurer, grant administrator. I recently got myself appointed to the Township Parks, Recreation, and Open Space Commitee - should be an interesting experience. At the end of last year I was lucky enough to be awarded a full scholarship to the University of Phoenix (which has an online program) so of late classwork has become a big time consumer.

Of course theres the falling down farmhouse I live in, and my wife and daughter as well.

Some days I miss being bored.....

Gregg

Great topic Brandon. It shouldn't have come as any surprise that the guys here on the board have such a varied list of hobbies and past times outside of tractors. Even though it really isn't a surprise, I'm quite impressed with the breadth and depth of everybody's interests. No wonder this is such a great place!!

As for boring ol' me, my major hobbies outside of my 60 are coaching J.V. and Middle School wrestling, fishing (both "soft water" and "hard water--through the ice") and being a novice at fly tying. I've also coached football and baseball at the middle school level and would love to again, but there are only so many hours in a day... And, of course, there's my lovely bride, my son, and the 2 miniature terrorists in Labrador Retriever suits that share this little piece of heaven with me. They're all a hobby in, and of, themselves.

The other thing I do, as sort of a hobby, is related to my trade. I teach classes for code updates for licensed electricians as well as continuing education credit classes for other inspectors. I also am involved in lecturing to the electronics classes at the local Vo-Tech school as well as sitting on the advisory board for curriculum. I guess I should consider myself very lucky that I can consider things that are a part of my trade to be a hobby. But, that's the way I look at them. I guess that comes from all of the "old timers" over the years that have gladly passed their knowledge on to me in various pursuits (especially my dear ol' grey-haired Daddy). When it's not work to do it, it must be a hobby, right?

When Murphy is not working on old John Deere tractors and implements, he likes collecting and watching old western movies. He also likes going to film festivals and dressing like famous western movie stars. Here Murphy is trying to impersonate THE LONE RANGER.






Will the " REAL " Lone Ranger, please stand up.

I forgot to add that I'm an avid reader (fiction and non-fiction), and I've also taken up collecting JD literature that interests me (and is cheap enough). I've got so many full bookshelves, I'm waiting for the floor to collapse.

I'm 25 years old.

Brandon

Hi Gang,

I have all sorts of interests I just do not seem to have the time to pursue them. First off is the lovely Mrs. H and the Boys. Recent history: our sheep and chickens, gardening, planting/trimming/selling Christmas trees, pickling, Little League coach, soccer coach, snowboard instructor, pressing cider, photography and playing with the new camcorder, HO scale trains, guitars, Cub Scout leader, reading books from "Lord of the Rings" to "John Adams", history, and more. I have been a Justice of the Peace, Constable, Town Agent, one of the political party chairs in town. Ancient history: Dad and I restored a 1955 Oldsmobile Rocket 88, and a 1953 GMC panel wagon, earned my private pilot's license on my 18th birthday, split wood and go to the fair. I am currently Town Energy Coordinator, serving on the local Rec Committee, Asst Scoutmaster for Boy Scouts, and YouTube Star . I prefer staying at home with the boys and sliding, splitting more wood and still going to the fair! Once in a while I get the chance to go earn money at my real job. And I'm 43.

Hi all,

I'm into :
My granddaughter
toy trains
antique elevators
building things (almost anything)
working with metals
log homes
reading
history

Sounds like a well rounded group out there, should be no lack of expertise in any field. Anyway I keep busy with woodworking, photography and web site design . Did the site for our 2 cyl club , www.1stontariotwocylinder.com , if anyone wants to check it out. My 12 year old grandson also keeps me on my toes, he also loves John Deeres and has "claimed" ownership of my 60 lawn tractor.

Other than old tractors is old cars and trucks, computers, 4-wheeling, off-roading, and photography.

My interest in Old cars and trucks started when I found a 1946 Ford 1 ton out in our Pasture. It's my next project after my 80 and I hope to have it going before I graduate which is going to be tough. I'm pretty much into anything pre-1960. I love the look from the outside and inside them looking out. It just feels great to sit in and look out knowing that someone else sat there over 60 years ago on his way to work.

My interest in tractors came about with my love with old trucks. Being farmers we had more tractors sitting around than old trucks. Another one of my projects is an IH T-340 (yes I know its an international) loader tractor. I like the riding out on the tractors with the wind and sound of those old engines chugging away.

My interest in Computers started a long time ago. When I was little there was little things to do on the farm in the evening. We had an old computer I would play video games on and I soon tore it apart (much to dads dislike) and read about stuff to see what each thing did. And now I build and work on computers for everyone in the family.

4-wheeling started for me when we got 2 honda 4-wheelers to check the fence in our pasture as it was too long to walk and too rough to drive a truck around on and I soon began to enjoy those fence checking rounds more and more and would do a little extra driving around and have a lot of fun.

Off-Roading is what almost anyone can have fun doing. When I "found" my first truck out behind our shop, a 1975 Chevy C20 with some nice tires on it, and since my dad had parked it out there to rust away he didn't really care what I did with it. So I would drive it back and forth through the mudhole behind our shed and any other mudhole I could find. And with "homemade" straight pipes on it sure became a looker

I took to Photography a couple years back when we got our first digital camera and I have taken over 2000 pictures with it of us farming. Many of which I have uploaded to my Photobucket account if anyone wants to check it out. And recently I got a new camera for Christmas which takes much better pictures but with the cold weather I haven't had the chance to go out and take pictures with it yet.

Thats my story. Hope you enjoyed reading!

Photobucket Account http://s101.photobucket.com/albums/m70/fighterofwars/

Youtube Channel http://www.youtube.com/user/Fighterofwars

Here is a list in no particular order:

#1 John Deeres, mostly Standards and Dubuques

#2 Photography, nature and outdoorsy stuff

#3 Traveling, hiking, camping. . . anything outside

#4 Interior Revovation of an 1800s farm house (more of a necessity than a hobby, but Im learning every day about wiring, plumbing, framing, wood trim, just about anything).

#5 My Wife, but I would call her more of an adventure I look forward to everyday vs. a hobby

#6 My livestock: Flock of ducks and chickens. . . plus whatever finds its way to the farm

#7 Plants/Gardening/Hay Making. . . anything to justify the use of my tractors.

There are others but these are the main ones Ive had time for outside the job.
Great Idea/Topic Brandon. Interesting to see how similar many tractor folks are.

Dave

Other than my interest in JD stuff I;

Play guitar. I have been in quite a few bands but not in the last couple of years. Last thing I did was with 2 of my boys and a friend at church (one of my boys is a prodigy on keyboards, he plays by ear, but has the unique ability to hear what each hand is doing separately on a piano).

Collect Toy Trains. Resources have limited that in recent years.

Fly fish. I have been targeting the bass on our ponds in recent years and have developed some techniques and flies that work quite well for them.

That's about it for me. It's very interesting to see what others do in their spare time.

Other Hobbies?

Tractors of course...
Hunting, fishing, Old vehicles especially old Ford Trucks but they're all good, Motorcycles especially the old H.D's and used to be into the dirt bikes, Golf, Skiing, pool, my veggie garden, enjoy doing body work but realized early on that I wasn't good enough at it to get the speed needed to actually make money doing it. Still enjoy doing my own things and for friends and relatives. Recently getting reacquainted with trap shooting.

And as the handle I chose for this forum would imply... I'm into machinery of pretty much any sort. I'm one of the lucky people who enjoys his work. I've had the luck of being able to build machines for specific applications for our business and some literally from scratch. Haven't had a hefty project in a while but it's sweet when I do have the opportunity to create something. Machines I've designed, I will also assemble and run the first parts on them. It's quite a rush when it all start to come together and you get to see it work. Most of my days are spent making improvements on repeat offenders in the tooling or equipment world. If a component breaks in what seems to be a premature time frame or just too often I'll see what I can do to beef it up.

... and food. Don't like to cook it... Just eating it.
... and beer. I do like a frosty bud in my hand when the work is done for the day... That and a fresh Camel and we're good.
... and "I loves the womens, I surely do." Not a "Full time night woman..." Just a, part time and do my dishes before you leave kind.
But those last three might not be considered hobbies.
Bob

I don't know...Back in my single/younger days, I considered all three of them to be hobbies! To this day, I still consider beer to be somewhat of a hobby!!

Hobbies for me are:

Antique pocket watch repair on bad weather days...

Praying my 60 will start...

Starting back to school :|

Raising kids

Most of my other time is spent at work ....and i dont mind that too much.... working on gigantic equipment.

Did not do too much farmwork this past summer..... Fuel bill was too high.

Brandon! Long time no talk!

Other hobbies outside of the tractors:

Diesel Performance! - I have a 7.3L PSD pulling truck that is a blast - I also have a compound turboed Dmax for a tow truck, after all I gotta get the pulling truck and any tractors to the events on time.

Art - Charcoal and pencil drawing has been a pastime of mine for a long time - been slacking in it the last couple of years due to my schedule, but it is on my mind a good bit.

Oh Yeah, I was once an Air Force Strategic Air Command B-47 mechanic and crew chief and I still like all airplanes, but especially the vintage varieties and go to a lot of air shows and have quite a bit of literature on them.

Then I'm a Ford car nut of sorts and follow Big League Baseball too. However with my severely limited resources, the old Johnny Poppers represent my principal investment in the fun things of life.