I'm more of a Versatile man myself.

John Deere used to be the shit. Everybody knows that the John Deere 95 combine would last forever and the only reason they changed them was because they did. John Deere learned about planned obsolescence. Used to be a man could climb aboard with some big 'ol man sized wrenches and fix a John Deere. John Deere fixed that. Max still owns and runs a '95', but when it comes to a tractor . . . well, he says, I'm more of a Versatile man myself. Versatile 800 that is. Canadian made with a straight 8 deisel.

My first day driving this thing was my second day there. I was 'discing'. I pulled an implement called a 'discer'. It is comprised of 40 or 50 inverted and angled steel discs that you drop in the ground to turn the soil and pull out weeds. I did this for about a hundred acres and was making my last pass. I got 'er stuck. Dale from the next farm over pulled us out a couple days later with his even bigger tractor (also not a John Deere) and it came out with a sucking sound but otherwise rolled free as if it never was stuck. With a modest 'you're welcome' he tipped his hat and nodded at the cat-tails not ten feet away. 'Might aughta not get so close to them cat-tails next time' he benevolently admonished me. Max said it might be a good start for a pond. I asked him what are you going to name it? Remo's Ravine. Last I looked it was holding mucky water pretty good in a double oval shaped baby pond. He said he had never heard of anyone burying a four wheel drive tractor almost to its belly before. I gave him a condescending scowl and said that I counted eight wheels. Why no pictures of the thing actually stuck? 'Cause you don't tote along a shiny little waterproof digital and stand back composing photos while the likes of men such as Max and Dale are undoing what you done did. Of course now I wish I had. That's farming!