2-Piper, I enjoyed watching them start and run those monsters as well. Old John Deere always have a place in my heart. We have a hit and miss engine when I was a boy. It was just about as much fun as a boy could have to watch that monster get started and run. I know the 20-40 and 30-60 could be started by standing on the flywheel under ideal conditions. Most of those old machines just aren't going to start easily and the flat belt give you a far longer window to get them going. I suspect after tow or three times trying to leg it up into starting you give it up.
Using a hand crank to start a tractor was something I had to do a lot as a kid in the Winter time. Every man in my family repeatedly told us "kids" to be very careful when doing it. It it kicked back you could quickly get your arm broken. Almost as bad is if the crank did not disengage cleanly while you were holding onto to it. It would pull you along until you pulled off the crank. Another way to break your hand.
Stan, I know you would be too tempered to hear a punt gun roar. Me too. Heck I be just as happy to shoot a flock of black birds, grackles or politicians with one. The last might be the least objectionable to others.
I made a layout boat using a hull of a flat bottom sailing boat. It drew about four inches of water when I was in it, very low profile. Push poled it out to where I shot birds on the river. Had 6" boards to deflect waves. It was death on divers, off a grass bed, on the river. It was also a near death trap if any rough water had happened while I was going out or back in. I did it for years and would never allow my own boy to do it today. Funny how you get when yo get older, wiser or just more afraid.
