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All afternoon they worked together on the tractor. The silence of the farm a background to Grumps’ gentle snores. John enjoyed the easy rhythm as he and Connie worked back to front, breaking the beast down to parts.
John dragged over an old milking stool and started cleaning the parts with a splash of diesel over an old bucket. There’d been no holds barred in the design of this machine. They’d planned for it to last by building it heavy and building it big. Less than twice the horsepower of a modern push-around lawnmower engine, yet she could deliver it year in and year out through the worst mud and hard-baked soil Muskogee could hand out. And a big enough bore that it took more than hard winter soil to slow the machine down. Not fast, but it won the race for sheer stubborn endurance.
