How did you learn to drive?

Did you take a class? Or what?

[wyweb]

My grandpa taught me. He'd sit me in his lap and let me take the wheel of this old busted up Ford pick-up. We were out in the pasture though. There's wasn't anything for me to hit. I was maybe 10 years old.

I was driving big Chevy hay trucks right through town by the time I was 14. I didn't have a license. This is Burlington, Kansas though. Not Los Angeles.

Two cops in town and if one of them saw me coming he'd just wave. They know I don't have a license. They know my grandpa though, and they know that hay needs to get put in the barn.

[jecasc]

I learned to drive when I was 13. My father was member of a small gliding club and I and a few other kids used to pull the gliders to the start with an old tractor and the cables of the winch for the winch lauch in an old beetle.

[incrediBILL]

Define "drive" - does riding lawnmowers at 8 and farm tractors at 10 count?

Yes, we were actually mowing and plowing, didn't have time for frivolity with gliders.

The speed boat on the weekends pulling girls in bikinis had to suffice with I was 13 :)

[Leosghost]

We di'n't 'ave 'ny tractuhs nor owt laihke lawnmowuhs in't shoebox when I werruh lad. :(

[wyweb]

@Bill

does riding lawnmowers at 8 and farm tractors at 10 count?

I don't know about riding lawnmowers. They're not really big enough to tear anything up.

Farm tractors definitely count. They're big and they can knock something down.

You're driving both, but one is fairly harmless.

The tractor's not. That's driving. And if you're driving one at 10, you are a farm boy.

Thank God for farm boys. I'll say that again if I have to.

[Leosghost]

I don't know about riding lawnmowers. They're not really big enough to tear anything up.

[youtube.com...] ;-)

There's a lot more like that...'n' worse ( or better depending on your point of view;-) out there

[incrediBILL]

I don't know about riding lawnmowers. They're not really big enough to tear anything up.

You must be thinking those little pansy riding lawnmowers, this was one of those big ones that real men smoking cigars ride, designed to quickly dispatch about an acre of lawn.

My dad's riding lawnmower had a decent engine, rev it up, pop the clutch and you could pop a wheelie, ticked my mom off to no end.

We had so much grass, you start mowing the wide open spaces with the old ford tractor which had a sickle mower and hope you don't chop any rabbits in half, makes cleaning the blades a real pain. If you don't have a clue how powerful a sickle mower is, my dad accidentally chopped a fire hydrant in half that was hidden in a pile of weeds. People keep a respectful distance from sickle mowers.

When you get too close to the house landscaping you switch to the big riding mower, since the sickle will take down small trees, bushes, lawn chairs, anything it it's path, so you need a riding mower with more finesse.

When that's done you get the push mower to trim what the riding mower couldn't reach.

Now, you stand back, look at the nice work you've done and head right back out to the tractor and start the sickle mower again because now that you've been mowing for a week the grass has already grown too high where you started.

That's the kind of driving I got to do... grass was driving me crazy.

[ectect]

I learned in Madrid and had never driven before. Instructor told me to get in the driver seat and I told him I'd never driven. He said that's ok he was going to teach me the basics....

Accelerator, clutch, brake - vamos!

[tbear]

I told my boss (I was 16) I could drive just to impress him, and he gave me the keys to a furniture lorry and told me to go out and deliver furniture to clients, in and around London. Shock, horror!
Good job I had a good pair of Levis on, could have been a nasty accident. LOL

[wyweb]

This is still about driving... I'm staying on topic lawman....

In the country kids are driving combines at 13. That work has to be done and everybody works on a farm. And there's plenty of work too. Everybody works.

I was hauling hay when I was 14. I was getting paid for it too. Grandpa paid me a man's wages.

We got paid 21 cents a bale. If there were 3 guys on the truck, you split it 3 ways. And you needed 3 guys. 2 on top and one driving. We had loaders too. It's a contraption mounted to the truck that scoops the bale up and throws it up to you. Then you grab it with a hook and you drag it to where it needs to be. You put it in there tight. And you stagger layers. It's almost like laying bricks. We could go 5 layers high without getting in trouble. The have to be tight though. We're not tying this stuff down. We're going to the barn. These are square bales. Alfalfa and prairie hay. We're doing 4 or 5 loads a day.

Lots of farmers these days are going with round bales. There's an advantage to that. One, they can leave them in the field for about as long as they want. Water rolls off of them. You get a square bale wet and it'll get so hot it starts a fire. I watched a barn burn one time because this guy was trying to beat the rain and put up some wet bales. He lost his whole barn and that thing smoked for days.

For round bales, an excellent example of a fine driver can be seen here. (It's only 56 seconds.)

[youtube.com ]

[star]

I clicked on this cause I am teaching my daughter to drive ( 14) a car which is the age I began to learn. It must have been a death defying event for my mother cause I am soaked with sweat after a small drive with my daughter.

[wyweb]

Another example of driving....

This is how country boys feed their cattle these days. It's different than how we did it when I was on the farm but this is very effective.

[youtube.com ]

It's only 1:38

That's another advantage of round bales.

[wyweb]

@star

cause I am soaked with sweat after a small drive with my daughter.

ROF... and I'm not laughing at you. I'm sympathizing. I'm sure my grandpa had a few nervous moments too.

We were in a 300 acre pasture and I couldn't even reach the pedals. I'm sitting in his lap and all he's doing is let me take the wheel. If you have the opportunity and the ability, teach a kid to drive by degree. And go where they can't hit anything.

If that's not possible, then yeah, you have to improvise. But it's an ideal situation. I didn't get overloaded. He taught me to steer first. Keep it straight. Don't make sudden turns. Watch what's in front of you.

I wasn't even big enough to reach the pedals but he didn't want me doing that anyway. He was just trying to get me familiar with some of the basics of driving and I was loving every minute of it.

I felt like a big boy.

[incrediBILL]

I just want to die like my grandfather, peacefully in his sleep.

...this is driving related... wait for it...

Not screaming in terror like the passengers in his car.

[Jane_Doe]

A driving school that was next to a "massage parlor". The doors were next to each other and one day I was in a hurry opened the wrong one. Well, that was a day I'll never forget, though I'd certainly like to.

[wyweb]

I just want to die like my grandfather, peacefully in his sleep.

My grandpa died of cancer. He was too stubborn to go to the doctor though. Not until it was too late.

Just to keep this about driving, I drove the lead car behind the hearse on the way to the cemetery so we could bury him. Half the town turned out. I still didn't have a license but my Mom let me do it. It was just me and my Mom and my Aunt in an old Ford Pinto but there's a mile of cars behind us. Grandpa was huge in my life. I basically just told my Mom I was driving and she said okay.

There are more advantages to small town living than big city. In my mind there are. Everyone knows you and that's a good thing. It can get annoying but when you weigh both sides, the annoyance factor loses. It's good to be known. It's good that others watch you. Know you by name, wave at you on the road. In the country everybody waves, even if they don't know you. I like that. It gives me a good feeling.

If you wave at me and smile, I'll wave back and smile at you too.

You have to admit that's a good equation...

[wyweb]

One more thing about grandpa and I'll try to get driving in here so I don't get off topic.

This won't take long.

My dad was a no-show. My grand parents raised me and my brothers, with help from my Mom.

Grandpa was building something one day. I can't remember what it was. A frame for something maybe. He was driving 16 penny nails through 2x4 lumber and doing it in 3 or 4 licks. He'd tap it once to start the nail and then he'd drive it home and it didn't take long. A few swings.

He was teaching me how to build stuff and I was watching every move he made.

He hit a nail wrong and bent it. It was cockeyed. He cussed once and then used his hand to straighten the nail. I was in awe. I thought he was the strongest man in the world. Kids remember stuff like that.

He's dead now but I still think he was the strongest man in the world....

[Old_Honky]

We di'n't 'ave 'ny tractuhs nor owt laihke lawnmowuhs in't shoebox when I werruh lad. :(

You lucky beggar! You had your own shoe box? We had t'share ours with 13 other families and their livestock. How t'other half live!