From Tinkering to Torquing: A Beginner's Guide to Tractors and Tools - Hardcover

Welsch, Roger L.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0760320829 ISBN 13: 9780760320822

Publisher: Voyageur Pr, 2005

Synopsis

Antique tractor collecting and restoration has never been more popular and all the newcomers need to be warned, according to old tractor guru Roger Welsch. Otherwise, they’ll end up alone with three mortgages and two ex-wives but they will have a barn with a sparkling restored tractor. Here, in a tone comfortably lodged between wise and wisecracking, the man Charles Kuralt called "America’s premier storyteller" recounts falling in love with bringing old tractors back to life and, along the way, manages to impart some sound advice, including the basics: What is old? What is a tractor? And what is it with old tractors, anyway? He also covers the finer points of restoration and repair, from the tools of the trade to tractor parts to the restorer’s use of common household objects in a pinch.

About this title

About the Author:

Roger Welsch can best be described as a cross between Erma Bombeck and Dr. Ruth, except male and living in Nebraska with his wife and dogs. Before turning his talents to canine psychology, Roger was best known as \u201cthe fat guy in overalls\u201d on CBS\u2019 Sunday Morning, where he offered up essays on rural and small-town life on the plains.

From Booklist:

In a just and proper world, From Tinkering to Torquing would be a classic for adults and youth alike. How can reading about murder, madness, and mayhem compare to the unadulterated joy of learning about motors, manifolds, and mankind's endless battle with rust? Welsch, author of Old Tractors and the Men Who Love Them (1995) and Love, Sex, and Tractors (2000), returns to his favorite subject. These anecdotal reflections venture far from the realm of a practical maintenance manual, but even so, Welsch does an admirable job of providing beginners through gearheads with detailed information about the key components of tractors and their tools. Beginning with the motor (there are no engines in tractors) and working through the major mechanical and electrical systems, Welsch describes in a neighborly fashion the pieces of a tractor and how they fit and work together. Along the way, the story is sprinkled with Welsch's trademark witticisms, as he delves into such patently nonmechanical domains as marital harmony, public speaking, high finance, and Zen. A must for rural libraries and surprisingly entertaining for readers everywhere. Mark Coe
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About this edition

• Publisher: Voyageur Pr
• Publication date: 2005
• ISBN 10: 0760320829
• ISBN 13: 9780760320822
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 224