If you know me at all, you likely know that I would add “old” to “good” books in the 1941 Burton Lane/Ralph Freed line above. I like old stuff including old books, of which I have a diverse collection.

If the work is done and the day still young, a ride through the back roads in an antique truck is often in order. Since my work truck is only months short of being 50 years old, the antique factor is already built in. All that’s needed is some time, gasoline, curiosity and a camera.

Please bear with me. After thinking up a clever title for the March/April Tech Tips column in Antique Power, I’m all “titled out.” The above was one of the first to be rejected. The article is about using spent shotgun shells to plug off dirt sensitive lines and fittings while a tractor bein…

This will be the last installment of this column in 2017. The next will be on Jan. 3, 2018. Such an occasion is commonly thought to be a time of reflection — another year gone by (sigh).

William Taylor and Callie Taylor Dayton may just be 2 of the busiest people you’ll meet come the holiday season.

I guess I’ve gotten into the habit of borrowing titles lately.

Every square inch of ground anywhere holds a story. As children in the then vast New Jersey farm country, we would find lost objects in the fields by throwing our pocket knives then looking at the place where they landed. I admit that this method wasn’t very scientific, but it did sometimes …

WHEELING — More than 200 members and friends of the West Virginia Farm Bureau (WVFB) gathered on Nov. 14-16 at the Oglebay Resort & Conference Center in Wheeling to conduct their 102nd annual meeting.

An old friend, a minister, recently passed away. Because of Covid-19, the memorial service had to be held on Zoom.

The North River Mills shop has virtually no heat and plenty of ventilation. Years ago, someone must have found themselves in a situation similar to mine as there is evidence of newspapers having been put up on the west wall to block the wind. An open lean-to protects this wall from rain and …

The shortage of natural pollinators, such as bees, is threatening global food production around the world, making it difficult to feed an ever-growing human population. Researchers at West Virginia University have come up with a plan B to this decline in pollinators by creating a robotic pol…

I have virtually no experience in the beef cattle business. There, I feel better having finally made that confession. In addition, I have only 1 (one) tractor repair customer who is a full-time cattle farmer and not retired from some secret branch of the federal government. Of course, all of…

It was around 6:30 a.m. and I had just dropped off the Old Hippie school bus driver at her bus in Capon Bridge. It was raining an uninspiring rain; Neither the fury of summer thunder nor the deep, contemplative state inspired by a winter ice storm.

A West Virginia University engineer is combining the study of neuroscience and robotics to better understand the nervous system and motor output of insects to create animal-like robots for potential use in agriculture, mining and space exploration.

Ah, November. A bright moon in the boughs of leafless trees, a single chill raindrop on the cheek, soft amber glow of distant windows, wood smoke in the silver gray dawn, red glow in the western sky from a Midwest afternoon, survival of the Old Hippie’s orchard day. That’s right — Saturday, …

As many readers already know, I’m an advocate for the preservation and use of old cars, trucks and other machinery. The ‘70s, when the Old Hippie (aka, wife Stephanie) and I were first married, was our golden age of economical, carefree driving; we drove ‘50s trucks. The trucks were designed…

We who do not celebrate All Hallows Eve or Halloween have nonetheless come to associate this time of year with things spooky and mysterious. It’s only natural, really; consider the long shadows of trees reaching across a meadow, the mystery of a vast, rustling cornfield, early darkness, the …

Richard Dykstra of Readstown, Wis., writes to ask how much work is involved in replacing the engine in a gasoline powered Massey Ferguson 150 with a Perkins Diesel unit.

There are ideas, there’s on a roll, then there’s inspiration.

Ah, October: frost, foliage, woodsmoke and clear, cool nights. Since hunting season has begun, this author is inspired to write about — what else — guns. I’ve been a regular at C.S. Arms in Upperville, Va., for a few years now. I’m into cheap (of course) fixer-uppers, and my special interest…