Demise of The Garden Tractor

I have often wondered "what happened to all of the real garden tractors?" and came to the conclusion that it is all about demographics. I am a baby boomer and remember as a boy that everyone I knew grew a big garden, not the case these days. After WWII, the returning service men married, bought a suburban home and raised a family on their 1 or less acre parcel of land in a 3 bedroom ranch home, that's what mom and dad did. They needed machines back then capable of taking care of the lawn and garden because they actually raised gardens in those days. Then, due to demand, enter the modern garden tractors. Walk behind Gravely's and Bolen's, ride on Sears and our beloved Wheel Horses just to name a few, these machines were depended on to maintain the property, cut grass, plow snow and tend the garden. Fast forward to the hi-tech age of the average boomer offspring's who now live in an apartment, condo, or home built on a 1/4 acre lot in Florida.This generation was never immersed in the ways of their grandparents and therefore have no desire to involve themselves with anything greater than cutting their postage stamp size lawn with a box store mower and grilling burgers on the patio. The demand for true garden tractors decreased to the point that it was no longer profitable for their manufacturers to produce them, there just wasn't a market for them.

I am part of an aging group of individuals who need to instill the values of our parents and grandparents into our children and grandchildren of how important it is to preserve our heritage, to maintain these old machines and use them for their intended purposes, which are to maintain our lawns, push snow or gravel, till, plow, disc and cultivate our gardens and provide the endless enjoyment of keeping them running properly.

That's a great way to put what our mission should be!

Very nicely put......would be nice if everybody felt that way....... :goodpost

I like endless enjoyment :bliss

GT 14 wrote: I like endless enjoyment :bliss

I figured that sounded better than "endless drudgery" :rolling

:agree

:agree

Like they say, nothing as good as the good ole days...