Tractor Forum discussion that turned to toy trains talk

Archdean · Dec 27, 2005

For those that are interested in BS I mean tractor stuff, The Original Tractor Forum has been reconstituted in its Original format with all past threads and post intact!!

Hope to see all of you there as well!! Hope this does not violate any rule here!!

http://www.tractorforum.com/

Dean

XeVfTEUtaAqJHTqq · Dec 27, 2005

Re: Reconstituted Original Tractor Forum!!

What's the history behind that forum? I think I checked it out before it went away but the UI is a little awkward and I think the traffic was low.

Just curious?

Archdean · Dec 27, 2005

Re: Reconstituted Original Tractor Forum!!

This is the best I can do at the moment!!
Forum Stats: 6.95M hits per month, 250K views per day! [font=verdana, arial, helvetica]Threads: 8,003, Posts: 81,646[/font]
[font=verdana, arial, helvetica]I thought it was the best and busiest of the bunch!!

Dean

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Mith · Dec 27, 2005

Re: Reconstituted Original Tractor Forum!!

Dean, I gotta ask,
1, why did it go down in the first place and
2, if it went down in the first place why is is back up?

Catch ya later

Archdean · Dec 27, 2005

Re: Reconstituted Original Tractor Forum!!

It went down because of personal problems incured by the Owner see his statement!!http://www.tractorforum.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=8155Dean

Durwood RIP · Dec 27, 2005

Re: Reconstituted Original Tractor Forum!!

How about the rest of the story on TF. The admin would also not answer any one of the moderators who tried to contact him during that time. He basically pulled the plug and said the hell with you guys. Everybody was reaching out to help him then and he just ignored everybody. The Admin also had a forum before TF that he did the same thing with. Just pull the plug with no explanation. So now he comes back and everything is just supposed to be ok. I do wonder why you are excited about it Dean when they kicked you off right before it went down. Durwood won't be a member there again as i think FF and MTF fit the bill just fine in my book. Great steps were taken at MTF to where one person can't do what happened at TF. I think it is a slap in the face to now say come on back, everything is fine. The admins here and at MTF are a much higher class act in my book.

Dur

Archdean · Dec 27, 2005

Re: Reconstituted Original Tractor Forum!!

Well Durwood let me put it this way , while all of the above is true I have yet to see any of us that is error free and I'm one of those old guys that believes that if it weren't for the providable second chances in life that are given, is to admit that there can never be change in anyone!!

Hope this explains my creed to all of you!!
Dean

bczoom · Dec 27, 2005

Re: Reconstituted Original Tractor Forum!!

Durwood said:
...as i think FF and MTF fit the bill just fine in my book.
...
The admins here and at MTF are a much higher class act in my book.

Thanks Dur.

We're pretty new here at FF and going through growing pains but appreciate the compliment.

Brian

Archdean · Dec 27, 2005

UPDATE Re: Reconstituted Original Tractor Forum!!

There is always something we don't know about something!! At least For me!!

Here is an update as to what happned To Tractor Forum just one more reason to hold things in abeyance till all facts are known!!

Dean

[font=verdana, arial, helvetica]THE REAL TRUTH:
Well, it is about time that I lay to rest the speculation surrounding the unforseen shutdown of TF back in March 05.
I was out of town in NC visiting my kids (after recent divorce)
and one of my network engineer's (also a personal friend I thought at the time) hosted all of my TF info including all server data and provided bandwidth for the site. When the site went down AGAIN (if you recall it was having problems for quite some time back then with his hosting and I had been complaining about the slow speeds, the downtime and the errors with his SQL server), I assumed like everyone here that it was only temporary. Apparently it was not. He pulled the plug without warning and left me with no data backups and no servers to move my data. He then refused to answer my requests and basically held everything in limbo. After repeated attempts to contact him about the problems, he wanted to charge me an outrageous amount of $ to restore the site. I demanded credit for the continuous outages, downtime, and slow server speeds and he then stopped responding completely. I had no recourse and I was forced to put up with this ransom. At no point did I know what was going to happen....nor was I able to prevent it.

After Katrina hit, apparently he had a change of heart and I was able to negotiate an acceptable payment to get the data and equipment back, moved EVERYTHING out of his hands and then got an award-winning provider and host site for TF.COM to reside upon. We worked extremely diligently over the last couple months trying to get it restored and all of the bugs worked out on the site. I truly apologize to EVERYONE...all of my dear friends, loyal moderators and members and everyone who called this place home...I missed this site greatly and would often find myself searching around and checking to see if maybe, somehow, someway, it was back....WELL NOW IT IS!!!!! I own all of the data personally and I pay for a dedicated static IP server hosting at LIQUIDWEB.COM which offers tremendous bandwidth for speed, data transfer, reliability, storage and it is on AUTOPAY so you know the bills wil get paid automatically!!!

I am poised to look forward and be thankful for the future. In spite of all of my personal and our collective losses over this past year....I am excited about the future of TF and where this site is headed once again! Thanks to all those who can join me in contributing once again to this place...can call it home and move forward with a new focus and outlook. I am sorry for any problems, pain or issues I may have caused with my actions and I can understand if some of you decide not to return. Well, time to get back to what has always made this place ROCK.....

FUN TIMES AND TRACTORING!!!!

Smiles,
Andy[/font]
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
[font=verdana, arial, helvetica]Very well said, if and but it was not neccessary from my point of view as everyone can well remember I hold the distinction for being the first banned member and look forward to a site that has grown in maturity and continues to do so!!

Dean

I would like your permission to post your words on another site to which I have invited all to join The Tractor Forum today!![/font]

[font=verdana, arial, helvetica]__________________
Dean
[/font]

Durwood RIP · Dec 27, 2005

Re: Reconstituted Original Tractor Forum!!

To bad there wasn't an honest answer in that Dean. Anyway i think this place couldn't care less about TF as they are busy building a fine website themselves. I'll not say anything else about it myself.

Dur

Kubota King · Dec 27, 2005

Re: Reconstituted Original Tractor Forum!!

I am happy here :a1:

Archdean · Dec 27, 2005

Re: Reconstituted Original Tractor Forum!!

Two fellow members asked me directly about the forum! I answered !! Nowhere did I say anyone had to care about it.

I too have attempted to build this website as I have others and no one has to care about that either!!

Sometimes I feel like I just pulled 6 G'S :pat:

Dean

Michael · Dec 28, 2005

Re: Reconstituted Original Tractor Forum!!

Yeah it is back up but remember that any moment the plug can be pulled again.

This Andy fella has done it twice before on a old Ford N-Tractor site and he could easily do it again, It is interesting to see that Chief now has admin functions which he did not have before.

Only time will tell if the site remains (I highly doubt it but if it does stay awhile I would recommend that you get and download any info that is important to you)

I cannot really see a reason to go there with this site and the Mytractorfoum dot com is available and able to answer your questions or just to jaw about anything.

thcri · Dec 28, 2005

Re: Reconstituted Original Tractor Forum!!

Start of Quote

Dean,

Following is quote from Tractor Forum, Your quote!!

[font=verdana, arial, helvetica]Very well said, if and but it was not neccessary from my point of view as everyone can well remember I hold the distinction for being the first banned member and look forward to a site that has grown in maturity and continues to do so!!

Dean

I would like your permission to post your words on another site to which I have invited all to join The Tractor Forum today!!

End of Quote

Dean, why were you banned? And why are you promoting a place that banned you. It would be interesting to know that? You also asked permission to post Andy's word's in another site but I don't see where he gave you permission to do that? In fact it looks like you posted here before you even asked?

Just curious I guess.

murph
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Mark777 · Dec 28, 2005

Re: Reconstituted Original Tractor Forum!!

I enjoyed that site. Out of curiosity I went back and saw an ongoing post about identifying a tractor with another member who happened upon a rare Yanmar....and then it just went away.

Understanding that time spent asking, answering and helping each other, supporting the administrative staff (and moderators) is a big, time consuming commitment...and then being cut off was a terrible time lost event. For me, it would be difficult to give anything all of my attention and effort and have a deep seeded feeling that it may be temporary.

I'm sure there are those that will re-commit but MTF and FF are hardly in jepordy of loosing the new, faithful membership it has earned. You just can't re-invent reputation, and I think this site has a great future...and well deserved.

Durwood - Man, you got a pair, as you were the first to directly ask the why's and what happened? I think many identified with the "Bitter Pill" you weren't swallowing.

FF:

Thanks for being here.

Mark

Doc · Dec 28, 2005

Re: Reconstituted Original Tractor Forum!!

Mark777 said:
I think this site has a great future...and well deserved.

....

FF:

Thanks for being here.

Mark

Your Welcome Mark. Thank you for sticking with us.

dirtybernie · Dec 28, 2005

Re: Reconstituted Original Tractor Forum!!

the scary part is all it would have taken was 1 email. 1 FREAKIN EMAIL! to a moderator or such letting him\her know what was going on and asking them to spread the word instead of leaving (insert # here) of members hanging. true i wasnt a member there at the time but thats my feelings on this. IMHO that says alot about andy. i joined over there yesterday so i could use the search option to dig through the archives but other than that theres nothing there for me and i have no intentions of promoting a site like that the way ive done for MTF & FF.
besides i need all the time i have to keep sj and doc on theyre toes. :yum:

bernie

Keweenaw4310 · Dec 28, 2005

Re: Reconstituted Original Tractor Forum!!

This is all I get when I go to check out TF...

Archdean · Dec 28, 2005

Re: Reconstituted Original Tractor Forum!!

Good morning all! This thread is now taking on all of the nuances of a wash rack behind a Chinese Laundry!!

First to Murph, mith asked what happned I simply showed him the owners first general statement in the interest of first hand accuracy and brevity!!

I was banned for reasons that should be more properly described by the party who banned me, I also brought him here!! As for not having permission , if you check the site you will see that He did indeed give me permission to post his now infamous detailed statement!!

Second to SJ, I like and respect you too, My so called "new best buds " were indeed to same who had nothing good to say about me and infact led the charge not once but 3 times , did they not?

In the interest of full accountability and making certain a spade is infact a spade I submit a graphic depicting exactly why I was banned!! Note the screen capture stating the same!!

It also is my belief that respect comes to those the old fashioned way!! They Earn it!!

Dean

jodyand · Dec 28, 2005

Re: Reconstituted Original Tractor Forum!!

dirtybernie said:
the scary part is all it would have taken was 1 email. 1 FREAKIN EMAIL! to a moderator or such letting him\her know what was going on and asking them to spread the word instead of leaving (insert # here) of members hanging. true i wasnt a member there at the time but thats my feelings on this. IMHO that says alot about andy. i joined over there yesterday so i could use the search option to dig through the archives but other than that theres nothing there for me and i have no intentions of promoting a site like that the way ive done for MTF & FF.
besides i need all the time i have to keep sj and doc on theyre toes.

bernie

You know Bernie i email and called him boy did i call. 4 or 5 times a day for over a week. I got aholed of him about 3 times the first time let me call the sever the second time I'm busy right now I'll call you back. And the third and last time was I'm eating lunch I'll call you back in 5 min. When he didn't call me back i email a letter to all the Mod telling them that Andy wouldn't answer emails or call me back and that i think TF was gone for good. It was a hard letter to right because they were all friends. Chief called me at home and told me the real truth. And what Andy said is not what Chief told me. I'm not going to say what it is because I'm not going to start no flame throwing here. I have read alot of Andy's blogs and i know the real truth but Andy has yet to email or call me since the site come back up or was going to come back up. I was there from the start i was his first super mod he ask me my idea on what i thought about the building of TF. And then one day its just shuts down and he wouldn't reply back to no one. Yes thats the way to do things and from what i have read and heard from sites and people he did it once before just pulled the plug with no warning.

Archdean · Dec 28, 2005

Re: Reconstituted Original Tractor Forum!!

Tom it appears your ok now, recieved your PM
Dean

Archdean · Dec 28, 2005

Re: Reconstituted Original Tractor Forum!!

Hi Jody, Nice to see you again!!

Dean

Melensdad · Dec 28, 2005

Re: Reconstituted Original Tractor Forum!!

jodyand said:
from what i have read and heard from sites and people he did it once before just pulled the plug with no warning.

Sounds like you have every right to be upset and its also good to see that you don't want to start a flame war here about that site. It would do no good anyway. To bad there is a pattern of just pulling the plug with no notification.

BTW, I noticed in your profile that you like model RR. What size? I have Marklin "G" and "Z" track and cars that I play with. I'm thinking of setting up the G stuff on a ceiling/wall mount system to run around part of my workshop. The problem with the G gauge is it so darn big that you really need to set it up outside to get any real runs or good radius turns. The little Z gauge stuff is just a simple oval in my office on my cradenza.

jodyand · Dec 28, 2005

Re: Reconstituted Original Tractor Forum!!

I have HO scale and it takes up more room then i have. I thought about N scale but they are just two small for me. I am one day going to do garden railroading thats something me and the wife can do together.

Melensdad · Dec 28, 2005

Re: Reconstituted Original Tractor Forum!!

I looked at N also. I figured that HO (Half 0 Scale) is the perfect size for inside a house, and N is not quite there. I went all the way down to the super mini-size Z simply because I can set it up on a narrow cradenza so it runs circles around a stereo speaker.

My partner had a huge HO set up, it took up a couple rooms in his basement. When he died it all was willed to his son, but I'm sure it is still set up in the basement and his son has not moved any of it. I'm not even sure how he could move it. The whole thing was handmade, on multiple levels, and involved several hundred feet of track. He had several operating areas and multiple mainlines.

What sort of set up do you have?

My G set up is always temporary, it started with a ring around the Christmas tree, but my collection is now larger than my wife knows!!!

BoneheadNW · Dec 28, 2005

Re: Reconstituted Original Tractor Forum!!

Bob-
A quick question: My son is going to be 4 in another month. Trains are his second love after fire trucks. Do you think he is too young for a train set? Do you have any recommendations?
Bonehead

Durwood RIP · Dec 28, 2005

Re: Reconstituted Original Tractor Forum!!

I'm not Bob but if i was to buy a train for a 4 year old it would be just a battery operated one.

Edit-The reason is it would be safer, but you would also get a feel if he was gonna like them as a hobby or not plus how responsible he shows he is. He could move up to an electic one in a year or so then.

Dur

Melensdad · Dec 28, 2005

Re: Reconstituted Original Tractor Forum!!

BoneheadNW said:
Bob-
A quick question: My son is going to be 4 in another month. Trains are his second love after fire trucks. Do you think he is too young for a train set? Do you have any recommendations?
Bonehead

That really depends. Durwood certainly has one, very good idea, and that is just get a battery operated unit. If your son is going to play with it in an UNSUPERVISED fashion, then it is a very good option.

Playmobil makes some very nice stuff, it is plastic, sturdy, and my daughter at age 11 still plays with her Playmobil toys. Their trains are roughly G scale size so they are big enough to carry other toys around the track. A very nice thing about the Playmobil toys is that your son can easily transition from 'toy' trains to serious 'toy' trains and use the same track because the same track my Marklin Maxi trains use is the same used by the Playmobil, and that is also the same size as the LGB and other brands of G scale trains use.

My daughter, at age 4, was playing with Marklin MAXI series trains. They are a bit pricy, and they are metal so they can be bent. But the tops of the cars come off and she was able to drive her stuffed animials and Barbie dolls around the track. She and I played together with them and she learned how to treat them pretty early on. She rarely played with them by herself. I found I could trust her with them because she learned. I also found that she could not play with them with her friends because they didn't understand. So we ended up with some cheaper stuff and then the good stuff. The good stuff came out when she & I played.

MY QUESTION TO YOU is do you want a toy for your son, or do you want a toy for YOU & YOUR SON so you can bond together in another way?

jodyand · Dec 28, 2005

Re: Reconstituted Original Tractor Forum!!

I would say something like a Tomas the tank train set would be a great start for him. I never liked the battery ones much. As long as a adult would be there to make sure he didn't stick his fingers where they don't belong it would be alright. I got my first train when i was 6 and have been hook ever since.

It was a old Marks toy train which i still have by the way. If you get him a eclectic train just be sure to watch and help him with it and he will learn about the dos and donts.

thcri · Dec 28, 2005

Re: Reconstituted Original Tractor Forum!!

I got my son a train set when he was about 6. He would play with it some but got more frustrated with it than anything. And he never had the patience to set up a nice track, he just wanted it running. He lost interest pretty fast on it.

murph

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