[ser3dan]

My parents have a set of placemats that have a variety of tractors doing different things. All but one of them are very obvious and easily identified, apart from one - so what do you think is happening in it?

[mab]

I assume the other ones are not related? - i.e. there's not a story being told from one mat to the next?

My guess it the tractor's broken down and they're trying to get it home (or out of the ford) for repairs.

Looks like one man's winching the tractor through the ford whilst the other cranks the engine - assuming it isn't going to start, turning the engine with it in gear would move the tractor forward, helping it through the ford. Although it looks like it'd roll forward fairly easily from where it is anyway.

[Bangbang]

That man's trying to run the kid over ! - slowly.

Just turn the handle boy, 'Shep' your my witness!

[chrismahon]

I echo Mab. The winch would need to be moved several times in the process.

[Hermit]

Surely the man would just winch himself nearer the tractor!!! They would just get another tractor to pull it out. Looks like it is something to do with a stuck wheel, one bloke starting up while one gives the wheel some tension.

[ser3dan]

No, the story doesn't follow from one to another, it's just a variety of tractors ( Grey Fergie, MF35, Fordson etc ). This mat had my dad and I puzzled though as the ford isn't very deep and isn't running particularly fast ( not enough to endanger the running of the tractor ) so why not just drive through it? Why stop and wind it in gear through the water, and why the extra winch?
It was just an odd picture that we couldn't make any sense of!

[Bangbang]

After studying the picture again (with a bit more serious head on),  it actually looks like
the man has just shot a rat out of the barrel of the pole and the poor wee critter has been projected
towards the distant hills!

Bangbang!

[Lesley Silvester]

After studying the picture again (with a bit more serious head on),  it actually looks like
the man has just shot a rat out of the barrel of the pole and the poor wee critter has been projected
towards the distant hills!

Bangbang!

    Or that brown bit could have been gravy left over from dinner.

[Sylvia]

Surely the man would just winch himself nearer the tractor!!! They would just get another tractor to pull it out. Looks like it is something to do with a stuck wheel, one bloke starting up while one gives the wheel some tension.

Tractors would have been a bit thin on the ground in those days

[Hermit]

Perhaps its making the point that they are not without fault and that a horse does not break down in awkward places They could have made the point better if they showed a horse pulling it out instead of a winch. Or are they regretting selling the horse? mmmm.

[Dizzycow]

Obviously the man on the left would like to pursue a new career in Venice as a Gondolier. He has made himself a small board to stand on, and has gently yet elegantly been winched down the farm lane, while practicing his punting manouver. He's just headed for the tricky part of his training - actually on the water - when the engine has stopped and the boy is trying to crank it up quickly before disaster strikes, he hits the water and is instantly devoured by the savage collie.

[doganjo]

Obviously the man on the left would like to pursue a new career in Venice as a Gondolier. He has made himself a small board to stand on, and has gently yet elegantly been winched down the farm lane, while practicing his punting manouver. He's just headed for the tricky part of his training - actually on the water - when the engine has stopped and the boy is trying to crank it up quickly before disaster strikes, he hits the water and is instantly devoured by the savage collie.

You should start writing books, Dizzy! 

[Dizzycow]

Hahaha! Overactive imagination! 

[robert waddell]

i think the artist was a relation of dizzys
first it is a fordson in the 1940s       it is being winched    what the artist has not shown is the anchor cable that should be going of to the left    it maybe has run out of fuel

[Plantoid]

Perhaps The winch man cant get enough sound anchor to complete the job or the winch is not man enough for it .
So the guy  on the starter handle has removed the spark plugs , put the tractor in first & winds the tractor  along with the pull from the bankmans winch so using the gears to help reduce the load on the bankmans winch .
It would also stop the tractor running away into or out of the ford without using the brakes