It's Time for me to Confess.
First of all, on behalf of myself and my two partners, I want to welcome you to this forum. It truly warms my heart to see the overwhelming response to my invitations to join this newest Colt, Case and Ingersoll forum.
Some of you know me as Heretictoo or VivaVegas or Castoff or Kompressor or Tom Arnold or CaseGuyToo or as Hydriv. All of those are my alter-egos on the internet over the past 10 years. During that period, I've kicked some ass and also had my ass kicked a few times in return. LOL
What matters in life is not whether you've been knocked down but whether you have what it takes to get back up. Well, here I am; on my feet and ready for whatever comes my way.
As many of you know, I parted ways with two other major forums last year…..for the second time. During the past year or so, Jack and I corresponded on a daily basis and have developed a real friendship beyond just being members on three different forums together. Jack is a member of the Michigan Bar Association with over thirty-years of litigation experience. He is also a serious collector of early Case and Colt tractors. That makes Jack a valuable asset to this forum. and he has contributed much to its creation.
When I left the last forum, a chap who went by the screen name Snotrocket (his real name is Charles) decided to start his own forum and he did just that. When his forum became known, certain people on one of the forums I left, formed the belief that I had something to do with his forum and he took a lot of flack over it. In a way, I found that funny but in another way, I felt badly for Charles having to ward off the slings and arrows of a few misguided individuals that should have been aimed at me.
I was already well into the process of developing my own forum by this time, with the help of Jack (who uses the screen name Mastifflawyer). The irony here is that had it not been for all the negativity shown to Charles by these other people, he and I would not have begun talking. So, I have to say thanks to those people. They know who they are.
After learning more about Charles' computer expertise, I decided to ask him if he would consider partnering with Jack and I on a totally new site. Many exchanges went back and forth because we needed to feel each other out to see if our goals were essentially in common . It was not an easy decision for Charles to make because he looked for ways to roll his existing site into our new one.
When he realized that the software would not allow him to do that in the way that would have met our needs, he had to make the decision to shut his forum down once this one went live. Sorry about that but there was just no option open to us.
At this point, I want to make it clear to everyone reading my words that this site is owned and operated by Jack, Charles and myself. All three of us have contributed many, many hours of our time to put together what you see today and it's just the start. Secondly, I want all of you to know that ADMIN is Member #1 and that when you see ADMIN posting something, then you are reading the collective response from all three partners. Jack, Charles and I all post under our own screen names. Jack has agreed to be a Moderator and Brad, who is known as BottledZ28 and 29Fan is our second Moderator but he is now known as CASE 220/ 4. Some of you will know Brad from Charles other site as well as MTF.
There is no Top Dog on this site. Right from the start this has been a constant melding of thoughts and ideas to try to come up with a format that will hopefully better meet the needs of everyone who is a member. We intend to do our best to listen to what you guys have to say because if we can make the site better as a result of your suggestions, then that works for us as well.
In truth, we have had to take this site live sooner than I wanted to because the search engines were already crawling all over us and one member had no trouble finding us on Google. So, I apologize to all of you for not having the FAQ's finished and not having the TECH Section loaded with all the material I am preparing for it. I ask for your patience. I'm putting in long hours to get this done ASAP.
Please….. go to the Help and Feedback section and spend a minute to look at the Rules put there by Jack. I got him to do it so that you guys would blame Jack and not me.
I also need to mention that this site is a bit different than all the other sites out there. Here, I expect the more experienced members to make an effort to teach themselves by going to the FAQ;s and reading there. I will continue to add to that section as issues dictate. I ask this because I know that most members would prefer to not see a newbie ask what oil he should use or what year his tractor is, again and again and again. And then when he does ask that question, there will be five replies to it.
To all the newbies that come here and are reading this message, please don't run away. We want you here because without you, the site does not grow. It has always been my intent to put together a forum that would be easy for you guys to find the answers to your questions quickly. Many of you are reluctant to post on the board because you feel somewhat intimidated by the whole process. The only stupid question is the one you did not ask when you should have asked it. At one time, every member here was in your shoes, including me. So please understand that we are happy to talk with you about your tractor problems but we'd much rather try to help you with the tougher questions than the easy ones that get asked 400 times each year. Once you have been here for awhile, you will have a better understanding of this policy and why it exists. If you don't understand something or you cannot find something, then by all means ASK. We wouldn't have it any other way.
I would also like to direct everyone's attention to TECH SECTION, which is soon to become the largest collection of Service Manuals, Operator Manuals and eventually Parts Manuals, to be found anywhere on the internet. The amount of information contained in those manuals is extensive. For example, if you are having a serious hydraulic problem, then start with the FAQ's and then take a look in the Hydraulic Section of the Tech Section. J.I.CASE prided itself in using their initials C-A-S-E to also mean Clear And Simple English when describing their Service Manuals.
I suppose that I should tell you WHY I created this forum. Somehow, I don't think that's really necessary. My appreciation for these tractors along with my dedication on several forums over the past ten years is ample evidence that I like to help owners of these tractors. What else is there to add?
OK.. I've probably gone on longer than I should have but I felt that some of you needed an honest explanation as to how all of this came about. This seemed like the best way to provide it. Out in the open where everyone can see.
So, thanks for joining and thanks for reading this far. I hope that you like what we created and that you will not only stick around but that you will also be active in whatever discussions you find interesting.
Cheers,
Tom Arnold.
First of all, on behalf of myself and my two partners, I want to welcome you to this forum. It truly warms my heart to see the overwhelming response to my invitations to join this newest Colt, Case and Ingersoll forum.
Some of you know me as Heretictoo or VivaVegas or Castoff or Kompressor or Tom Arnold or CaseGuyToo or as Hydriv. All of those are my alter-egos on the internet over the past 10 years. During that period, I've kicked some ass and also had my ass kicked a few times in return. LOL
What matters in life is not whether you've been knocked down but whether you have what it takes to get back up. Well, here I am; on my feet and ready for whatever comes my way.
As many of you know, I parted ways with two other major forums last year…..for the second time. During the past year or so, Jack and I corresponded on a daily basis and have developed a real friendship beyond just being members on three different forums together. Jack is a member of the Michigan Bar Association with over thirty-years of litigation experience. He is also a serious collector of early Case and Colt tractors. That makes Jack a valuable asset to this forum. and he has contributed much to its creation.
When I left the last forum, a chap who went by the screen name Snotrocket (his real name is Charles) decided to start his own forum and he did just that. When his forum became known, certain people on one of the forums I left, formed the belief that I had something to do with his forum and he took a lot of flack over it. In a way, I found that funny but in another way, I felt badly for Charles having to ward off the slings and arrows of a few misguided individuals that should have been aimed at me.
I was already well into the process of developing my own forum by this time, with the help of Jack (who uses the screen name Mastifflawyer). The irony here is that had it not been for all the negativity shown to Charles by these other people, he and I would not have begun talking. So, I have to say thanks to those people. They know who they are.
After learning more about Charles' computer expertise, I decided to ask him if he would consider partnering with Jack and I on a totally new site. Many exchanges went back and forth because we needed to feel each other out to see if our goals were essentially in common . It was not an easy decision for Charles to make because he looked for ways to roll his existing site into our new one.
When he realized that the software would not allow him to do that in the way that would have met our needs, he had to make the decision to shut his forum down once this one went live. Sorry about that but there was just no option open to us.
At this point, I want to make it clear to everyone reading my words that this site is owned and operated by Jack, Charles and myself. All three of us have contributed many, many hours of our time to put together what you see today and it's just the start. Secondly, I want all of you to know that ADMIN is Member #1 and that when you see ADMIN posting something, then you are reading the collective response from all three partners. Jack, Charles and I all post under our own screen names. Jack has agreed to be a Moderator and Brad, who is known as BottledZ28 and 29Fan is our second Moderator but he is now known as CASE 220/ 4. Some of you will know Brad from Charles other site as well as MTF.
There is no Top Dog on this site. Right from the start this has been a constant melding of thoughts and ideas to try to come up with a format that will hopefully better meet the needs of everyone who is a member. We intend to do our best to listen to what you guys have to say because if we can make the site better as a result of your suggestions, then that works for us as well.
In truth, we have had to take this site live sooner than I wanted to because the search engines were already crawling all over us and one member had no trouble finding us on Google. So, I apologize to all of you for not having the FAQ's finished and not having the TECH Section loaded with all the material I am preparing for it. I ask for your patience. I'm putting in long hours to get this done ASAP.
Please….. go to the Help and Feedback section and spend a minute to look at the Rules put there by Jack. I got him to do it so that you guys would blame Jack and not me.
I also need to mention that this site is a bit different than all the other sites out there. Here, I expect the more experienced members to make an effort to teach themselves by going to the FAQ;s and reading there. I will continue to add to that section as issues dictate. I ask this because I know that most members would prefer to not see a newbie ask what oil he should use or what year his tractor is, again and again and again. And then when he does ask that question, there will be five replies to it.
To all the newbies that come here and are reading this message, please don't run away. We want you here because without you, the site does not grow. It has always been my intent to put together a forum that would be easy for you guys to find the answers to your questions quickly. Many of you are reluctant to post on the board because you feel somewhat intimidated by the whole process. The only stupid question is the one you did not ask when you should have asked it. At one time, every member here was in your shoes, including me. So please understand that we are happy to talk with you about your tractor problems but we'd much rather try to help you with the tougher questions than the easy ones that get asked 400 times each year. Once you have been here for awhile, you will have a better understanding of this policy and why it exists. If you don't understand something or you cannot find something, then by all means ASK. We wouldn't have it any other way.
I would also like to direct everyone's attention to TECH SECTION, which is soon to become the largest collection of Service Manuals, Operator Manuals and eventually Parts Manuals, to be found anywhere on the internet. The amount of information contained in those manuals is extensive. For example, if you are having a serious hydraulic problem, then start with the FAQ's and then take a look in the Hydraulic Section of the Tech Section. J.I.CASE prided itself in using their initials C-A-S-E to also mean Clear And Simple English when describing their Service Manuals.
I suppose that I should tell you WHY I created this forum. Somehow, I don't think that's really necessary. My appreciation for these tractors along with my dedication on several forums over the past ten years is ample evidence that I like to help owners of these tractors. What else is there to add?
OK.. I've probably gone on longer than I should have but I felt that some of you needed an honest explanation as to how all of this came about. This seemed like the best way to provide it. Out in the open where everyone can see.
So, thanks for joining and thanks for reading this far. I hope that you like what we created and that you will not only stick around but that you will also be active in whatever discussions you find interesting.
Cheers,
Tom Arnold.
