Farm Dreams: A born mechanic

Published 9:41 pm Saturday, June 21, 2008

PART 2

It’s a cold, damp March day and the workshop, with its concrete floor and dim light is not designed for much comfort. But the young boy inside isn’t thinking about the hard floor or the chill.

He’s caught up in the joy of hammering and wrenching on a rusty iron machine that, 100 years ago, was a proud John Deere riding cultivator. The 13-year-old confidently ignites his cutting torch and proceeds to make the machine work again. His father, Tristan Klesick, watches closely over his shoulder. If the rain ever stops, the John Deere will till fields behind the family’s draft horses, Karen and Susie.

Nobody can remember the first mechanical or electrical item that Aaron Klesick disassembled. They know he was 3, maybe 4, when it all began.

Emily thinks it was her wristwatch. Aaron can’t remember, of course, but the 13-year-old smiles at the thought of taking apart his big sister’s watch.

None of his siblings or parents would be surprised if he actually did that. Nor would they be surprised if the watch worked when the kid was finished with it. It might never tell time again, but it would be or do something.

Since then, carcasses of broken appliances or electronics could always be traced to Aaron, who not only autopsied the discarded items, but explored every part to see how it worked.

“He was the take-apart-everything kid,” says his mom, Joelle Klesick. “He always wanted to know how things work. Anything electronic or mechanical.”

When the Klesicks hired an electrician to rewire their old farmhouse four years ago, Aaron asked permission to watch the man work. Afterward, the 9-year-old was able to wire outlets and switches.

BIG WHEELS

“Truth be known, Aaron will do any job if it involves driving the tractor,” Joelle says. “He baled hay on his birthday just to drive the tractor.”

This year, Aaron invested in his own hay-baling equipment. In a drier year, he might already have been out in the fields with it, but this year has been too wet. Hay is ruined by mold and mildew if baled wet.

He also acquired the arc welder and cutting torch he used to restore the 100-year-old cultivator that his dad found and bought at a Lynden auction.

A few months ago, Tristan was using the tractor to prepare a field and had a small window in the weather to finish. A power take-off shaft on the tractor broke. Aaron had been sick that day, and it was too late to get another shaft, so he had to give it up.

“I went in the house,” Tristan says. “Aaron said he would look at it. I told him not to bother. I’d wait. He was sick. But Aaron went out, saying he would just take a look to see what was wrong with it.

“When he came back into the house, he said ‘It’s fixed.’ And I was able to finish the job.”

” Without Aaron,” Tristan said, “we’d be at the mercy of every mechanic from here to Lynden.”

Aaron says they need to take the big tractor to Barnett Implements, the John Deere dealer in Mount Vernon for some specialized work. He pauses, and his eyes widen in thought.

“They’re professional,” he said. “They have real mechanics there. I’m hoping — just hoping — they’ll let me watch!”