i would call the farm thing a tractor, its just not my first frame of reference when i hear tractor.. (in a word association game, if you said tractor, i would say trailer.) i rarely call them semi's, or 18 wheels-- though i know both terms..
likewise, i call my car a wagon (not a station wagon) and that is my first association for that word. a wooden wagon or a conastoga wagon, or a buck board would be 2nd and 3rd meanings for the word.
i drove to Michigan this summer, i noticed even the road side mowers are bigger in Upstate NY, Pennslyvania and Ohio and Michigan than they are in the down state area. there are fewer and fewer farm left on Long Island and in lower NE. I remember seeing many as child, now there are almost none left.. Miles of the Connecticut river valley, once tobacco farms are now strip malls.. Long Island potatoes, like Long Island ducks are rare. there are still some dairy farms, and some new vineyards, and some places that grow corn, but most of LI is suburban, and i can't remember when i last saw a tractor- farm style!
and Yes, catapillars are big earth moving equipment.. i still see that.. but bob cats are much more common in may area.
OP
