Time To Get 'Em Winterized!

I know...... you all don't really like to think about getting ready for winter (at least those of you that live in the cold parts of our nation). But, if you don't want busted radiators or engine blocks in your restored tractor, this is a must do! You need to make sure that the old tractor radiator and engine is full of good ol' antifreeze! I know it's not entirely the same, but I forgot to drain the main trunk of my in-ground sprinkling system last winter and paid the price in the spring with a broken main feed line to the system. Not quite the same as a radiator or engine block but busted just the same!

It's easy to forget or even procrastinate to the point of forgetting to invoke the proper maintenance going into winter and it'll cost you plenty if you do. There are a tremendous amount of old antique tractor collectors that do not have the luxury of a heated storage building and they need to take the necessary precautions.

Having said that, I envy those of you who have the warmer climates in some of the southern states and can still get out and run your equipment. Up here in northern Indiana, it is very hard have fun outside on your old tractor. I mean you still can, but it for sure is not as comfortable!

If you are one of the lucky ones that does live in the south and you have an event that you can go to, I'd like to know some more details about that event. I'll get in posted on Fastrac, my antique tractor information support group website. Just leave a comment with the info here on the blog and I'll get it put on the events pages of the site. You can also e-mail me the details at: dave@adeptr.com

I'm getting ready to settle in for the winter and I'll get my fill of antique tractoring this winter by working with the website and this blog. When spring rolls around, I'll be tired of writing and be more than ready to start heading out to the shows again up here in the north.

Good thing I have developed patience over the years......the older I get, the longer the winters seem to be getting. The winter will be tolerable however, if I can end up in the spring with no holes in the block.

Hummmm .... We'll see!

Pink John Deere?

After retrieving the local newspaper from the mail box this morning, the first thing I noticed on the bottom of the front page was an article headline: "Pink tractor pulls hope for a cure." Number one, being an avid antique tractor fan, the word "tractor" in the headline caught my eye. And number two, I noticed the picture that accompanied the article was not a modern day tractor!

Turns out that a local antique tractor collector was in the process of restoring his 1957 John Deere 520 when he and his wife discovered that she had been told by her doctors the breast cancer she had been fighting since 2005 had advanced into her liver. After receiving this news, this tractor collector decided to paint the tractor pink to help in the awareness of this dreadful disease and finding a cure.

I thought this was awesome!

The couple plans to show the tractor at several of the local (northern Indiana) tractor shows and/or festivals. One of these events is near the couple's home. The event: The Nappannee Apple Festival in Nappannee Indiana to be held next weekend, September 17 - 20, 2009.

The finished tractor will also be on display at the "American Countryside Farmers Market" on the last weekend of September.

I was impressed by the humor still maintained by this couragious lady while fighting this battle. She said of the tractor, despite the one-of-a-kind paint job it pocesses, "It doesn't sound pink!"

If your are in or around Elkhart County, Indiana this weekend or throughout the end of the month, you might want to try to get an on-sight look at the tractor in person. And, if you can't, try to do everything that you can to help support those who are trying to find a cure for breast cancer..... just as this couple are doing!

Think Fall!

You usually get a good feeling, when you are dead in the middle of the summer, about what lies ahead with your interests in antique tractors. Why is that? For me, it's the anticipation of the fall events. Shows and stuff are fun to attend while it's hot but are especially exciting for me with the cooler weather in the fall.

What I like about the fall events is that the air is heavier and when you wake up at one of these events (assuming you are camping out at the show) is the smoke from the tractors and old engines. It seems to just hang in the air over the show grounds and creates a haze for almost as far as you can see. This is special! Maybe not too good on the old lungs but the smell and the sight is wonderful for the tractor enthusiast's soul.

You ever wonder what it would be like to have been a farmer back in the day when you had to get up early to do the chores and all you had for power was that team of Belgians? Not much smoke from them! (Not much power either in comparison to your beloved tractors). They got the job done however, but it took a lot longer too. Thank God for progress.

Most of the days for a one or two small tractor farm is pretty much gone now too. But that's why we have these shows in the first place....... to remember what was! I sure do and I'm not really that old. There is a place at these shows for the younger ones too. Even though they may not be old enough to have seen any of the old machinery in action, at these events they get a chance to see it all and most importantly, learn about what it was and how it was used.

Guess what? You have six or seven weeks to get your old piece of iron all fixed up and shiny. Why don't you plan to take it to one of the fall events in your area......you'll be glad you did!

Spring Once Again!

Well, Well. Here it is ..... spring once again! It really feels good here in Northern Indiana to finally be getting some decent warm weather. This past winter was a grueling one in this part of the country. I personally have not had too much activity centered around the old tractor thing since the shows that were present (and that I attended) last fall.

The winter months found a lot of collectors and enthusiasts getting time to work on their collections or to begin a restoration process that summer months did not afford a lot of extra time to do. I'm sure there was a lot that got accomplished over the winter. But now, there will be a host of other thing to do with the coming months being warmer (at least that is the case up here in the North).

I know that around here,there are more than just a few of the clubs that are having swap meets and plow day events to keep the juices flowing. One such event just passed at Doud's Orchard Plowday on May 2, 2009 in Denver, Indiana. My understanding is that they had a really good turnout.

If you know of a good event that is going to be occuring in your neighborhood this spring, let me know and I'll get it posted on Fastrac (my antique tractor website). We have a really good listing of events there. Until then, have a really good spring and most of all, have fun with them old tractors!

Dave

Well….. How's this for news?

I haven't had a post yet in '09 but I really am NOT dead yet! I have had a lot to do since the first of the year. I just recently retired from the day job and have been extremely busy training the new guy that took over my position during the first part of the year.

Finally done! My last day was March 27th and I have finally seen some daylight to the odds and end jobs that I had been putting off. Now I can spend more time with this blog and my two websites: http://www.adeptr.com (the antique tractor site) and http://www.oldaveswoodshop.com (the woodworking website).

Old tractors have been a passion of mine since childhood and Fastrac, the antique tractor site, is an endeavor that I undertook back in 1996 to share some old tractor stuff with other people. It has reached a pretty good audience since that initial launch back in '96 and the plans are to move forward with more stuff related to the hobby.

The other website (Ol' Dave's Woodshop) is a relative new site launched at the end of the summer last year (2008) and is a result of a newly found interest in woodworking. I have been assembling quite a few pieces of equipment in my shop over the last six years in anticipation of my retirement. I didn't want to head into retirement without something to take up some of my time. This new hobby and my continuing fascination with the old tractors should prevent any kind of stagnation of my time.

If you want to see what I have been up to with either of these two websites, feel free to click the links and I would be interested in any comments that you may have related to them.

Until the next time…… Keep on tractoring!!

Dave

So What Now?

Shows are mostly over for this year....So What Now?

Sit back and enjoy the snow, ice and sleet? Not hardly! These are the times to get on the 'net and find those parts that you need for that restoration that you've been putting off all summer. There are a literal ton of web sites out there that sells or locates parts for antique tractor entusiasts.

Some of you are restoring old tractors and have an abundant list of resources for obtaining used or NOS parts. Others of you however, are restoring tractors or old pieces of equipment that are not so popular and have difficulty locating parts for them.

Many of these web sites cater specifically to antique tractor restorers and collectors needing parts. Lots of them are parts dealers and many are salvage yards. You can find sources for some of these organizations on the Fastrac Web Site in the parts resources pages that are broken down by state and/or country.

Winter is a good time to work on your restorations when generally you will have more free time to do it. Summer and fall seems to keep one busy attending shows or events rather than working on the restoration. I know this is not true for many of you but it is usually the way it works out for me! I tend to put off what could wait till later rather than miss a chance to get to an event somewhere during the summer months (this is better known as procrastination).

At any rate, if you're like me, you'll find more time to search the 'net for parts and get things fixed up in the winter so you can play more in the summer. To each his own!

All Brand Collectors

Almost all tractor collectors will eventually zero in on a particular brand to collect or restore. Notice that I said "almost"? That's because there are still those out there who will collect anything that comes with wheels or looks good to them. A few of years back, I lost a good 'ol buddy of mine who had more than a dozen old tractors and they were all over the place as far as brand of manufacture.

Charlie was 89 when he passed but from the time he quit farming and right up until the time he died, he kept on collecting and restoring them tractors. He had a 1929 Rumely 25-40, an old IH Titan, an SC Case, two John Deere A's and a G model, too. There was a completely restore of a Farmall F-20 and several others in the fold as well.

Here is a picture of Charlie's 1929 Rumely. You can read the entire story and see more picture of this old tractor on the Fastrac Website here. Check it out, it's one of the cleanest and finest restorations that I have ever seen that gets fired up regularly.

I'll never get tired of getting myself around this old stuff and people like him that actually lived in the days when they used this stuff. Oh well. who knows - maybe someday!

Fall is Coming......Be Ready!

Fall show time is just around the corner. If you are in to old tractors, farm equipment, parts swap meets, flea markets, old hit 'n miss engines or just plain collecting, then this is the time of year for you. I know.......its not the only time of the year that you can find tractor shows, etc., but it is the favorite time for them for most of us.

Why? It is usually cooler at night and milder in the daytime and this makes for the best time to demonstrate your equipment without everything sticking to you because of the sweat! Sitting around at night talking tractors around a campfire somehow seems better than without one....and fall is the time of the year to really enjoy that. I see this almost every year in Matthews, Indiana at its Covered Bridge Festival which is centered around antique tractors and engines.



The site for this tractor show sits in a small valley along a river bank and literally at the foot of one of Indiana's oldest covered bridges (See photo above). In a lot of the past shows at this site, you can get up early in the morning and see a mist coming up over this small little setting. Some of it is coming from the cool air around the site with it's close proximity to the river, but most of it is coming from the hit 'n miss engines being started up in the cool fall morning air. Wow, what a site to see! If ever you get a chance to visit this show, you won't be disapointed.

Obviously this is not the only show on the road in the fall. There must be hundreds if not thousands of them around the country and the World. Most will have their own uniqueness. I would suggest that you try to find one and attend the festivities if you have never done that before. And.......if you have, then why not try to find a different one to attend than one that you have attended before. They are all different in lots of ways but are very much the same in what to expect.......If that makes any sense!

Collecting By The Seat Of Your Pants!

Collecting old antique farm equipment and related stuff can really be fun but whoever thought of just collecting the seats from some of this old stuff? Many collectors do however and it can be very interesting just to know the history behind these old cast iron implement seats.

One of the most interesting things that I found out about cast iron implement seats is that prior to the Civil War in the United States, farm implements were all walk behind, horse-drawn pieces of equipment. After the war was over, the munitions factories that were in place at that time were converted over into making seats for these horse-drawn implements. Some said that this was one of the most improved things that had ever happened in agriculture up to that time.

After this innovation occured, implements could be made so that the farmer could then have his feet free to operate levers at the same time he was driving the team of horses. This fact alone allowed equipment manufactures to add features incorporating these new levers. Extra tasks could be performed with all the
new functionality in the machines.

The seat patterns, in the beginning, were made from wood and then cast into iron. There were many designs among the seats, some being very plain in appearance and others very ornate including lettering, etc. Almost all had some sort of holes in them whether it be simple round holes or gaps between any lettering that might have been present. This was done to allow water to drain through the seat thereby preserving the life of the seat against rusting while sitting idle.

There are well over 2000 different styles and types of cast iron seats known to have been made and collectors have preserved a tremendous amount of these seats from being destroyed. Some collect them and simply leave them as found and others will clean them up, paint them and display them. But, any way you look at it, this is a favorite attraction at some of the antique tractor shows that I have attended and will probably not disappear anytime soon.

It's kind of a neat thing.....preserving some of the history of farming and the pieces of equipment that have come and gone during the process.

Are Old Pedal Tractors "Real" Antique Tractors?

Well..........what do you think? If they're old (antiques) and they're tractors, why wouldn't they be? I think they are and I won't exclude them from the Fastrac Website. My brother-in-law has a tremendous collection of these old pedal tractors similar to the one shown in this photo. He has collected them for years. He still owns and operates a small farm in central Indiana where he uses mostly Allis Chalmers tractors and equipment, but since he has gotten older and has less energy than he used to, he got interested in the "Little Guys" so to speak.

It might surprise you how much some of these little old tractors are worth. Besides, if you are a person who is interested in the Antique Tractor hobby and didn't have the money to spare for the bigger tractors or you don't have the space to work on the larger ones, this might just be your connection to the hobby.

I'll bet more than a few of you have see these little old "play" tractors somewhere in your past as you were growing up. In fact, you can still see them pop up in garage and rummage sales occasionally. I have seen several of them being used as decorations in some of the Cracker Barrel Restaurants around the county. The last time I "Googled Up" the key words "Antique Pedal Tractor", the results were 64,100 pages with those words in the content. A lot of those results were for some of these units for sale on E-Bay.

Almost every Tractor Show or event that I see advertised will elude to a kiddie's pedal tractor pull event at the show. It's more than popular.....it's sometimes crazy! Lots of these old pedal tractors are being restored to original condition today and I think they have a real place in our hobby. My thinkin' is.......why not? If it's old and has a tractor attached to its name, it should get some ink!

To each his own is my motto. Whatever happens that gets our hobby more attention, the more it will serve us all. Think about it!