Lookin' For Old Iron

If you're an avid fan of antique tractoring, you have probably at one time or another in your old tractor admiring days, scouted the fence rows or other places for potential restoration projects. I know I have many, many times. My brother and I had even adopted a hunting scheme for doing this. You can read about that story, complete with a description of that scheme, on my regular old tractor website here.

It just so happens that some of this old equipment is getting more scarce by the day. Here's a picture of an old hand crank Case on full lugged steel that is just begging for someone's attention.

No one knows for sure whether this old beast has enough of it left to salvage, but it sure would be an awesome sight if it could get someone to restore it back to its original condition.

There are still enough of these old carcasses around to be found! In fact, just about 10 miles south and west from where I live is an old tractor boneyard that covers over 60 acres of this old stuff. I'm not going to reveal the exact name and location of this place in this article because the last known owner of the place is kind of protective of it, but if anyone is near Northern Indiana, let me know and I'll clue you in privately!

It just breaks my heart that a tremendous amout of this old stuff is getting cut up for scrap iron on all too frequent of an occasion. Bottom line is, if you ever get a chance to find an old piece of iron like that in this picture and you have the desire and resources to acquire something like it.......Just Do It! It'll make you extremely happy and you'll have saved a piece of history

Summer Tractor Show Bonanzas

Antique tractor fans are everywhere! There are literally hundreds of antique tractor shows and events all across the country and in Canada at all times of the year. But especially in the summer time. For the most part, summer is the best time in the Northern part of North America because it can get pretty chilly in the fall and in some parts of the north country, nearly impossible for outside events in the winter.

A good friend of mine sent me some photos of an event (Georgian Bay Steam Show ) that was held in Cookstown, Ontario, Canada on July 30 through August 2, 2010. The show featured Allis Chalmers tractors and equipment. The show grounds covers 20 acres and there were daily demonstrations of a sawmill, shingle mill, horse drawn wagon rides and a parade of equipment. You can see in the attached photo, some of the machines that were lined up at this particular event.

These kinds of activities are almost always present at any of a number of shows of this type. People attending these shows are simply having great fun and sharing stories, collecting new information and just generally diving in to the realm of antique tractoring. Some of the neatest people I have met over the years have come from acquaintences I have made at these shows.

If you have never been around one of these shows, you should try to find one in your area this summer and take the plunge! It's a great way to learn more about the history of farming and agriculture from days gone by.   Don't know where to find a show near you?  Go to my regular Antique Tractor website called FASTRAC and click on "Events" from the main menu and you should be able to find one!
 
It's great summertime fun to say the least.

Rare Tractor, Indeed!

There are a lot of old tractors that are considered rare for various reasons. Some of the reasons are quite apparent and others are not! A lot goes into that determination such as low production numbers, early year of manufacture, how tractors might have been set up during production, experimental models, etc.

I found one of these rare tractors at the 2010 Red Power Roundup event a few weeks ago that is actually quite rare but you wouldn't immediately know it. It's a 1954 Farmall Super M-TA Hi-Clearance tractor with a single front wheel and set up to use propane fuel. (See photo below).


Any one of the above features in and of themselves would not necessarily make a tractor rare.  So then, what makes this particular tractor rare besides the obvious fact that it is a Hi-Clearance tractor with a single front wheel running on propane? 

One thing is that the Super M-TA, (regardless of how they might have been set up from the factory), were only produced in any configuration for one year......1954.  These tractors were built as transition model tractors and had some innovative additions that led to the hundred series...... tractors that were ultimately more prevalent.

The Super M-TA was the first Farmall tractor built with torque Amplification (TA) which was a high - low range transmission equipped to allow shifting "on the fly". Engaging the TA feature reduced the speed of the tractor by about 1/3 giving the driver more pulling power to work with. An operator could more closely match the power output to the load. This was quite an innovation during this time period.

These tractors also had an independent PTO (Power Take-Off). Without going into detail, which was fairly complexed to achieve, power was transferred directly to the rear of the tractor bypassing the clutch. The rear of the tractor of course is the most convenient place to find power to operate other equipment.

There were only 23,523 Super M-TA's or Super MD-TA's (Diesel models) made in all configurations and one set up like this particular tractor are hard to find! Quite a nice restoration don't you think?

Pink Getting Popular!

Last fall I made a post on this blog about a courageous lady who was fighting breast cancer and as a result, her husband painted his 1957 John Deere Pink during its restoration to help in the cause for cancer awareness.

Well.........Its catching on! This past Saturday I attended the 2010 Red Power Roundup Antique tractor event in LaPorte, Indiana. I never have seen so many red tractors in one place in my life. My brother and I walked around the many acres of red IH tractors viewing them and admiring their owners pride in displaying them. There were tons of different models and variations of models being displayed throughout the event.

There was a huge amount of IH Cub cadets at the show too, displaying mostly yellow, white and blue paint schemes on them. We could also see an abundance of the later model red cub cadet lawn & garden tractors on display at the show.

And, of course, there were quite a few of the earlier model IH's such as the popular Farmall F-12's. F-14's, 10-20's and Farmall Regulars.....all sporting their typical dark gray paint schemes.

And then, continuing our exploration around the exhibit grounds, we ran into this.............

A pink IH Farmall Super M!

Unusual...........You bet! (The paint, not the cause!)

It brought my thoughts back to the lady and her husband's pink John Deere last fall (posted on this blog back on 9/14/09). Not only was this Super M tractor in very excellent shape, the paint was applied flawlessly! What struck me most was the willingness of an antique tractor owner to deviate from the authentic paint scheme of the original model of his Farmall Super M, but the possible forfeit of the tractor's value from having done so. But folks, it's NOT about the tractor, it's about the fight for a cure of one the most dreadful and feared diseases on our planet!  That's what I admired most.....the sacrifice of this owner for a great cause!

I never did get to meet the owner of this tractor however, after standing around it for quite some time at the show. But I am reasonably sure that the pink paint symbolizing the cause for a cure touched a whole lot more people than just me!

I just wanted to share this with you all.........I thought it was cool!

Tractors or Antique Tractors?

Which is it? You know, this question always depends upon who you are and what you have. My dad used to tell me that anything over 25 years old is an antique. I don't know if I ever believed that or I would have to consider that even I am an antique.

On the other hand, some believe that when an item (such as an old tractor) has served its current day usefulness that the item would be considered old enough to be considered an antique. When a tractor fits in to this category, just a literal ton of people like to bring them back to life by restoring them. I love that! I believe however, that an old tractor is more closely considered an antique when it is nearing the 50 year old mark. Whether people restore these old pieces of machinery at 25 years old or nearer 50 years old, the love of doing it is where the rubber meets the road so to speak.

Clifford Ernst is just a perfect example of one of those folks. He has a fairly rare old tractor that he has restored back to life. It's a 1919 Moline Universal Tractor and not only is it very old, it is unusual in it's design (see photo).

Could you imagine finding parts for an old beast like this? Most likely there would be parts that would have to be specially made by hand or under contract to someone who could remanufacture the needed part. I don't know if that was the case for any part on Clifford's tractor or not, but you must agreee, he has done a beautiful job on this restoration.

In my book, this is a perfect example of an antique tractor.......... Old, unusual and beautifully restored to original condition. Well done!

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 to 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