President Eisenhower's Tractor

The tractor is on display at the Harrisburg, PA airport. Harrisburg is about 45 miles from Eisenhower's farm at Gettysburg, PA

Any comments on the president of the US having a Canadian tractor? LOL

Guess he knew where the good ones came from....
Ben

Must have been given to him.

He should have waited a few years. He could have gotten a Cockshutt made by Oliver. lol

It was a gift by the Farm Bureau. The last picture gives the details.

OK,I see now. I wondered what that black box was. It's a radio according to the text in the last picture.

first thing i thought of. i wonder what the back story was? i would have thought that, coming from the state Farm Bureaus, they would have presented an American tractor.

We had a 35 deluxe, just about the same tractor, real nice tractor for 1956. Ike liked cigars, and the Cockshutt Black Hawk came with a cigar lighter. Bet he never road it much

Did not Farm Bureau have a Co-op type arrangement with Cockshutt in the Midwest then? It seems to me that somebody recently posted a picture here to that effect. So in essence the Ike presentation was a promotional opportunity for the Co-op.

I'd heard the Canadian Gov't actually paid for the tractor.

Or picked up a good used one also made by Oliver !!!

They must have made a special set of decals for hat tractor.

I was thinking the same thing. Of all the U.S. makers there were at that time...

I'm positive it was a marketing ploy with probably a lot of backstory that we don't know about at all.

I'm not very familiar with Cockshutt tractors, but it looks like it would be a pretty comfortable tractor for that time period.

It was part of an early NAFTA agreement, and now "The Don" probably wants one too. I wonder what he would do with it?

maybe we could get Phil Heisey to comment about this i think his dad was a Cockshutt factory rep

if i remember right a man that once owned this tractor brought it to the Freeport Il steam show many years ago along with a Long tractor he hoped to sell both of them so he wouldn't have to take them home with him but he wanted LOTS of money for them.

Those decals look much like the decals I see when I Google search Cockshutt Blackhawk images.

Yes, the black box on the left is the radio. There's an antenna on it.

He could use it in his vineyard he bought near me,think his son Erik actually runs it.He got a deal too John Kluge's exwife owned the place,the idiots at Farm Credit lent
about 50 Million to her and her partner The Man Don ended up getting it in foreclosure for around 17 Million$.

Seems to me that grille on the Eisenhower 40 should be red. All the yellow Cockshutts of that series I have seen had the red grille.

The top photo is Eisenhower's tractor and bottom is the factory decaled Cockshutt Black Hawk 40.

Possibly the difference between a Cockshutt and Blackhawk or a Coop that was orange. Friends have all 3 makes in 20 series Coop, Cockshutt and Blackhawk. Just painted different.

I was at the Harrisburg airport in November! didn't see the tractor. When was it placed there?

Several years ago wife and I spent couple of days in and around famous Gettysburg battlefield, including former President Dwight Eisenhower retirement farm. As a teenager, I remember reading about his Angus cow/calf operation, a good fit for the hilly and rolling ground. The house was modest certainly not what you would expect from a former U.S. President. At the barn, the sliding doors of the center bay were open, revealing a Massey Ferguson 65 narrow front tractor. The guide explained that the MF was regular farm tractor used by Mr. Eisenhower and was in the same condition as when it came under the care of the National Park Service. Tractor was not restored, but appeared to have had an easy life-it was in good condition. I wish I would have checked out the hourmeter. There was no mention of the Cockshutt described here, so can't say how both were used.
Everyone should visit the battleground before park service is directed to remove or dismantle all Confederate monuments.

I've no idea when it was put on display.

(quoted from post at 12:31:44 01/25/18) The top photo is Eisenhower's tractor and bottom is the factory decaled Cockshutt Black Hawk 40.

Click to expand...

If you want to get nit-picky about it, the lettering is wrong too.

What you're looking at is a best-effort restoration, probably done at a time before the Internet, on a rare tractor that even today does not have a whole lot of "correctness" information available for it.

Cockshutt decals varied that I've seen that I was pretty sure that were original,even Bill Cockshutt said one time that the shade of paint also varied coming from the factory as the
paint they got in wasn't always exactly the same color.

Interesting. Ike was born in Denison, TX., not too far from me. I'm a native Texan and been farming right here since 1979 and never have I seen a Cockshutt tractor. Lots of greens and reds but no Cockshutt. So one has to wonder how it is that he chose that for his personal brand.

OT: I remember in parochial school wearing a "I Like Ike" campaign pin to school when he was running for President.

Quote from "Cockshutt The Complete Story"
In the fall of 1955, Pennsylvania Farm Bureau General Manager George Connor was planning a public relations gesture of rather large proportion. At the New York Mills depot, just outside Utica, New York, Cockshutt factory branch employees were busily readying a tractor for delivery. This 1955 model 40, serial number 25285, was reconfigured to the new Black Hawk paint scheme which would premier with the 1956 models. Under cloak of secrecy, they had no knowledge of the new owner: but knew it must be someone special. In addition to the new colours and decal package, it was equipped with the unique "star pattern" rear wheels and even more unusual, an AM radio. Cockshutt mechanic, Earl Barlow, says that 16 coats of lacquer paint were applied to this special tractor.
New York Mills branch members delivering the tractor and Black Hawk 246 deep tillage cultivator with remote hydraulics had no idea where they were headed until their rendezvous with Secret Service agents. After thoroughly inspecting the equipment, the agents advised they would be accompanying the delivery to the Gettysburg Pennsylvania farm of President Eisenhower. When his schedule allowed, Mr. Eisenhower liked to spend time at the Gettysburg farm where he managed a herd of Angus cattle.
On November 30, Mr. Barlow attended the presentation on Mr. Eisenhower's farm with other Farm Bureau and Cockshutt reps. Newsreel footage shows the President's beaming face as he graciously accepted the gift surrounded by a crowd of well wishers, military aides and Secret Service officials. Even in the black and white footage, the Black Hawk gave a stunning appearance on that bright sunny day.
Many years later the tractor surfaced during an auction at an area equipment dealer. Somewhat of a basket case at that point. Mrs. Helen Miller of York, Pennsylvania, purchased it for her husband, Floyd. She would later remark "That gentleman bidding against me, wanting for a pulling tractor, didn't realize he was only one bid away from getting it!" The Millers completed a full restoration and have shown it throughout the east and midwest for many years. They are proud to have saved this piece of history and to include it in their collection.
Copyright 1999.

Hey Dude,

Tell us what is wrong with the lettering and all else wrong points that you can identify.

Phil Heisey
215=256-8651

Maybe Ike just wanted one and someone knew that he liked them. He was a farmer of sorts so he must have had a preference, or maybe he just liked Cockshutts who knows.

On the "only one bid away" remark is how all auctions end. You hear a lot on here about this went for this and that went for that and all,
remarking about what a steal that was and wishing they had been there......well we all know that had there been somebody there with "only
one bid" it wouldn't have gone for what it did. But it's fun to imagine.