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Tom Harrower
07-02-2001 05:12:13
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Re: Re: What's in your collection? in reply to William, 07-01-2001 19:22:46
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Howdy all, My first tractor was purchased about five years ago, it is a 1949 Ford 8-N. I purchased it in "refurbished" condition after my wife & I purchased our new home in the High Desert area of Southern Ca. Our home is on 2&1/4 acres, it did not take long to figure out that I was going to need some help maintaining the property, I had done a little looking around, and it seemed the Ford N series with a box scraper would fit my needs perfectly. After aquiring the little Ford, my love affair with old tractors turned into my main hobby, I started collecting books, and tractor toys, and hanging out on the discussion boards at this website. My second tractor was aquired at my prior employer of thirteen years. I drove a truck for a small family owned trucking company, for years there was this old red hunk of metal, rotting out behind the area where we parked our semi trailers. one day I became curious about this old mass of steel and started looking at it, it was a mess, three flat rotted tires sitting so crooked it looked as if it would tip over if the wind blew, no radiator or sheet metal at all, but a very clear tag on the flywheel housing designating it as an International model I-6. Becoming even more curious, I asked the son of the company owner ( who had recently passed away) if he knew anthing about this old tractor. He told me that his Dad had seen this old tractor sitting in someones front yard and it reminded him of a tractor he had drove on a farm when he was a kid, he offered the owner $200.00 for the old tractor and brought it to the yard where it was disasembled and parked where I found it. Come to find out, they had every single piece for that old tractor, sheet metal, engine parts, nuts, bolts, everything! They ended up giving me the 1942 International model I-6, complete but with a stuck engine. My intention is to restore this wonderful old tractor to completely original condition, possibly showing it, and entering an occasional tractor pull, I think that 248 cubic inch engine should be a real horse when it comes back to life. Next came my 1953 Case VAC. I spotted it sitting along the roadside in ontario, it had three different shades of red paint and primer on it, along with some old separated automobile retreads on the adjustable wide front end, what a cool looking old tractor! I purchased it and built a trailer to pull behind it that carries all of my yard maintenence tools on the front, and a 4x8 foot bed to throw yard debris in, the neighbors that drive by like to see the old Case parked out in the yard when I am doing yardwork, and having the tractor to use makes yardwork kind of fun, instead of a chore. Last , but by no means least, came my 1945 Case model SO. It is an orchard tractor, but it does not have the full orchard fairings that some came with. It is in very nice un-restored condition, needing only a steering wheel, and a shift knob to be complete. It has several factory options, including dual fuel capability, which includes the still operational radiator shutters, a belt pulley, pto, and a motor lift, it is a very nice little tractor. About all I do with the SO is putt around the yard, and neighborhood, I have pulled a few tree stumps out with it also. I think because of the dual fuel exhaust\intake manifold, the tractor kind of pops and sputters running with no load, but when I have pulled stumps with it , under a load at full throttle it runs as smooth as glass, that is probably how it was designed to run, and still does at 56 years old ! That about sums up my four old tractors and what I use them for, I am almost allways happy when I can spend time around them.....Tom
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