[AT] Was Old tractor question; now collection dynamics.
Mark Johnson
markjohnson100 at centurylink.net
Fri Feb 15 08:14:06 PST 2019
Lots of wheelspin, just barely enough torque to pull it off...and at the
time, the H was 30+ years old and hadn't yet had an engine overhaul.
That came several years later.
Our farms in southern Indiana were (and still are) a collection of
mudholes and creeks surrounded by fields. Of the 2 farms/600 acres I
grew up working, all but about 120 are now planted in trees. I doubt I
will see any revenue from the forestry project, but I think my son and
his second cousins probably will.
We had a 300-foot, 3/4 inch steel cable, donated by a neighbor who ran
the local stone quarry. There were times when we needed every inch of it
to reach high ground. Carrying 30-40 feet of chain on tractor platforms
during harvest was routine.
Mark J
On 2/15/2019 10:01 AM, Dean Vinson wrote:
>
> Mark Johnson, great anecdotes. Pulling that stuck 730 and corn wagon
> out with the H must have been a heck of project!
>
> Dean Vinson
>
> Saint Paris, OH
>
> *From:*AT [mailto:at-bounces at lists.antique-tractor.com] *On Behalf Of
> *Mark Johnson
> *Sent:* Thursday, February 14, 2019 8:31 AM
> *To:* at at lists.antique-tractor.com
> *Subject:* Re: [AT] Was Old tractor question; now collection dynamics.
>
> Here are a few memories...
>
> Although I now live in the city, I have a 1940 JD H (narrow front!) in
> my shed, awaiting when I have time to get it running and restored.
> Little Johnny was purchased by my grandfather, brand new, in 1941.
> Until he came into my hands, he was a 'working' tractor that always
> had a job to perform. In my younger days I used it to:
>
> - Pull wagonloads of corn from the field to the grain bins, then
> unhitch from the wagon, and hook the PTO to the elevator to unload.
> The real fun was getting a load of corn around a sharp corner while
> going up a 30 degree slope, with a railroad crossing at the top. Take
> a good run at it in low gear, and don't try it if there was a train in
> sight...which could be fairly frequently, in the mid 1970's the
> now-abandoned Monon sometimes had 12 trains a day.
>
> - Rake hay. When I was 12 or so, we had the clutch set up so tight
> that I couldn't yank it out on one occasion; I remember my dad having
> to run up behind me, jump on the hitch, and pull the clutch out so I
> could stop.
>
> - On one memorable occasion, all 12 HP were put to use to pull one of
> our 730's plus 110 bushels of corn out of a mud hole. Kind of like the
> tail wagging the dog, but we got it done!
>
> Little Johnny has a dent in the hood, underneath the steering shaft,
> that I will not be fixing...here's the story: Sometime in the middle
> 1940's my dad and his brother cut down a tree, which fell the wrong
> way and landed on top of the tractor, 'twanging' the steering shaft
> and flexing it far enough to put a nice little crease in the sheet
> metal. The shaft didn't bend or break, and when my dad and granddad
> repainted the tractor in the late 1970's they didn't fix the dent - so
> I won't either. My dad is now gone, and his brother is approaching 90
> years old and in poor health, but that dent is a family memory...
>
> Other tractors we had back then:
>
> - JD A with high-altitude piston kit; compression was high enough it
> wouldn't start when cold without opening the cylinder cocks. The
> hot-rod kit to increase starter torque was a flop. That year of A was
> rated at 38 HP, ours pulled 43 on a PTO dynamometer with nothing more
> than new plugs.
>
> - JD 620, essentially stock. Not sure what has happened to it; I have
> a connecting rod from its last overhaul stashed in my garage. A truly
> beefy piece.
>
> - Two Diesel 730's, one with fenders and one without. I think they
> were built in two different years, the gearing was slightly
> different...the no-fenders tractor had a 5th gear that clipped along
> at about 7 mph at rated speed...great for driving in for lunch. Both
> of them could plow all day on one tank of fuel. My cousin has one of
> them, the other was sold. I can't remember if both came from one
> tractor, or one from each, but we had two cracked flywheels at 100 lbs
> each, sitting around the farm for many years...my cousin and I
> threatened to build a heavy-weight cart out of them, using the
> equally-beefy drive axle that was the last remaining part of
> great-great-uncle Jim's 1903 Cadillac. I think all those pieces got
> bulldozed into a hole after the arsonist burned down the barn on my
> grandfather's place.
>
> - The one oddball in the fleet, my maternal grandfather's Farmall 300.
> We mostly used it to mow hay, left the 9W mower hooked up most of the
> summer. Also used it to carry a platform with fence building/repair
> supplies into places where a pickup couldn't go. Never a great
> tractor, but it always would start in the winter, and often pulled or
> belt-started one of the 730's. This was the tractor that suffered the
> short in the starter solenoid on me while I was a half-mile from the
> house, clipping pasture. As far as I know, the engine has never been
> torn down.
>
> - An AC 190XT - never a great tractor, engine had to be re-sleeved
> after it developed antifreeze leaks.
>
> - An AC 210 - no cab, tremendous pulling power - would pull 6 16"
> bottoms with ease. Big drawback...not enough radiator. If you ran it
> at full rated RPM in heavy Indiana clay soil, it would overheat within
> a couple hundred yards. I tried for 2 years to talk Pop into spending
> $1000 or so to have a special radiator built for it with an extra row
> of tubes, so it would cool. An oddity: we got it when it was about 5-6
> years old, but we were the first legitimate owner. It had been stolen
> from a dealer lot when new, then somebody else stole it from that guy.
> It got back into 'circulation' when a sheriff's deputy caught the
> second thief and his brother trying to pull-start it on a cold
> morning. They didn't seem to know what they were doing, so the officer
> called the serial number in...and sure enough, it came back as stolen.
> It sat on a lot for 3 years or so while the insurance company,
> original dealer, and AC fought over the details. We got it for a very
> reasonable price, with only about 250 hours on the tach. Hadn't been
> abused, the guys who stole it never even pulled the seal wires off the
> fuel injection pump to attempt to boost output (with the
> aforementioned radiator, it wouldn't have helped much anyway).
>
> - An AC 8030 - full airconditioned cab, 10-15 more HP than the 210
> (same engine block, more blower). Had enough radiator to run at full
> power with that 6 bottom plow...and almost was enough to get me to
> come back to the farm when I was about 35 or so. Still on the farm,
> used by a neighbor who rents the tillable acreage. A/C compressor no
> longer holds refrigerant, so it is not pleasant to drive in high
> summer any more! Price of a new compressor was/is outrageous. [Tractor
> aircon has always been problematic...designers don't realize what a
> hostile mechanical environment a farm tractor can be; seals and
> fittings that work fine in automotive use just don't stand up in the
> field.]
>
> Good times in southern Indiana...
>
> Mark J
> Columbia MO
>
> On 2/14/2019 5:56 AM, Henry Miller wrote:
>
> You hit it with memories. My great uncle made his own tractors,
> and so my early memories are of tractor shows. I loved the big
> tractors and steam engines, I was knee high to a grasshopper, so
> they were really impressive. Still are now that I'm big. They are
> mostly unaffordable, but I want a 60/30 heavy oil pull.
>
> The first tractor I ever drove was a model titan that my great
> uncle built. He sold that and build a second which I now have.
> Turns out to be my goto tractor for fun, it starts easy and is
> easy to drive. You can't do much with only 3 horse power, but I
> don't have much to do. I've never been a farmer.
>
> My model John deere D is built on a 1.5 horse John deere e hit n
> miss. It is fun to drive, though my son (now 5) doesn't let me
> often. Generally I walk beside it for safety while he drives.
>
> My grey tractor is the last one I have that my great uncle made.
> In my memories it is yellow and had a now missing log splitter
> attached. Someday to I need to build one to get it right. This is
> my only tractor with electric start, something I can do without:
> electric start tractors were too modern to get into shows when I
> was a kid. (this is probably not true, but in my memory...)
>
> The other tractors in my memory are from my dad's side, he was a
> farmer at one time and still kept the tractors. He traded a
> Ford-Ferguson for an 8n. I remember with my cousin trying to push
> it to prove how strong we were (now that I'm older I wonder if
> taking it out of gear might have made us successful). Until she
> died a couple years ago I wanted to take it with her to a show
> with it just to hear the announcer say "that is the original owner
> driving". This tractor now belongs to my uncle.
>
> Then grandpa bought a Ford 860, this is the tractor of my dad's
> memories, he has 3 when it showed up and that was very exciting
> for him. Now my dad has it.
>
> Last grandpa bought a John deere B for cheap at an auction because
> nobody else was bidding. My dad drove it home (5 miles or so). Now
> it is my big tractor as my son calls it. It is mostly used for hay
> rides.
>
> Last is a homemade lawn tractor that grandpa made from a David
> Bradley and model A Ford parts. It runs but the clutch needs work
> so it doesn't drive. This was mostly built as a pto for a grain
> elevator.
>
> I moved to Moline IL a month ago, I have a 40x60 poll barn to
> store this all in. However getting boxes unpacked has been using
> most of my limited time. The B did get put to some use getting
> everything to the trailer. I haven't had the energy to write
> anything about the move though.
>
> --
>
> Henry Miller
>
> hank at millerfarm.com <mailto:hank at millerfarm.com>
>
> On Wed, Feb 13, 2019, at 9:39 PM, Spencer Yost wrote:
>
> Why did you own what you have owned? Farmer started it; as he
> usually does....
>
> The preponderance of narrow front tractors a tractor shows is
> sort of a weird variation on self-selection bias. When people
> collect tractors, they tend to collect what caught their
> interest when they were younger and imprinted in their
> memories. So their memories are screaming “let me into the
> sample!“. Those memories are reinforced by nostalgic pictures
> of Farmall Ms, John Deere A’s, etc.
>
> Having lived in Pennsylvania, and seen many horses but very
> few tractors, I don’t really have a bias that I can sense and
> explains the menagerie of tractors I have owned.
>
> I bought my Farmall A because it was close, handy, and i knew
> of a mower i could put on it. I bought my Pacer because i was
> looking for a project, it was close, from a co-worker, it was
> handy, and it was a good price even though it was rusted
> stuck. Every tractor was a weird twist of fate. I’ve inherited
> one(friend who passed), got a call out of the blue, you name
> it. I have probably owned around 30 tractors; they have all
> come and gone after I got them running and made them happy(a
> few went to scrap when I made a mistake in assessment). They
> are a complete smorgasbord of anything and everything you can
> imagine.
>
> I’ve settled on my Ford 861, MH Pacer and JD 430V. I’ll
> probably die with these. If there is any pattern, it is
> obvious that I prefer tractors from the 50s.
>
> My collection pride and joy was a complete set of the Massey
> Harris “equine” tractors. I had a Pony, Pacer, Colt and a
> Mustang. A guy came along and offered me more money than I
> could refuse and now they are gone. My original Pacer remains.
>
> In addition I rebuilt the engines of 6-8 tractors in this
> area around 1990-2000. I still see a few mowing and
> brush-hogging from time to time. That’s probably my greatest
> reward.
>
> A friend recently said he is about to give me his family’s
> Ford 8N for engine rebuilding. Hopefully I can post on that
> from time to time(Don’t hold your breath: he said that a year
> ago too. :-) ).
>
> Spencer Yost
>
> On Feb 13, 2019, at 9:14 PM, Indiana Robinson
> <robinson46176 at gmail.com <mailto:robinson46176 at gmail.com>> wrote:
>
> You are right Greg, my 4020 Deere was narrow front. Not my
> first choice but it was a very good buy on a very good
> tractor. It did have the Roll-a-matic and that did help a
> lot on handling and ride. It was also very heavy and thus
> quite stable.
>
> For most things wide front / narrow front doesn't really
> matter to me I have always adapted easily, even to a #%&^
> hand clutch. :-)
>
> My father's first tractor, a 9N Ford, bought new in early
> 1942, of course, an adjustable wide front. My grandfather
> never owned a tractor nor a car/truck, only horses.
>
> The rebuilt McCormick 10-20, acquired during those tractor
> shortage post war years mentioned was a "standard tread"
> wheat-land style front axle. It was traded for a decent
> 1939 Chrysler sedan in 1951.
>
> The Ferguson TO-20, bought new about 1949 was an
> adjustable wide front.
>
> By 1952 - 53 my older sister and I were putting in hours
> running tractors and my father became largely committed to
> low slung wide front tractors for safety reasons. About
> 1952 a John Deere MC crawler came to the farm and I spent
> a lot of time on it and later the Deere 40C crawler,
> bought new, that the MC was traded in on. Is a crawler a
> "wide front"? :-) Very high stability.
>
> In very early 1954 the 9N was traded for the 1953 Ford
> Jubilee, of course also a wide front low slung tractor.
> That one had 2 clutches, one foot and one hand for live PTO.
>
> The Deere 40C was traded for a IHC 300U, also low and wide
> front.
>
> I don't actually ever recall ever even driving a tricycle
> front tractor until we got the Allis Chalmers C that a
> close family friend had bought new in 1946 and owned for
> 20 years. We used it a lot for stationary PTO use like
> elevators and augers and using the mid-mount sickle mower.
> I still have that tractor and it has been to a number of
> shows.
>
> We stayed with ear corn longer than most, we had a
> Kentucky connection who would pay a premium for good ear
> corn for cattle feed. My father found a very good used New
> Idea 2 row mounted picker with mountings for a Farmall M.
> We found a good Farmall Super M tricycle (that I still
> have) to mount that picker on. I then found my Farmall
> Super MTA tricycle which was ideal for that picker with
> independent PTO and TA. (I still have that one too) It has
> been to Portland before.
>
> The Farmall 400 LP bought just because we wanted it is a
> wide front. I still have it but it is not currently
> running, needs an engine rebuild.
>
> The MM-R with a #$%^ hand clutch, is a narrow front. Still
> have it, bought it at an uncle's auction. It has been
> shown a number of times including Portland.
>
> The 1948 John Deere A is a Roll-a-matic narrow front with
> a #$%^ hand clutch.
>
> Ferguson TO-20 (not our old original) wide front. Used
> almost daily.
>
> 1946 Case VAC, narrow front, also in regular use.
>
> 1947 Farmall Cub and a (I forget the year) Massey Harris
> Pony. Both wide front but not very wide. :-)
>
> I almost forgot my MF-165D wide front. I have some of it
> apart but maybe I will get there next fall. Priorities are
> different when you no longer actually farm...
>
> Oh and 2 8N Fords. One nearly done and one not started on
> and not really a priority.
>
> Also a Case VAC that hasn't decided if it is a project or
> a parts tractor. A narrow front.
>
> I guess That's everybody.
>
> I guess that my biggest complaint about narrow fronts is
> how they can turn into virtual bulldozers in extremely
> soft wet soil.
>
> Speaking of moving tractors around, I see a lot of single
> fronts at shows here these days but I never saw any of
> them growing up...
>
> .
>
> On Wed, Feb 13, 2019 at 6:40 PM Greg Hass <ghass at m3isp.com
> <mailto:ghass at m3isp.com>> wrote:
>
> This is a question I have wondered about for years
> although it is not
>
> world changing. The question is: why are some areas
> mostly wide front
>
> and others narrow front tractors? In our area of
> Michigan, as soon as
>
> wide front became available almost 100% went with wide
> front.
>
> Personally, I hate narrow front tractors with a
> passion. I would never
>
> get a narrow front tractor except maybe an old 2
> cylinder JD or
>
> something like a Farmall F-12 where wide front either
> did not exist or
>
> is extremely rare. I know that in some areas the
> larger tractors had
>
> narrow front because of mounted corn pickers. From
> videos other areas
>
> had narrow fronts. If you Google ( tractors from the
> past, plowing in
>
> 1962) you will find many tractors plowing but I didn't
> see a single wide
>
> front even on a couple new generation JD's. I don't
> know where the video
>
> was filmed but I suspect Indiana because of the fields
> and the way they
>
> raised the plows to go over grassed waterways;
> something I still see
>
> when we travel there to see our kids. I'm not sure,
> but I think the 4020
>
> Farmer used to own had a narrow front. Also why does
> no one make narrow
>
> front anymore? In the video, even the Ford disking has
> a narrow front,
>
> something I have never seen in our area and in years
> past there were a
>
> lot of Fords around us. Comments anyone.
>
> Greg Hass
>
> _______________________________________________
>
> AT mailing list
>
> AT at lists.antique-tractor.com
> <mailto:AT at lists.antique-tractor.com>
>
> http://lists.antique-tractor.com/listinfo.cgi/at-antique-tractor.com
>
> --
>
> --
>
> Francis Robinson
>
> aka "farmer"
>
> Central Indiana USA
>
> robinson46176 at gmail.com <mailto:robinson46176 at gmail.com>
>
> _______________________________________________
>
> AT mailing list
>
> AT at lists.antique-tractor.com
> <mailto:AT at lists.antique-tractor.com>
>
> http://lists.antique-tractor.com/listinfo.cgi/at-antique-tractor.com
>
> _______________________________________________
>
> AT mailing list
>
> AT at lists.antique-tractor.com <mailto:AT at lists.antique-tractor.com>
>
> http://lists.antique-tractor.com/listinfo.cgi/at-antique-tractor.com
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
>
> AT mailing list
>
> AT at lists.antique-tractor.com <mailto:AT at lists.antique-tractor.com>
>
> http://lists.antique-tractor.com/listinfo.cgi/at-antique-tractor.com
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> AT mailing list
> AT at lists.antique-tractor.com
> http://lists.antique-tractor.com/listinfo.cgi/at-antique-tractor.com
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.antique-tractor.com/pipermail/at-antique-tractor.com/attachments/20190215/b3dbcbb6/attachment.htm>
More information about the AT
mailing list