I'm a halfway decent amateur photographer, and I've been asked to post a few pics for different things. For instance, I just put up some of my Panhandle Pictures on another thread. And I've been asked before to post some antique tractor pics. Well, I finally accumulated enough of those to make a thread. I invite others to post, along the lines of the bad@$$ cars thread and the crazy cars thread

So here's a few to get started....


These first three were all collected by my late father, class of '49.


First year of JD Model G production, currently on display at the Hale County Farm and Ranch Museum:


1938 unstyled G John Deere by CHS Girls Soccer, on Flickr


A late 40s or early 50s Gibson Super D2, made in Longmont, Colorado. Also at HCFRM.


Gibson Super D-2 by CHS Girls Soccer, on Flickr


Gibson Model A. Note lack of hood and steering wheel. Lever on operator's right steers the tractor. Also at HCFRM.


Gibson A by CHS Girls Soccer, on Flickr



[This message has been edited by CanyonAg77 (edited 4/26/2012 12:13p).]

Here's a special one. A 1938 John Deere "Unstyled" model L. 1937 was the first year of production, and a mere 62 were made. In 1938, only 1501 were made before a styling change was made. Here's one of those 1501.


IMG_2653 by CHS Girls Soccer, on Flickr

The mighty 56.5 cubic inch (0.93 liters for the metric guys) Hercules two cylinder engine put out a blistering 10hp at the belt pulley. Only the first 2827 built used this Herc engine, the last 10,538 used a John Deere engine.

Here's a closeup of the grill, this is what an "unstyled" L front end looks like


John Deere Unstyled L by CHS Girls Soccer, on Flickr

This photo of an LA (higher horsepower version of L) shows what a "styled" grill looks like. Internet photo, not mine.



The trailer in the photo at the top is special, too. The chassis is a rare John Deere trailer. Deere made trailers for several years, and farm wagons before that. We don't know how old the chassis is, but we believe it to be around the same vintage (1930s) as the tractor.

We can tell it is old because the wheel rims clamp on to a five-spoke central hub. Modern trailers have wheels that bolt on to the hub just like modern car wheels. I will try to get a detail shot later.


This tractor/trailer set is currently at home, but we plan to move it to the HCFRM soon.

EDIT: moved it to HCFRM as of 28 April 2012.




[This message has been edited by CanyonAg77 (edited 4/28/2012 4:19p).]

Here's a few from a tractor show in Plainview, Texas. They don't belong to us, unless indicated.


First, a 1928 JD Model D on the back of a 1958 Chevy 2-ton truck. The truck has 14,000 miles on it, and I think it is all original.


IMG_2676 by CHS Girls Soccer, on Flickr

A 1950s M Farmall with a road grader conversion grafted onto the front.


IMG_2652 by CHS Girls Soccer, on Flickr

1930 John Deere D


IMG_2655 by CHS Girls Soccer, on Flickr

[This message has been edited by CanyonAg77 (edited 4/26/2012 12:45p).]

In the Pacific Northwest, people wanted tracked tractors for orchard work. So sort of like Shelby modified Cobras and Mustangs, a fellow named Lindeman took new John Deere tractors and put tracks on them. This is a model B John Deere. But since it was built as an "orchard" tractor (note bush guards built over gas and radiator caps) it is referred to as a "BO". A total of 1,675 Lindeman BOs were made.


IMG_2656 by CHS Girls Soccer, on Flickr

In 1949 and 1950, John Deere took their model M farm tractor, rotated the final drive housing 90 degrees to lower the tractor, shortened the front end, painted them orange or yellow, and you have the Model MI. (I for Industrial) About 1,032 built.


IMG_2657 by CHS Girls Soccer, on Flickr

Deere made a very few high crop tractors each year. These were built with extra ground clearance for vegetable production. Also at that time, a small percentage of tractors were sent out from the factory rigged to run on butane, otherwise known as LP gas. So when you get a rare tractor with a rare fuel system, you get:

1960 John Deere 430 LP High Crop. One of 5 built.


IMG_2658 by CHS Girls Soccer, on Flickr

[This message has been edited by CanyonAg77 (edited 4/26/2012 1:02p).]

A beautiful restoration of a 1971 JD 4320. A 4320 was essentially a 4020 with a turbocharger upping the hp from 88 to 116, and some driveline upgrades.


IMG_2669 by CHS Girls Soccer, on Flickr

One of the early John Deere 4WD tractors, a total of 4,661 of the John Deere 7520 were made. This one is a 1974.


IMG_2670 by CHS Girls Soccer, on Flickr

Well, I'm going to go pretend to be productive. More later, and please add your own.

[This message has been edited by CanyonAg77 (edited 4/26/2012 1:09p).]

Amazing how long some of these things last, and that's with getting treated to extreme work and weather, a lot of the time.

Sorry, not productive yet...

Rob, I think you had several things going for these old rigs. First and foremost is that the tractor companies were in a very competitive business, and reputation was everything. If you bought a green tractor and it was junk, you'd never buy another. Neither would your sons, your neighbors, etc. etc.

Next is that these darn things were way overbuilt. Cast iron was cheap, and more weight = more traction, so these suckers were MASSIVE. On a lot of them (John Deere D comes to mind) the engine and transmission cases were also the frame.

Next, you did not have bean counters telling the engineers they could save 0.1 cents per unit by making the sheet metal thinner.

Last, these things were seldom retired. When you got a new tractor, you often kept the old one and passed it down to the kids, or used it for lighter chores, etc. If you did sell it, it went to a smaller farmer or hobby farmer. So many labor on for years at lesser work levels.

Cool.

JD makes a lot of their new stuff in the Quad Cities, about an hour or so away from me right now. I see but loads of the new stuff all over, and have an aquaintance that is an engineering tech (finishing up school on Mech Eng right now) for them, too, but out of Cedar Falls.

He is a farmer, by upbringing, and SWEARS by JD.

A little thing I recently acquired. A 1955 Dempster 6 inch belt driven centrifugal irrigation pump. The intake faces you, the outlet is the long pipe going off to the left.


pump by CHS Girls Soccer, on Flickr

Another view, the pulley where the belt goes is on the left.


pump by CHS Girls Soccer, on Flickr

Closer view


pump by CHS Girls Soccer, on Flickr

And as to Big Rob's comment, this thing has been sitting outside since new, and was used a lot in the 1950s and 1960s.

You can still easily turn it by hand.

This recently went to the scrap yard. I wish I could have saved it, but you have to draw the line somewhere. Farm built trailer, axle is from some very old truck.


homebuilt trailer by CHS Girls Soccer, on Flickr

Wheel detail


Wheel detail by CHS Girls Soccer, on Flickr
worn out tire by CHS Girls Soccer, on Flickr

Here's one of the rivets holding on the fenders. Every rivet had this exact detail. I have no idea if it was manufactured to look like this, or if it came from being driven into place.


rivet by CHS Girls Soccer, on Flickr

good thread.

We have an old Farmall B I need to get some pics of. It used to belong to Col. Eppright.
http://www.12thmanfoundation.com/major-gifts/eppright-distinguished-donors.aspx

1,000 Internet Credits to the farm nerd who can tell me what this contraption is that the tractor is pulling.



Here's another view of it in action.



[This message has been edited by powerbiscuit (edited 4/26/2012 2:36p).]

Sweet.

And I spy a Task Force era LCF GMC and a '64 Chevy.

[This message has been edited by CanyonAg77 (edited 4/26/2012 2:16p).]

Tobacco harvester?

No. Tobacco is much taller, I think

Harvesting Potatoes?

Peanuts?

Not peanuts or potatoes

Those are different crops and different machines...

Cool Pictures! Thanks for sharing.

No one noticed my hint?

And from the amazing collection of the late Paul Armstrong '48, Hart, Texas:

A wooden thrashing machine. Dad said he'd only seen two of these in his life. This one and one in the Smithsonian.


wooden thrasher 2 by CHS Girls Soccer, on Flickr

This one sold in March 2009 for $375,000.


Fairbanks-Morse 15-25, sold for $375,000 by CHS Girls Soccer, on Flickr

So you're a farmer in the 1920s with an old Model T sitting behind the barn. What do you do with it? Buy a conversion kit and turn it into a tractor.


Model T converted to tractor by CHS Girls Soccer, on Flickr



[This message has been edited by CanyonAg77 (edited 4/26/2012 3:27p).]

I collect, restore, and show old hit and miss engines. My first one came from my inlaws ranch and was purchased by her great grandfather in the 20's and was used to pump water until the got electric in the 1950's.

Below is a shot of two of my engines loaded up and headed to a show.











[This message has been edited by BCOBQ98 (edited 4/26/2012 3:40p).]

Canyon, You intrested in selling that pump?

No, but I'd like to find a stationary engine to run it. It belonged to a recently deceased neighbor, so it has some personal feeling as well as being an oddball.

I've never seen one of them anywhere else, have you?

Some of the stationary engines from the Armstrong estate:


Stationary engine by CHS Girls Soccer, on Flickr


more small engines by CHS Girls Soccer, on Flickr


JD by CHS Girls Soccer, on Flickr


Empire by CHS Girls Soccer, on Flickr


? by CHS Girls Soccer, on Flickr


note magnet for magneto on left end by CHS Girls Soccer, on Flickr

[This message has been edited by CanyonAg77 (edited 4/26/2012 3:49p).]

quote:

---

Those are different crops and different machines...

---

same crop, different fields, possibly different states

good eye on the equipment, they are different, but they perform the same function...i.e. an IH combine and a John Deere combine are both combines.

Second engine from the bottom is a Stover. I collect this mfgr. Notice how the top of the water hopper is the same style to the engine I posted.

If you want more info go to http://www.smokstak.com/forum/

If you are intrested in these engines / tractors you should come to the show in Temple Tx first weekend of October.

Probably 200+ engines and 2000+ tractors.

Beet Harvester FTW!!

You da man.

Here's a bobtail truck loaded with sugar beets.




people picking vegetables in the early 60's














Irrigation ditch




Irrigation well



Maize/Sorghum/Milo, whatever you want to call it








[This message has been edited by powerbiscuit (edited 4/26/2012 6:01p).]

The neighbor who owned the lake pump, also owned this old early 1950s wheatland Case. He and his dad built this wooden cab to stay warm in the winter. The back glass is a Model T car windshield turned on end.


SAM_0683 by CHS Girls Soccer, on Flickr

Another neighbor (who is also an Aggie) and I drove it to the new owner's house. Here's a short video of him driving the tractor.

Video link

[This message has been edited by CanyonAg77 (edited 4/26/2012 9:59p).]

Intriguing stuff

So I have some more. I was hesitant about putting these up. We just lost dad a few months ago, so feelings are pretty raw. Plus, I try to keep a little privacy. But these photos are old enough, mostly, that it won't matter much.

I think this photo is from the mid 1980s. Pretty typical photo of Dad.


x197334573311 by CHS Girls Soccer, on Flickr

Dad, brother and I around the same era. I'm still the tall one, but I'm no longer the skinny one. Or the dark-haired one.


photo119 by CHS Girls Soccer, on Flickr

Dad and my brother, probably around 1955. Note the double bumper on the pickup.


photo128 by CHS Girls Soccer, on Flickr

No equipment in this photo (wish there was) but this is my Dad, being held by his Dad. Circa 1930.


xphoto078 by CHS Girls Soccer, on Flickr

Dad on JD 7700 combine, probably mid-1970s. Yellow cones are to pick up downed corn. Built by a company called Roll-a-Cone out of Tulia Texas. First such unit they put on a 6-row corn header. Company is still in business.


xphoto041 by CHS Girls Soccer, on Flickr

Dad, my older brother and I in a soybean field, around 1956.


xx798034573311 by CHS Girls Soccer, on Flickr

Here's the 1939 John Deere H on which I just finished doing a full restoration.