I never did chronicle the joys of Thanksgiving a few weeks ago. Now Christmas has come and gone and I have to play catch-up.

As usual, Uncle Golden was late because he had misplaced his teeth and we all know that he’s less fun around a table full of food if he’s just looking. When he finally did show up, he also brought the turkey deep fryer because he said he got it on sale at “Astors Hardware”… a place I’d never even heard of.

Well the dogs were barking and got locked up so they wouldn’t get burned and when the turkey appeared, so did the fryer and the ignition source.

The meal was a little overcooked and we had to just bury the mess…. but the cornbread was good. None of us made eye contact until the Lawrence Welk VHS tapes were brought out. That and the Fireball Whiskey.

 

 

Not even THIS mouse. Went into the shop this afternoon to see what the trap-line had for me and lo and behold…. something that must’ve weighed 5 pounds. Snapped so hard it flipped over and nearly cracked the concrete floor. Even soiled itself.

In other news, I was thrilled to get a signed photo that I’ll make sure I post a picture of soon. It helps to have friends in high places. Stay tuned….

Can’t wait, no sleeps left

as I sit here on this Christmas eve reciting this blog onto the iPhone I wish everybody a Merry Christmas and I hope this turns out without bad spelling

checkers touched the eggs

A rainy day in May is a good time to go on a road trip! Too wet to sandblast and bugs were unbearable.
We decided to visit the Military museum at CFB Borden. The purpose was to visit the Worthington Tank Museum. Why the tank museum? I had heard that a lot of tractor parts and technology were used in military vehicles in WW2. ( I also like tanks…)

We found the facility to be outstanding and exhibits well done. The vehicles well displayed and an interesting cross section of history.

What we found and fell in love with was the Ford CMP. A WW2 vehicle produced by Ford of Canada. What a truck! It has Ford tractor DNA all over it (it was built just across the river from Ford’s Detroit tractor factories), right down to the Ford Flathead engine.

PHOTO TOUR

Some info on the CMP (from www.Mapleleafup.org)

From a standing start in 1939,Canada produced an incredible collection of unique and endurable softskin vehicles known as ‘CMP’, or Canadian Military Pattern. These vehicles served every Commonwealth army in every theater of war, and in many cases, went on to provide yeoman service to dozens of nations in every corner of the globe for decades after. That so many examples have survived to this day is a testament to the engineering excellence incorporated in their design and manufacture.

 

“Why the tank museum? I had heard that a lot of tractor parts and technology were used in military vehicles in WW2”
The CMP story really began in the middle thirties, when it looked as if Great Britain and her Commonwealth might have to once again take up arms against the rising tide of German nationalism.

As early as 1935, the British government had begun to make inquiries as to Canada’s potential as a manufacturing base for a wide variety of war-related goods. By 1937, Ford of Canada was working on developing a 15 cwt truck for military service, based on a very loose set of design parameters furnished through government channels by the British. A year later the program had accelerated, and General Motors of Canada was now also heavily involved. War was on the horizon, and all parties were desperate to standardize a new series of military vehicles which would be acceptable in British service, but designed for Canadian manufacturing processes.

The result of these desperate (and unusual!) collaborative efforts was the Canadian Military Pattern truck. Prototypes were undergoing rigorous testing by 1939, and all-out production by 1940.

By September 1st, 1945, Canada had produced almost 410,000 CMP vehicles alone, together with 306,000 modified conventional types, over 50,000 armored vehicles, and over 91,000 civilian vehicles modified for military service.

Old Pete had a long winter…watching old tractor show reruns on RFD TV all winter (when nothing happens at American -Tractor except blow snow) and listening to Max Armstrong talk about the the century rust show Rantoul burnt a new program into Pete’s EPROM. The final straw was when the The Ford/Fordson Collectors Association Inc announced they would their hold National show at Penfield IL.

The trip was on! Load up the Fargo and make a pilgrimage to the motherland of American Tractors…Dearborn Michigan, and then onto Penfield to the Ford tractor show. If all goes maybe squeeze in a Sprint car car at some little dirt track.
My first stop was to tour the Plant were my fabulous Jubilee and 650 were built; I had map and the tour brochure… But, this what I found when I arrived at Highland Park…nobody home

I carried on the next best thing “The Henry Ford Museum” in Dearborn and tour the Rouge Complex ( Birth place of the Fordson and 9N)

I took a tour of Henry Ford Museum… a few tractors on a nice display. It seems they want forget that Ford even made tractors.

The tour of the Rouge Plant was fabulous; I loved every second of it!

The visitor center on the rouge was very well done, 1st class effort! The display in the center has one of every model built at the “Rouge”…..except the Fordson and “N” tractor…sad.

It was nice to see Ford hasn’t forgot the history of the “Rouge”, and new F150 plant was world class, almost as nice as a Honda factory!

Nice to visit Detroit, nicer to leave and head to Rantoul!

Have you ever seen the TV footage of idiots in the Midwest driving into a tornado, you might say the trip was off to whirlwind start. At Gary Indiana I drove through my first Midwest tornado, not knowing the area I just followed the tractor trailers on the interstate directly into a wall of black death. The teeming rain obscured my view of the “lemmings-only” lane I was driving in.

Was I happy to get out of that storm and into the “Land of Corn”

Old Pete arrived at Rantoul first thing the next morning, and what a greeting with the 100’F temperature and 100% humidity .

Most of us have grown up hearing stories from our elders about how they had to walk to school, uphill both ways and in blizzard conditions to boot. Well, this episode of American Tractor pretty much has that same storyline, except it involves the official truck of American Tractor, the GMC Sierra, driving straight up the side of a mountain, right through the clouds and out the other side. A divine experience? Perhaps. Heavenly? Somewhat. Were there Ford tractors involved? You’re damned right there was!

The American Tractor cast headed back into the Canadian wilds, in lake country just south of Collingwood, Ontario. “Rob Roy” to be exact. No, there weren’t any drunken, kilt-wearing red heads (that we know of), but local protocol seemed to be “a chicken in every pot and a Cordoba in every driveway!”. Yes, it appeared to be the land of the lost, a turnback of the pages of time and more buzzards than you could shake an 8N axle at!

The mountain road that we were given directions to take turned out to be more of a washout. Being that the area is basically the worlds largest limestone quarry, the mud was sparse but the lime trailings and wet dust turned the GMC Sierra into something that looked like it was being fitted for “cement shoes” on the Sopranos. (to date, that crud is STILL stuck to the sill plates and inner fenders!)

As we drove through the clouds and out the other side, we reached the summit of one of the highest points in the province of Ontario and we were greeted by what looked like something driven by Art Drucker. And beside it, a buzzard. In the middle of nowhere and with no people, no traffic and barely a road. Were we lost? Not according to our “instructions”.

Its surprising that people actually live at such a high elevation. Perhaps the euphoria of thin air attracts people with a hankerin’ for old Ford tractors, or most likely, no one without a strong survival instinct would even have tried this route!

We finally reached a plateau on this mountain of rock and limestone and pretty much tripped over the tractor we were looking for which was parked about 20 feet from the road. It looked all there, although a bit haggard. The nose cone, grill and hood was missing. The original rad looked tough, just like the remainder of the tractor. Old Pete did a few fast laps around the tractor on foot, doing a mental assessment of the value of this vintage piece of iron. “You said it runs?”, he asked the seller who promptly fired it up with great enjoyment. Being that there was little left of the muffler, the tractor both sounded and ran great, just like a “Red Tiger” should! Old Pete mounted the tractor and sat in the cobbled up seat which was obviously from something that did not share Henry Ford’s DNA. Old Pete put the thing in gear, which was interesting enough in itself being that the 650 has a rare 5 speed, and he drove it forward and back a few feet staring in amazement that the thing actually moved.

Being that it started and moved and didn’t once burst into flames, Old Pete made the seller an offer and they shook hands and then actually started reminiscing about old tractors. This particular Ford hadn’t been in the sellers possession long as he took it as a trade for some work. Who actually owned it will likely remain a mystery, but one thing is for sure, who ever did own this 1956 Ford 650, took very good care of it. Although its shell is rusty (on one side only?), everything is original and nothing has been abused other than normal wear and tear and the passage of time. This tractor does not appear to have ever had a loader either so the front end hasn’t been abused beyond hope. After 50 years of farming, who wouldn’t look a little rough around the edges?

The tractor was picked up a couple of days later by Old Pete, who found a road that was a bit flatter to get to the mountain’s summit, although it was still a chore. Again, the tractor started right up, was loaded on the trailer and began the trip back to American Tractor headquarters. One last bonus before departure was that the hood magically appeared in the sellers hand and was presented with as much glee as Bob Barker had gesturing for “door number 2” to reveal a magnificent prize to a game show contestant from Pasadena.

Old Pete was then off with his treasure. As he listened to the syncopated Bluegrass music of Jimmy Martin on XM channel 14, the Ford 650 was staring at him incessantly in his rearview mirror. The empty hole where the grill should be made the tractor look like an old man with no teeth. The headlights were both a bit “off” and pointing in different directions making the tractor look like it had a lazy, wandering eye. But there was something very special about this particular tractor as it was being towed down the mountainside. It almost gives the impression that it is thankful to be going to a place where it will be looked after, and appreciated for the special piece of American history that it is. The years of care this tractor was given did not go unnoticed by the entire American Tractor crew and being in this tractors presence gives a feeling of history and pride.

FACTS

One of the most amazing points about this tractor is that the original toolbox is in excellent condition, and even has an original Ford tractor wrench tucked away in it.

Even Dennis Carpenter would be green with envy in that this tractor still has the original “Tract-O-Lite” headlights and a delicate and dainty little Duolamp tail lamp.

Underneath the “bonus” hood still sits the original decals

Has original cartridge oil filter

The fact that the left side of the tractor still has the original paint in “recognizable” condition, yet the right side is completely rusty, can really only be explained that this tractor likely has sat for several years in a shed with exposure to one side, or perhaps was tarped and condensation eroded away the paint on the right side.

This acquisition arrived at the American Tractor shop in early February 2004. Prior to its purchase, our crew had been advised that the unit was running and had been used for snow removal. Its usefulness to its owner came to an end and it was time for it to go.
So, a trip to central Ontario, Canada was planned, just north of a town called Barrie which is approximately an hour north of Toronto.

The most obvious thing that was incorrect, even to the most novice tractor aficionado, was the color scheme. Although there was a short time frame in 1947 whereby some 2N’s were painted in the more fashionable 8N colors, according to the VIN number on this baby it did not fall into that time frame.

“I thought I’d take a short cut to speed things up, but instead it turned into a short circuit.”

The hood had the scars of a life of cold, hard labor for this old girl. The strategically placed holes along the bottom line of the hood and around the cowl told our crew that it was likely once fitted with the optional canvas engine cover which makes sense as it lived much of its life in the bitter backwoods of Northern Ontario.

Saturday March 20, 2004: When attempting to boost the battery, the gauge was reading “0”. When investigating why the battery would not take a charge, it was found that the battery had exploded.

This was the big test for last weekend’s carburetor rebuild, which now is postponed until the battery/charging issues are resolved.
According to the American Tractor crew chief, “I thought I’d take a short cut to speed things up, but instead it turned into a short circuit. We decided this would be a good time to call it a day.”

Tuesday March 23, 2004: The CORE of the Matter – An unfortunate inherent problem when you’ve got old tractors sitting around, is the possibility of many things leaking, namely, anti-freeze. Now, we all know that this substance is highly palatable to small animals and wildlife, which is why we decided to get to the core of the matter, and convert the 2N to a low-tox coolant made by Prestone. After some tedious draining and flushing of the relatively newly re-cored radiator, the unit was topped up and ready to go, and eliminating the possibility of one of our many shop pets from being poisoned. If you have small animals hanging around your shop like we do, please consider some brand of low-tox coolant – your pet will thank you for it with many years of enjoyment together!

The Jubilee project was one of our first “mis-adventures” into tractor restoration. This particular tractor was rescued from a life of ill-use, and has retired to our shop for a complete restoration. Having spent many of its years with an oversized loader, the abuse to this poor derilect was intense.

“I knew this tractor had been abused when I arrived with the trailer to pick it up. Its owner said that his family had become so attached to it, that his 10 year old son wanted to take it for one final ride. The child mounted the beast, then reved it like a Formula 1 car and tore around the field hitting several tree stumps as his family cheered him on.”

Old Pete going down the road

Jubilee parts in the shop

When we got the tractor home, it was decided that it would be in our best interest to take it for a hot lap ourselves, so Old Pete fired it up and took off up the road. We waited with crossed fingers for his return. Soon thereafter, his smiling face showed back up at the shop with the thumbs up that the tractor in fact did everything it was supposed to do. This was a bonus to know everything worked, except 3rd gear, prior to the disassembly of the antiquated piece of history for its restoration.

Slowly, and piece by piece, the Jubilee was stripped of its outter shell, exposing its skeletal spine which just screamed “save me”.

After pressure washing, we put it away for the winter and concentrated on making some money to carry on with this particular project. The Jubilee is a grand tractor…. but not the only one under the roof.

“I thought it needed a new proof-meter cable, but it was decided that proof of life had priority.”