Shopping is something it seems like I have been doing a lot of lately. First we went shopping at the “land store“, then we went shopping at the “hay equipment store“, and yesterday I went shopping at the “tractor store”! The other day I mentioned that I had found a tractor that I wanted to check out. Yesterday my dad and I traveled up to take a look at it and see if it would work out for the new farm. It was rainy and it was muddy, but luckily the tractor was in the shed so we were able to check it out in relative comfort.
The tractor in question is a IH Farmall 450 from the mid/late 1950’s. As you can see from the pictures it is in pretty good shape cosmetically and seemed to be in fairly good shape mechanically. We looked it over, took it for a test drive, talked about some of the other tractors the guy had (probably 50+), haggled about the price, and eventually decided to make the purchase! I’m glad my dad was able to make the trip with me because his help was much needed and the conversation is always good in the car.
The other good news is that my cousin is going to be coming through the area this weekend with an empty trailer. That means he will be able to pick it up and bring it South. It’s nice when stuff works out like that! I’ll tell you more about the tractor next week…
I have commented before about my father owning a Farmall H, but both my father and uncle own a number of older tractors (some are in various stages of restoration and some are designated as field decorations).
The list includes a Farmall H, Farmall A, Farmall Cub, Ferguson TO-20, Ferguson TO-30, John Deere B, John Deere D, Case L, IH 300, and even a Minneapolis-Moline U?.
My grandfather used a Farmall 450 for years growing corn, cultivating throughout the summer, and it supposedly never gave him any trouble. I’ve always thought that of the older tractors I’ve been around, if I had to make a living with one of them, I would have chosen a Farmall. They always seemed to be easier to keep running, fairly well built and designed, and usually simpler to work on.
As a bonus, there are plenty of collectors clubs, information, and parts available to help restore and maintain Farmall tractors, and an older collectible tractor will probably increase in value rather than decrease in value like a newer tractor. You almost never hear anybody get nostalgic about Grandpa’s new Kubota tractor.
Congrats, tractor owner! Sounds like you are getting things rolling!
Rich – Minneapolis Moline U … I would love to have one of those someday! My uncle has a few U’s, UB’s, etc. and I have used them at his plow day before and they are fun to work with! Also, you mentioned a couple of reasons why this Farmall was appealing. First of all, it probably won’t lose value as long as we keep it going well, and secondly we can find parts!
Tim – We are getting things rolling … kind of! When the tractor gets here I will let you know so we can get to work!
“…Minneapolis Moline U … I would love to have one of those someday!…”
Sad to say, but it is one of the one’s that is in the field decoration category. The engine is frozen at the moment, (which is why my Uncle was able to get it for so cheap at an auction).
All I know about Minneapolis-Moline tractors is that after looking at how the engine is designed, it seems to me that they are a little bit different from the ones I’m used to working on.
I am commenting to one of your older posts here simply because what I have read so far reminds me so much about my early youth…. that is to say what you have written on your blog reminds me of those days. I operate the Fastrac Antique Tractor web site (http://www.adeptr.com)and have just recently started blogging on my own. My new blog is called Fastrac Antique Tractor World (http://fastracworld.blogspot.com/). I just recently added a post to my blog with a link to your blog since it relates in a lot of ways to what I want my blog to be all about, especially from this particular posting from which I am making this comment. I would like to add a permanent link to your blog with your permission. Let me know how you feel about this.
Dave Haynes
Dave – No problem putting up a link to my site. I checked out your site and it looks pretty cool. I may end up over there looking for tractor help!!!
Great! I’ll put up the link this weekend. If you do come to the Fatrac blog site very often and think it worth, It would do my heart good if you would consider a link to it from your blog site. I will be reading your blog on a regular basis since I subscribed to your letter. Type at ‘ya later.
Dave