(Written 5/97 for my membership profile in the Antique Tractor Group)
Name: Jim Pfrommer
Day Job:
Currently starting a business of buying, restoring and selling collectibles,
especially early pickup trucks and farm machinery. I was a self-employed solo
practice physician back in PA, but decided to leave the practice of medicine
because of the many changes that resulted from a serious motorcycle accident. I
really re-thought my life after surviving a motorcycle vs. semi accident (I
wasn't driving the truck). I guess near-death experiences have a way of making
life look a lot different.
Residence: Presently
in South Waco Texas. This is a temporary situation as the house is
located in a suburban development on about 1/2 acre. I am currently
about out of storage for any more vehicles, but that hasn't stopped me
from continuing to look.
My goal is to find a piece of land
suitable for a small working ranch. I would to do as much of the work
as possible with antique farm machinery and draft horses.
On Oct 13, 1997 I looked at
a Christmas Tree farm near here, but unfortunately it appears overpriced. I will
keep looking for a suitable home for Goodwrench's CyberRanch.
Prior Farming Experience: From
about 1972 to 1980 my father, our friend Earl, and I farmed about 100
very fertile Pennsylvania acres. We primarily grew corn, hay, and
soybeans. We also bred and raised Quarter horses, finished steers, and
farrowed Yorkshire pigs. I picked up extra money by raising veal from
the calves supplied by neighboring dairy farmers when they freshened
their cows.
Our family bred, broke, raised
and showed registered Quarter Horses. I was in my first horse show at age 4. I
did OK in that show despite loosing my boot because it was hard to find boots
small enough for me at that time. I had the smallest youth saddle, and that even
had to have custom made extra small fenders so that the stirrups would be short
enough for my legs to reach. Even before we began farming for real, we raised
all the hay for our horses and I was responsible for their morning feeding and
watering, as well as completely cleaning their stalls every Friday after school.
We attended about 50 shows per year. By the time I was about 15 years old, I had
pretty much lost interest in the showing, and immediately upon turning 16 and
getting my drivers license, I began racing motocross bikes.
Significant others: Deborah Root, and Jake the Border
Collie Puppy.
Equipment Owned: Unfortunately, I am currently tractorless.
Here in Texas I have my 1941 Ford pickup as well as a 1956 Chevy pickup, (neither running).
Still in PA: 1934 Ford dump truck,
1946 Ford 1.5 ton flatbed, as well as assorted 1940 Ford passenger cars
and an old one cylinder hit & miss engine that I picked up at an
auction and haven't done anything with yet.
My father is still using our Farmall H, Case
570 with loader, Case 1070, and Farmall 706.
Shop and
Tools: Though
my things are currently stuffed into a two car garage along with my
Jeep, dirt bike and Harley, I have: ShopTask Mill-Drill-Lathe combo,
Tip pressure sandblaster, Lincoln MIG welder, oxy-acetylene torch and
an excellent selection of mechanical and body work tools.
I have to
move things around any time I want to work on anything, and often end up working
out in the direct Texas sun. I have a great tan, but learned to leave my hand
tools in a shady area after burning a blister on my finger with a 9/16" wrench
that had been left in the direct sun.
Tractor and
Equipment Hauling: 1996 Ford F-350 1 ton dually named Gus, with a wide 16' low
bed open gooseneck trailer named Tanya. I have already made four runs between
Texas and Pennsylvania. Fuel mileage with the 7.3 litre turbocharged Powerstroke
diesel drops to around 10 mpg with loaded trailer when speeds go over 65 mph.
The problem is that many of the tractors that really appeal to me would be an
overload for Tanya. That's why I'm looking for an old Mack semi tractor and
lowboy trailer (see Wanted Page).
Tractors I'd like to
own: Case L on steel, and LA on rubber, Ford N series, Farmall Super C, and
something very early, like a McCormick Deering.
Prior
Tractor Restoration Experience: My
great-uncle, George W. Balthaser, was a Case dealer in Wernersville, PA
from the 1930's through the 1980's. When his main man Ernie attempted
to rebuild the engine on a Case SC that they had taken in trade, it
ended up getting four new sleeves and pistons, as well as the bearings
replaced and the head redone. By this time they had more money in it
than they could hope to sell it for, so Uncle George put a NOS magneto
and carb on it and gave it to me. While the rest of my family watched
football on television, I spent one winter completely disassembling,
cleaning, straightening, and painting. Wheels and cast parts were
painted with a brush, and I learned to spray enamel with the Flambeau
Red on the sheet metal. The PTO cover came out so beautiful that I
never could bring myself to install it.
I used that tractor for many hours
cultivating corn, both my own as well as custom work for other farmers.
That tractor also served as my motorized transport until I was old
enough to get my drivers license.
Unfortunately, in a temporary lapse of sanity, my father
traded the SC toward the new Case 1070 we bought. I believe the dealer is still
displaying it in his show room.
Things I Can Help Other
Collectors With: Research, some local hauling, labor and tools.
Other Hobbies: Tool
collecting, both antique and modern. I have a special emphasis on the
tools of timber framing, and most of my tools are tuned up, sharpened,
and used. Long time member of the Early American Industries
Association. I am a big fan of early timberframe barns, especially
Pennsylvania Dutch stone bank barns.
Motorcycling, computers,
handgun shooting and reloading
Current Projects:
1. Re-learning how to paint with the new paints and modern
HVLP equipment, and assembling a tractor painting FAQ. Some of my current
painting lessons are described on my
Future
Projects:
There are still plenty of vehicles back in Pennsylvania.
Here's a 1940 Ford Coupe and a 1957 Chevy awaiting
their turn to come to the CyberRanch
Acknowledgements:
Thanks to my Texas Tractor buddy, Tw for scanning and preparing all the initial photos for this Web site.
Also thanks to Kate Smalley for her support of my efforts at Web Site creation.
Since I wrote another introduction for the Chevy Truck Group, I'll include it here as sort of an update from 5/97 to 12/98
I only found this list about two
months ago, but I've really enjoyed it already. I'd been on a list for
the other brand of trucks, but since my other brand truck is a 1941 and
the list was mostly about 1947 to 1956 models, there weren't a lot of
specifics for me.
I moved from PA to Texas about two
years ago, and shortly after I got here I found a 1956 Chevy that
seemed to be in decent shape and was very cheap. I have a lot of
projects going at once, so I've only had small pieces of time to work
on Zeke the '56 Task Force.
The truck came with a later model inline 6 that wasn't running, so
that's on a pallet in my shop now, awaiting a new home. I have an older 283
and 4 speed Muncie that will be going in. The wiring was in such a mess
I've finally realized that filling the firewall, painting, and other
jobs will be much easier if I just yank all the old wiring out. I'll be
looking for people's experiences when it's time to choose a wiring kit.
The front fenders aren't bad for an old Task Force and the only other
rust is on the floor boards since the truck sat out with the window
broken. Now that the front sheet metal is pulled off I can get in to
patch that fairly easily. I was really surprised to learn that the top
of the gas tank was rusted out. I wanted to get it out of the cab and
back between the frame rails where it belongs anyway. Does anyone have
any good tips on what tank to mount back there and how to mount it?
This is not intended to be a show truck, just a general driver that I
can actually haul some stuff around in. Since finding this list I've
been getting much more motivated to get back to work on Zeke.
I also collect and restore antique farm tractors and implements. I've been setting up a little ranch and now have some longhorn cattle
and some chickens. The place came with a good sized metal building, but
the bad news is that only half of it has a floor. The good news is that
the half that has the cement floor also has a lift. A lot of my
non-ranching time has been taken up with unpacking my parts, tools and
supplies and setting up the new shop.
I'm obviously saving up for a nice big cement pour among other things.
I have a turbine HVLP sprayer with fresh air system so I've been having
fun learning to paint with the PPG catalyzed urethanes. All my prior
painting experience was 20 years ago and mostly with lacquer. I also
enjoy motorcycles, hand gun shooting, reloading, and off roading in my Jeep Wrangler. My web page reflects many of my wide range of interests.
Due to a motorcycle accident leaving
me no longer in private psychiatric practice, I recently had to begin
working off the ranch to get the cash flow back to positive again. I'm
currently working at our local Veterans Hospital in psychiatry. This
has taken a big chunk of time away from my projects, but the check sure
is worth it. Since I've given up all hope of ever attaining the
psychiatric practice that I had been building before my motorcycle
accident, I'd ultimately like to make a living with a combination of
ranching and doing truck work on both older trucks and 4x4's. In
addition to the cattle and chickens I have a new lovely wife
(goodwench) who is totally supportive of my interests in the old
trucks. I have no children, but do have a great Border Collie named Jake. Jake has even traveled with me on my trips between PA and Texas.
It's tough to see much progress on any one thing when I jump from
project to project. At least it always holds my interest that way, and
there's always something else to do when one of the projects hits one
of those inevitable snags that need thinking and time to work out. The
type of material and the personalities I've seen here on the lists are
great. I'm really glad I found the list. Thanks Miq and all the other
people that contribute and lurk
goodwrench
12/29/98
1/8/06
Wow, guess I let the site go down a bit (6 years) as I've
worked on building The CyberRanch. The ranch is now up to 208
acres, and the shop has been more than doubled.
I'm currently interested in getting
back into mountain biking as aerobic exercise is so good for me in many
ways. Full suspension bikes are neat machines in their own sense.
Wireless networking and Tablet computers have also caught my fancy. I'll get to more detail on the Computer page.
updated 1/6/06