Goodwrench's Tractor Page
Tractors
First one, now three
seven twelve, plus an engine
& lawn mower!
Teddy -
1956 Ford 640
Justin - Case VAC
Maggie - Minneapolis-Moline UB
Joshua - Farmall F-12
Farmall F-20
Aunt Bea - International 1486
Dixon ZTR 3014
Earl - 1957 Farmall 450
Chester - 1941 Farmall M
Esther - 1941 Farmall M
Polly - 1956 Farmall 400 Propane
Opie - 1940 Farmall A
Wally - 1957 Farmall 450 Propane
Antique
Farm Equipment
McCormick Deering Binder
Case Stationary Baler
International Model 52 Combine
Collecting,
Restoring, Painting
Origin of the Nebraska Tractor Tests
Dixon
ZTR 3014
Goodwench's 1999 Valentines Day Present
"Texas Tractor Folks"
Some of The Central Texas ATIS Chapter
Taken at Early Days Temple Tractor Show - 1997
Left to right: Goodwrench (aka Jim Pfrommer), Benny Wood, Tw Cook, & Jim Becker
1997 Burleson Tractor Show
On 10/25/97 Jake and I attended a nice little tractor and engine show in Burleson TX. This is located just above the town of Burleson, about 50 miles north of Waco, on the I35 West side.
When we arrived, most of the tractors, including a cute little Oliver crawler were out on the highway having a little parade. The turnout was no where near as huge as the Temple show, but the people were nice and friendly. A one dollar donation for parking was all that was asked. They had a pretty competitive tractor pull. Jake not only got to see and hear all the tractors and engines, he got his first look at cattle as well. He sure did check them out intently. When we saw the big bull, I was glad to see he wasn't trying to rush up to it.
All around it was a pleasant little show and I will attend again.
Saga Of My Ongoing Search For a Tractor
10/30/97 This morning I called a dealer who had an ad in Antique Power Magazine. He's located in Lancaster Country, Pennsylvania. This is about 60 miles from where I grew up, and is said to have some of the most fertile soil in the whole world.
Case L - on steel. Fouls plugs and starts hard, but does have PTO $800
Case LAI - also on steel, with rear winch $700
Case 500 diesel - as is "supposed to run" front rubber, rear steel. Home made front fenders, PTO, but missing the hydraulic pump. Very crude and rough front hitch added $900
I'll keep on looking for now...
4/29/98 Well, it's not what I'd have gone out looking for, but last night I became the owner of a 1957 Ford 640. It starts and runs well and seems to have decent power. It sure does smoke a lot though... It probably needs at least rings. I'll give it a compression test as soon as this ranch buying paperwork frenzy settles down a bit. I'll probably also try adding the Marvel Mystery Oil to the crankcase on the unlikely hope that the smoking is due to stuck rather than worn rings.
As I did a little rotary mowing (shredding to us Texas folks) to bring it up to temp. and check it out. I was struck by how fast first gear seems to be. It feels like I remember our International 340, Farmall H, and even my 4 speed Case SC to have noticeably lower first gear ratios. My guess is that this is why the Sherman auxiliary transmission was produced.
The great news is the deal on the 24 acre ranch continues to move forward. Deb & and I are having to come up with tons of paperwork for the mortgage company. The mortgage companies don't like to make mortgages on properties of over 5 acres. It looks like they are going to accept an update of a survey that the seller had done about 4 years ago.
4/30/98 The PTO over-run clutch that I figured would be a "not very expensive piece" turns out to be $68.95. I decided to wait and see if the one on the tractor could be salvaged. Meanwhile, I did splurge almost 2 dollars to buy a replacement pin for the mower's shaft.
5/7/98 It turns out that the internal splines were too damaged to make replacing the pin in the mower's PTO shaft worthwhile. Six miles below the CyberRanch, in a town called Lott, is a Farm and Auto Supply store. They had a replacement piece in stock and sold it to me along with a new U-joint. Back home I removed the circlips and drove the caps out of the old end. The U-joint didn't seem to have much slop or any worn spots so I decided to reuse it. When I first tried to assemble the joint, I used grease to hold all the needle bearings around each end of the center part of the U-joint. After two unsuccessful attempts to assemble the joint that way, I decided to use grease to hold all the needle bearings inside each cap. Using various size sockets and a bench vise, I reassembled the U-joint. After it was well greased up it felt smooth and solid. All in all, it was a very satisfying repair. When the previous owner saw it she was quite impressed as she had struggled with that mower shaft for the past 4 years.
My father said that I could have the Farmall 706 that we used on the farm back in Pennsylvania. My gooseneck trailer is pretty heavy duty and is rated for 7,000 lb. (with smaller tires than it has on it). The next thing I need to check is the width of the 706's rear tires. They may be wider than my trailer...
6/20/98 Two tractors were added to the collection today. An equipment company in Clifton Texas had an auction yesterday. I purchased a Case VAC and an M-M UB
9/18/98 It looks like I'm finally a Farmall collector. Tw and I had met a friend up in Hamilton, TX last weekend. There we met a man named Ollie. Ollie had repaired farm equipment in the 40's, and had collected some equipment. I agreed to buy a Case Stationary Baler and an International Model 52 pull behind combine that day. As I had time to think more, I also bought the very old McCormick Deering binder. The tractors just stayed on our mind. The Hamilton tractor show was coming up, and Ollie was going to meet with a man who had expressed interest in all four of the old tractors. Fearing we might loose a great opportunity, Tw and I made Ollie an offer on the package of all four tractors. Originally Tw was going to get the Regular, I was going to get the F-12 and F-20, and we were going to be partners on the W-30 and make it into a pulling tractor. As we thought more about the W-30 project we realized that we lived too far apart to share a project and that the W-30 was rare enough that it deserved to be restored to stock condition. I agreed to let Tw have the W-30. It's going to be quite a project as the engine is really seized up from someone allowing rain to get in through the exhaust many years ago.
10/3/98 27th Temple Early Days Antique Tractor & Gas Engine Show. I took the Stationary Engine to this show and got it started for the first time in 25 years.
10/10/98 Had another day of hauling tractors and equipment from Ollie's place. I met Tw out in Hamilton early Saturday morning. I'd hoped to haul the F-20, but the rear tread width is too wide to fit between the trailer rails. We ended up hauling the Regular and the McCormick Deering W-30 down to Georgetown for Tw, and then we hauled the baler and the binder back to the CyberRanch.
2/27/99 International 1486 purchased at auction
3/18/99 Dixon ZTR 3014 Lawn mower
3/22/99 The F-20 home at last
6/20/99 Maggie the MM UB finally got started.
7/13/99 Earl the Farmall 450 arrives.
8/25/99 - 8/28/99 Tri States Engine and Tractor Show, Portland Indianna When Goodwench heard that many of the ATIS folks were going to the Portland show, she decided at trip to Portland would be a great birthday present for me. Tw Cook and I decided to meet at the Dallas airport and fly up together.
9/18/99 Hamilton Texas Tractor and Engine Show
10/1/99 - 10/3/99 28th Temple Early Days Antique Tractor and Gas Engine Show
3/16/2001 Opie the Farmall A joins
the big guys.
Teddy -
1956 Ford 640
Justin - Case VAC
Maggie - Minneapolis-Moline UB
Joshua - Farmall F-12
Farmall F-20
Aunt Bea - International 1486
Dixon ZTR 3014
Antique Farm Equipment
Stationary
Engine
Case Stationary Baler
International Model 52
Combine
McCormick Deering Binder
Want List:
Farmall A
Farmall M and Super C
Case L
McCormick Deering 15-30
Ranching and Draft Horses
now have their own pages!
CyberRanch now has Longhorns
4/1/99
Our first calf born !