Long Live Lindeman
(Page 2 of 4)
November 2003
Jason B. Harmon
With snow on the ground and a chill in the air, Terry hooked the Lindeman crawler to the old sleigh his great grandfather built decades before, and his father, Vernon, pulled his grandchildren around the farm.
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Terry's Lindeman crawler was built sometime between 1939 and 1947, although the exact date is impossible to determine because the tractor's brass serial number tag was absent when the machine arrived. Based on numbers stamped on some components, however, Terry suspects the crawler is one of the earlier production models.
Unfortunately, Terry's initial fears about knocking rods and broken pistons were true. Rather than wait for good weather to restore the tractor, Terry tackled the project sooner rather than later to get that crawler back on track.
Remove and restore
Although Terry's a relatively young collector in a hobby dominated by elders, he's an old hand at restoring old iron.
'I've just always been fascinated with mechanical things,' Terry explains.
Terry was only 8 years old when he first operated his family's 1944 John Deere Model B tractor, and eventually restored that same machine in high school as his first attempt at breathing new life into an old tractor. His father also collects and restores old iron - and only John Deere tractors are found on the farm.
'Everything's John Deere,' Terry adds.
Before the Lindeman crawler, Terry and his father restored a 1934 Model D and a 1936 Model A, while Terry restored a 1959 Model 730 diesel standard and a 1929 Model GP on his own.
The family's love for John Deere tractors began with Terry's grandfather, Fred Wachtman, who bought a 1936 Model A. It was the first John Deere in the Wachtman family, and Terry's tried for years to bring it back into the fold. He knows the tractor's whereabouts, but the current owner won't part with the tractor. Terry remains hopeful that it will someday return to the family farm.
With the help of his brother, David, and Terry's girlfriend, Kaycie Deming, Terry began to restore the Lindeman. As a mechanic at an International truck dealership, he was well suited to the task.
Terry and his helpers spent two weeks dismantling the entire tractor. The engine needed the most work, so he split the block - and sure enough -found many broken parts, including a piston and connecting rod.