Long Live Lindeman
(Page 3 of 4)
November 2003
Jason B. Harmon
Since many John Deere parts - even those for unusual Lindeman crawlers -are available from after-market sources, Terry easily located most of the components he needed to restore the crawler. Still, he discovered the steering drive clutches were worn beyond repair. No vendors he contacted carried the clutch parts, so he hired a shop to custom fabricate the pieces.
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With a new piston and rod, the engine was essentially good-as-new and Terry turned his attention to the tractor's exterior. The tiny crawler's sheet metal was too rusted to restore, so Terry purchased a new engine cover from an after-market supplier, as well as new decals and gauges.
Next, he cleaned, sandblasted and primed the entire crawler until the machine was ready for that famous green-and-yellow John Deere paint scheme.
Terry's devotion to John Deere minutia is evident in his paint selection. 'We use only John Deere paint,' Terry declares. 'It's the only paint that has the true John Deere colors.'
Show and shine
By the end of May - only three short months after the crawler first rolled off the flatbed - the machine was reassembled, cleaned and painted. Best of all, Terry says, the like-new Lindeman was ready to show and shine. Terry didn't waste any time, and just days after the last paint dried, he unveiled the crawler at the 59th National Threshers Association Reunion in Wauseon, Ohio, in June 2003.
Although the reunion was dedicated to machines built by M. Rumely Co., Terry's beautifully restored Lindeman crawler stood out among that sea of Rumely dark green and drew many a spectator. Understandably, Terry was proud of the attention given to his tractor.
More than that, Terry says he's pleased to carry on the family's tradition of using and restoring classic John Deere tractors. FC
To learn more about Terry's Lindeman crawler, write him at 4421 Adams Ridge Rd., Defiance, OH 43512; or e-mail at lhw@bright.net
The Deere & Co. - Lindeman Connection
Deere & Co. sold Lindeman crawlers to farmers across America, but the brains behind the machine belonged to Jesse G. Lindeman. Born in 1900 in Cass County, Iowa, Jesse served in the U.S. Army during World War I and moved to Yakima, Wash., after the war.
There he established the Lindeman Power Equipment Co. with his brother, Harry, in 1924. Their company began as a small farm-implement business. Drawing from his experience with western agriculture, Jesse designed rotary tillers, fruit-handling equipment, disc harrows and other specialized farm tools.