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Showing their stuff
Collectors in Pennsylvania gather for the Perry County Old Iron Collectors Fall Show
By Jill Teunis
In 1939 Francis Sutherland and his father saw a brand-new UDLX Comfortractor at Minneapolis-Moline's Pittsburgh branch factory. He didn't get to own it until 1974.
"Me and my Dad could have bought it for $1175," he said. "There were two at the branch. This was one of them. I kept watch on it ever since. I'm the third owner. They made them as a tractor and a car. They said you could plow all week, go to town on Saturday and go to church on Sunday. Farmers were just trading horses for steel at that time. MM built 350 of these Comfortractors. Eighty have been relocated but we don't know what condition they're in."
Francis was one of many exhibitors at the Perry County Old Iron Collectors annual fall show held in the community of Ickesburg in south-central Pennsylvania. A resident of Harrisville, Pa., he has been going to shows for nearly 30 years and has never seen more than one Comfortractor anywhere.
Francis said the Comfortractor's first owner only had one and a half acres so in 1943 he sold it to George Welch of Cooperstown, Pa.
He threshed with it for about 10 years - it was always outside," Francis said. "When I bought it in 1974 it had been in the lower story of a barn for years. He'd torn off the hood and the fenders and the head and just left it in the barn. It was a basket case when we got it. We hauled it home in pieces."
Jerry Frampton of Harrisville undertook the restoration of the vehicle, a project that lasted more than three years.
"He's a good friend," Francis said. "He has as much pride in that tractor as I do. If I sold it he'd shoot me but it ain't for sale."
The second owner had the glass from the cab in his attic. Jerry was able to find all the necessary original parts to complete the restoration.
"They had tinted glass front and rear," Francis said. "They were 25 years ahead of their time."