- Related Articles
- LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
- LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
- Young in Years.
BEFORE AND AFTER
RESTORATION OF THE MONTH
A Northern Light:
1918 Wisconsin Gets Second Wind
By Leslie McDaniel
The word "rare" gets plenty of use when vintage tractors are discussed. But Frank Wurth's fully restored 1918 Wisconsin lives up to that billing.
The Wisconsin Tractor Company started out in 1917 in Sauk City, Wis., as the McFarland and Westmont Tractor Company. When production ended six years later, the result of stiff competition and a challenging economy, about 600 tractors had been produced. Survivors are few and far between.
"I talked to some guys at the Badger, Wis., show, and they estimated that there were 22 Wisconsins they knew of. There could possibly be 25," Frank says. "And of those 25, there's probably just three or four restored."
"It was so far ahead of its time for 1918: It had a full pressure motor; it used gas; it was lightweight but it could pull four or five plows," Frank says. "John Deere was not even out of the gate yet. And Henry Ford built a cheap tractor. If he'd gone $500 better, there'd be no other tractor today."
The Wisconsin's biggest downfall? "There was no parking brake," Frank says, "just a pulley brake on the clutch. The theory was that, with the iron wheels and lugs, it wouldn't roll. But that seems kind of shortsighted, for a tractor designed for use in the hill country in Wisconsin."
A hill in Wisconsin is, in fact, where Frank found his vintage classic.
"My wife, Rita, and I were on our honeymoon in Wisconsin," he recalls, "and we were driving in the country when I saw this old iron."
Owner Art Ritzenthaler (since deceased) of Merrimac had a couple of Wisconsins. Both had been 'retired' for more than 30 years. He and Frank talked about the Wisconsin line for quite some time. Finally, Art announced that he was ready to sell the 1918 Wisconsin. For Frank, it was great news, but poor timing.
"I told him I didn't have the money right then," he says. "But he said 'That's OK. It'll be here when you're ready.'"