Background information, though, has been a bigger challenge.
"I wish I had more information on the pumps," Bob says. "I've got so many hobbies, it's just 'hit or miss.'"
His other hobbies? Indian artifacts, family heirlooms and vintage auto classics (including a 1940 Chrysler he's restoring).
"My goal is to be able to start them all at the same time," he said.
The first tractor he ever owned has been passed around his family. Forty years ago, a neighbor gave Bob and his brother, Charles, a 1946 Case VAI. Later, Bob bought out his brother's share of the tractor. But in the 1970s, he traded the Case for an Allis WC. The Allis had its share of problems, he said.
"She was beautiful, but she wouldn't work," he said. "One day, the fan broke and went through the radiator. She was a jinx, I think."
After the fan incident, Bob traded the Allis, buying a replacement tractor sight unseen. When that tractor was delivered, it was the same '46 Case he'd started with. Bob later passed it on to his son, Scott.
As Scott got older, though, he wanted something he could really drive. He passed the Case on to his uncle Charles (remember Bob's brother, who sold his share of the Case years earlier? Same guy.). Scott traded the tractor for a '41 Ford pickup that Bob had owned before selling it to Charles.
Later, after Charles' death about 10 years ago, Bob bought the Case again. This time, though, he's held onto it, and Scott's held onto the Ford pickup.