Blessings to our friends and family
It is with mixed feelings that we, Travis and Shirley Jorde, write this. We have reached a point in our lives at 85 years old that we have decided to pass Jorde’s Decals on to a new owner. We have full confidence that they will continue to provide the same quality product and service that everyone has come to expect.
We would like to thank all of you we have become acquainted with over the past 48+ years. Your loyalty and encouragement have brought us such joy. Many years of helping with tractors, attending shows, events and sharing information during seminars has brought us limitless new friends and opportunities.
The years have shown us innovative technology, such as cell phones, computers, printers, and shipping options. The growth we have experienced is amazing. We are thankful for all the opportunities that have been made available to us. We have been busy cleaning up our workspace and are finding that some orders have been overlooked, lost, duplicated, or forgotten and we apologize for this. We want you to order again, ask for what you did not receive and please continue to enjoy your restorations. Please be patient as the transition takes place, procedures are updated, and adjustments are made. Smile and take one day at a time, just like we do.
We have great confidence in the new owners Dan and Jen Peterman and know they will do an excellent job for all our customers. We have been blessed to spend the better part of a couple of years in discussion with them, and know they are ready to continue this business and help it to grow the way it should. Please continue to show them the support you have bestowed on us for all these years. The business name will not change, only the people who will continue to serve you in the best way possible.
We plan to still attend shows and help where needed. We are always ready to sit and visit, share ideas, and make new friends. For the Jorde’s it has always been about the people.
Blessings to our friends and family.
Travis and Shirley Jorde
Barn Again Hame Ends
I can usually relate personally to each issue of Farm Collector and this June/July issue was true to form. Looking at the cartoon, I took out part of a fence, instead of with a mower, with a tandem disc being pulled by dad’s 70 diesel John Deere tractor. The potato picking belt was exactly like Grandpa’s picking belt I lost in a recent barn fire, and the mystery tool page usually has something I can identify or have something that needs identifying.
As a youth, around 70 years ago, I had carefully saved many implements, tools, and harness in my grandfather’s barn. Long story short, after grands passed, my dad rented the place out to a large family. The children playing with a chemistry set in the barn burned it to the ground. The only thing recognizable in the ashes was the hame end on the right. A few years ago, my youngest brother with his illness needed a cane, so I used the end to oblige him and made the pictured cane. With him now gone and my needing hip surgery, I now use it myself.
The other hame end, being used as a wall sconce for a retired boutonniere, was one of the first items rescued from a recent barn fire at the Miracle of America Museum, in Polson, Montana.
We have just resurrected, if you will, a new barn and are gradually restocking antique ag items, including working harnesses with brass hame ends on our sawhorse/manikin horses. We will soon be holding a special community event showing our new “Barn Again”.
I find it a bit ironic with my connection to these particular hame ends.
Gil Mangels, Polson, Montana
Can you identify this harrow?
This harrow belongs to Farm Collector reader Claude Jones. Its age has made identifying the maker and model almost impossible. If you have any information that could help identify this harrow, email editor@farmcollector.com
A 1960s Custom Tractor
In 1958, I was one of the Charter Members and founders of the Waterford City High School F.F.A. The Future Farmers of America played a big part in my high school days.
When I read “The Birth of a Tractor” by Glen Thompson about Allen Becker’s home built tractor, I started thinking about the tractor I built in the school chop in 1960 while I was in F.F.A. I couldn’t help but think about how you could substitute my name for Allen’s and it would be almost a duplicate for the plans for building my tractor.
I started building my tractor in 1960 and I entered it in “The James F. Lincoln Arc Welding Foundation” competition. This was a national competition, and I was awarded the fifth place award.
Over the nest 50 years, I built different attachments from fertilizer spreaders to dethatchers. I used the tractor to push snow, level dirt piles, cultivate gardens and haul dirt and junk in a homemade dump trailer. I took the iron from my grandfather’s horse-drawn buggy and made a buggy with bicycle tires on it and used it to give free rides. It has been used in many parades and wedding parties.
Over the years, it has had a few field fixes and modifications. In 1972, I was trying to build a fence post puller using the tractor drive wheels for power. Like Allen Becker’s tractor, my tractor had two 3-speed transmissions. When both transmissions were in reverse, you had a low speed with lots of power. I was using that combination of gears when the back transmission broke the side out of it. I think reversing the power in to the transmission changed the stress points, which is why it pushed the side out. I wasn’t able to find another transmission that would bolt in, so I changed it over to a 4-speed truck transmission and changed the drive to the slower speed. Then, while it was all apart, I decided to cut the width down, add fenders and add hydraulic brakes instead of leaving the brake cable turning the brakes. After that, it ran for over the next 40 years with little to no trouble. Then, about 10 years ago, the engine went bad. It has just sat in the barn, waiting for me to repair it. At 81 years of age, I don’t think this will happen. I do have a great-grandson who sure would like to see great-grandpa get it running again, though.
Gerald Transtrom, Waterford City, North Dakota
