My home is Baytown, Texas. While in high school and in the summer while attending Texas A&M University, I worked for a rice farmer named Neil Burnside. He had four McCormick-Deering W-9s: two on rubber and two on steel. I spent many hours on a W-9 in his rice fields in Baytown.
I started restoring tractors several years ago. I started with a Farmall 230 bought new by my father-in-law, G.F. Kitzman. I also have a restored Farmall H, a Farmall Cub and a Ferguson TO-20.
I always wanted to restore a W-9 in memory of Neil because he helped me get my college scholarship, and also due to my experience with his tractors in Baytown. I found this 1947 model in Kansas. I had some of the sheet metal work done, but did everything else myself.
My first show was the Hill Country Tractor and Engine Show in Fredericksburg, Texas, in June 2006. I won the first prize trophy. I drove the W-9 in the Comfort (Texas) Fourth of July parade and received a third place ribbon, competing against all other entries.
The W-9 was the largest tractor International Harvester made at the time with the exception of tracked equipment. It was made from 1940 until 1953. It had 52 drawbar horse-power and sold for $1,350 in 1940.
Bernard Selensky
Comfort, Texas
