An Old Iron Legacy of Plowing

Inheritance put retiree back on a tractor, plowing with vintage equipment.

By Loretta Sorensen
Published on September 8, 2020
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courtesy by Dwight Anderson
Farmers sometimes allow plow enthusiasts to hold plow days at their land. The fields get plowed, and the enthusiasts get a chance to really work their equipment.

The last thing Dwight Anderson expected to be doing in retirement was plowing with a tractor. However, when he inherited his father’s 1946 Farmall H in 1981, one thing led to another. Today, Dwight (who lives in Omaha) has gathered up nine antique tractors and six plows and he’s not finished yet: He’s keeping an eye out for at least one more plow.

He joined the Elkhorn Valley Antique Power Association (EVAPA), which put him in contact with other local tractor collectors. A friend from that club contacted him about his father’s International Harvester Co. #8 Little Genius 2-bottom, 14-inch plow. “He was trying to clean up his parents’ acreage and told me to come and get it,” Dwight recalls. “He wanted $25 for it.”

When Dwight arrived, his friend had also turned up a 3-bottom Little Genius that he wanted him to take. “I wasn’t really interested in the second plow, but the price was right, and I was happy to help him out,” Dwight says. “On my way home I stopped for gas. At the station, a couple guys stopped to check out what was loaded on my trailer.”

The men made an offer for the 3-bottom plow, but Dwight had already made up his mind to keep it. “That experience got me started collecting plows,” he says. “I still have both of those plows.”

Pairing plows with tractors

As Dwight added tractors to his collection, he made an effort to find a plow suitable for each one. His current collection includes: a 1946 Farmall and Little Genius 2-bottom, 14-inch plow; a 1954 Farmall SMTA with a 3-bottom, 14-inch IHC No. 60 plow; a 1953 Farmall Super H and two 1939 F-20’s with two Little Genius 2-bottom, 14-inch plows that fit these tractors; a 1935 John Deere A with a 2-bottom, 14-inch John Deere #52 plow; a 1951 John Deere B with a John Deere #44 2-bottom, 14-inch plow; and a 1978 Cub Cadet with a 10-inch Brinly plow (1×10).

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