What, besides a passion for antique farm
equipment, do Farm Collector readers have in common? They
never leave home without a camera. In this issue, we share photos
submitted by two readers who were prepared when they saw something
special.
Bob Smith, Canton, S.D., was transported back in time when, in
Now retired, he works part-time as a car salesman at a local
dealership. “I’ve spent hours watching dozens of grain trucks
hurrying past the store as the grain harvest progresses,” he says.
“So I was astounded this week to see a 1947 Ford truck, with its
wooden stock and grain box heaped over the top with soybeans,
keeping its place – and pace – with the giant semis and tandem axle
diesels.
“The owner, Wayne Gedstad, Lennox, S.D., obliged me by stopping
and allowing me to take some pictures of his proud old veteran,”
Bob recounts. “It has to be one of the oldest in the country still
in unrestored condition and in daily use.”
Wayne told Bob his dad bought the truck in 1955 from a local
farm service business that purchased it new for use as a fuel and
lubricant delivery truck, which explains the B.F. Goodrich decals
on the doors and the yellow paint. (The truck was originally dark
green.)
Wayne’s dad mounted a new livestock and grain box on the Ford,
and it’s been in use ever since. The original flathead V-8 was
removed a few years back in favor of a 1951 flathead with
side-mounted distributor for ease in installing new ignition
points. The newer engine has more than 140,000 miles on it, and it
purrs like a kitten. “Happily, a muffler isn’t a priority for this
farmer,” Bob says. “The sound of an open exhaust flathead under
load is one of the most wonderful sounds on the planet.”
Jan Koehler, Pierce, Neb., was armed with her camera during
threshing at the Petersburg Threshing Bee in August. It’s
understandable that she likes this photograph (at left): Her
husband, Donavon (center), and grandson, Parker Baumann, are in it.
But it’s more than family ties that make this photograph special.
“I just loved the picture,” she says. “It’s not just Gramps and
grandson, but the dirty overalls and the conversation and the
little boy who has a deep interest in how machines of all kinds
work.”
Donavon Koehler and Keith Huwaldt of Randolph, Neb., are
volunteers at the Pierce Threshing Bee. The Oliver stationary
hand-tie baler belongs to the Pierce Threshers Association; Donavon
had hauled it to the Petersburg show for a demonstration, and both
he and Keith had worked that day, pitching bundles to the threshing
machine.
