A Year-Long Gift
There will be those days in January, when the show season has yet to begin and it’s just too cold to even walk out to the shop. To keep your tractor lover from having withdrawals, we recommend this gift. Classic Tractor Fever’s 13th edition of the Classic Farm Tractor Calendar features fine photographs of beautiful tractors that will warm the hearts of old tractor fans all year long.
Featured on the front and back covers are the square-dancing tractors of the Farmall Promenade from Nemaha, Iowa. The drivers, some playing the aforementioned ladies’ parts, all drive fire-engine red Model C and H Farmalls. While most of the drivers are farmers, they are the pride and joy of the Nemaha community, from which they receive a lot of support.
The oldest tractor in the 2002 calendar is a 1928 Case Model K 18-32, co-owned by Warrend Prather and his son-in-law Curt Bolliger.
Other tractors in the calendar include orchard tractors like the 1950 Massey-Harris 44, a rare 1935 Kaywood and a 1961 International 460 Diesel. Six John Deere tractors grace the pages of the calendar, five of them – all five versions of the Model L, in fact – in April alone.
September’s page is a standout, featuring the look-alike tractors: a 1948 Oliver 60 Industrial, a 1947 Oliver 60 and a 1944 Cockshutt 60, all owned by Duane Starr of Lincoln, Neb.
Classic Tractor Fever also offers a reason to circle some of the dates in the calendar, namely its Tractor Tour of England and Europe, July 2-13. With visits to England, Belgium, The Netherlands and Germany, this tour offers outstanding accomodations and the chance to see great old tractors as well as visit the factories making new ones. John Harvey adds that, of course, your tractor fan get to see the sights of Europe and promises that this is a trip ‘you’ll remember all your life.’
Call Classic Tractor Fever at (800) 888-8979 to order your calendar by credit card or send $9.50 (plus $2 shipping and handling, to Classic Tractor Fever, Box 437, Rockland, DE 19372. Call the above number for info about the tour as well.
Helping Hands
Sure, the guys down at the hardware store may make fun of your tractor lover’s soft supple, nick-free hands, but they’ll take it all back when they see how they were kept that way. These sturdy suede gloves will show that, despite having ‘pretty’ hands, they are, nonetheless, the hands of someone who has turned a wrench in the belly of a Farmall, an Avery, a John Deere or another fine old machine. They also work as an excuse for those hands, especially when said tractor has been sitting so long that it’s in danger of being called ‘lawn art.’
‘Yeah, I’ve been working on that thing,’ your old iron fan will say. ‘You just can’t tell because I’ve been wearing my Farm Collector gloves.’
If he or she absolutely refuses to give up on broken knuckles and callouses, Farm Collector hats are also available. Embroidered with the Farm Collector logo, the adjustable caps are available in a fashionably flexible tan (and a very limited number are left in basic black).
To purchase gloves, item # 4006, for the low-low price of $4.95 (originally $7.95), call our customer service department at (800) 678-4883. The hats sell for $9.00 ($2 shipping/handling). Remember to use item number #4008 when ordering tan and #4000 for black.
You Say Your Shop Has No Bookshelf?
It ought to. And to fill that bookshelf, may we recommend the Classics of American Ingenuity series from Lyons Press? What better book to help you work on your vintage farm motor than Farm Motors: Practical Hints for the Handy-man, the book that your grandfather probably used? That’s the charm of these books. These are reprints of classic books written by the giants of the industry which has become our hobby. For the vintage farm equipment lover, they’re as collectible as they are practical.
Publisher Tony Lyons says he was impressed with the books from the very first time he saw them. ‘When I received a copy of Handy Farm Devices from our author and friend Jim Babb, I was astounded at how interesting and relevant these old books, written during the height of the American farming tradition, could be. The authors took their subjects-from building barns to raising pigs and everything in between-incredibly seriously and often these authors were the world’s leading experts in each subject. Harris on the Pig, for example, is not just a great book about traditional pig farming techniques. It is a highly literate tribute to an American way of life.’
To order any of the books or to simply see what’s available, contact Lyons Press at 800-243-0495 or write them at Lyons Press, P.O. Box 480, 246 Goose Lane, Guilford, CT 06437.
