Seeing the Ford Tractor posted not long ago by PeteK, got me thinking about my own tractor story.
The tractor is not a Ford and is not really relevant to this forum, but it is a story I enjoy telling and hope you enjoy reading.
I grew up on a wheat farm in central Kansas. We had several larger tractors for the work related to wheat, but my father also had a smaller 1944 International Farmall B that we used to do a variety of other work (cultivating, mowing, raking, baling hay, etc.). My father first let me drive it at 8 years old. Soon thereafter, he had me using it for all sorts of field work – many good memories! When my father passed in 1980, all the farm equipment was sold except for the International tractor. It sat un-used and rusting in a field near the family home until 1994. My wife and I had purchased a 5 acre lot in middle Tennessee in 1993 and were in the process of building our current home. During the 16 months it took to build the home, I was using a small riding mower to try and keep down the weeds and the mowing was taking much longer than I wanted. My thought was to refurbish the old tractor and add a 72” Woods belly mower to it.
So I buy a dual axle trailer (12’ long by 6’ wide with a drive up ramp. I had a come-along winch and a few light chains that I threw on and began my journey (my wife wanted no part of it!) from middle Tennessee to mid Kansas – just under 900 miles. The trip was uneventful and I made good time. The next day I backed the trailer in front of the tractor and began winching it up the ramp and onto the trailer. The front “tricycle” portion came up easily despite the weight of the engine. As the rear wheels and dry-rotted tires came up, I saw a problem I hadn’t anticipated. The rear wheels were too wide for the angle iron sides of trailer. So, I began the knuckle busting task of removing the rusted bolts and nuts holding the wheel to the hub that is attached to the tractor’s rear axle. I finally complete that task which drops the tractor much closer to the ground. I begin winching the tractor back up and now realize the hub and axle are still about 2” too wide to fit on the trailer. So now what do I do besides feeling very foolish? Our closest neighbor, who began farming the land for us after dad’s passing, lived only about ½ mile away. So I called him, explained my situation and without hesitation he says “I know how to fix that, I’ll be over in 20min”. I had been off the farm awhile, but what was I missing that was obvious to him?
In about 20 minutes I hear a loud motor approaching. He is driving a very large 4WD tractor with a front end loader. He positions the elevated loader above the tractor, we use chains to attach the tractor to the loader, he picks up the tractor and angles it enough that the rear now fits! He says “it’s on, you’ll have to figure out how to get it off!” I laughed and thanked him. After loading the two rear wheels and cinching down the tractor. It was back to Tennessee. Wherever I stopped for breaks or food, the tractor always attracted attention – mostly older guys who had owned or driven one just like it. Once I made it home, my wife’s reaction was why did I bring a bunch of rusted junk home? See first photo:
Fortunately, my wife’s brother, had several tractors and enjoyed restoring them. He agreed to help restore mine and we had a great time over the next year taking it completely apart and bringing it back to life. It amazed me how easy it was finding parts for a 70 year old tractor! The few things that the local Case/International dealership did not have, were available online through collector forums. It was very inexpensive to restore the tractor. The kit to rebuild the engine was about $300. The seat was restored with original canvas for a little over $100. The battery box was about $75. The tires were about $600 and having it repainted by Case/International was about $600. Not bad! The rusted heap now looked like it just rolled off the assembly line! See second photo:
Before buying the mower attachment, I drove the tractor over our new land and quickly discovered the tractor was well suited to the flat lands of Kansas, but ill-suited to the rolling hills of Tennessee. The weight of the engine is too high and the tricycle front end not practical for hills. So I did what any guy would do. I bought a large zero-turn mower and kept the tractor in its original condition!
For the next 20 years, I gave neighbor kids rides, drove it around the neighborhood and occasionally used it for hay rides at church and charity events. Keeping it in my garage, I still had to add air to the tires, change oil, fresh gas, charge the battery, etc. After 20 years, the thrill was gone and I decided it was time to let someone else enjoy the tractor. No one in my family was interested, so I asked my circle of car friends if they knew of anyone who would like to buy an antique tractor.
A month or so later, we were at a crawfish broil at the daughter and son-in-law of one of our best friends. The son-in-law was a vice president at Gaylord Hotels and said “I hear you have a tractor for sale?” I said yes and he said “let me introduce you to someone who might be interested”. He introduces me to a guy named Steve who asks what kind of tractor I had. I told him a 1944 International Farmall B. He then asked what color it was (I knew this guy did not know tractors since all the Internationals I had ever seen were red) and so I pulled out my phone to show him a picture. He said he was interested and when could he come out to see it. Since I was retired, I said just about any time. Four days later he came to the house with three female assistants who began to measure the tractor, take photos and have side conversations. Seemed a little strange. Steve says he wants to buy it but could I first tell him how much it weighed? I expected questions of HP, or speed or regarding implements, but not weight. Fortunately, I had the owner’s manual which showed the weight at a little over 1800lbs. I asked why he wanted to know and he said because he planned to hang it. When I asked what he was talking about, he said he works for Blake Shelton and they were opening a restaurant/bar/entertainment venue in downtown Nashville. The place was to be called Ole Red after one of Blake’s first big hits. And would I mind if they were able to get Blake to come over and film him driving the tractor? Unfortunately, Blake’s schedule did not allow him to drive the tractor before the Grand Opening. They soon came and loaded up my tractor (see third photo) to begin draining all fluids and steam cleaning to remove all stubborn the bits of grease and oil.
My wife and I got to meet Blake and enjoy the facility before the public did at a pre-opening event for all the people who helped to get the venue open (designers, architects, construction etc.). It is a really great setup. The son-in-law that introduced me to Steve, his teams oversaw the renovation of the building. Gaylord is responsible for the hospitality (food, drinks, staffing, etc.) Blake brings in the talent that performs. If you’ve watched The Voice on TV, you get an idea of the source and quality of the talent he brings. The first Ole Red opened in Oklahoma, where Blake is from. The second is in Nashville where my tractor now hangs! They opened a third in Gatlinburg, Tn which now has an older model International Farmall as well. See fourth photo below showing Blake at the podium and Colin Reed, the CEO of Gaylord Hotels to the right side.
And the last photo shows the tractor hanging upside down over the stage - which is why the steaming of the fluids was so important!
Funny how things work out, a tractor from Kansas moved to Tennessee now hanging above the stage at Ole Red. My father would be laughing at where his tractor ended up!
The tractor is not a Ford and is not really relevant to this forum, but it is a story I enjoy telling and hope you enjoy reading.
I grew up on a wheat farm in central Kansas. We had several larger tractors for the work related to wheat, but my father also had a smaller 1944 International Farmall B that we used to do a variety of other work (cultivating, mowing, raking, baling hay, etc.). My father first let me drive it at 8 years old. Soon thereafter, he had me using it for all sorts of field work – many good memories! When my father passed in 1980, all the farm equipment was sold except for the International tractor. It sat un-used and rusting in a field near the family home until 1994. My wife and I had purchased a 5 acre lot in middle Tennessee in 1993 and were in the process of building our current home. During the 16 months it took to build the home, I was using a small riding mower to try and keep down the weeds and the mowing was taking much longer than I wanted. My thought was to refurbish the old tractor and add a 72” Woods belly mower to it.
So I buy a dual axle trailer (12’ long by 6’ wide with a drive up ramp. I had a come-along winch and a few light chains that I threw on and began my journey (my wife wanted no part of it!) from middle Tennessee to mid Kansas – just under 900 miles. The trip was uneventful and I made good time. The next day I backed the trailer in front of the tractor and began winching it up the ramp and onto the trailer. The front “tricycle” portion came up easily despite the weight of the engine. As the rear wheels and dry-rotted tires came up, I saw a problem I hadn’t anticipated. The rear wheels were too wide for the angle iron sides of trailer. So, I began the knuckle busting task of removing the rusted bolts and nuts holding the wheel to the hub that is attached to the tractor’s rear axle. I finally complete that task which drops the tractor much closer to the ground. I begin winching the tractor back up and now realize the hub and axle are still about 2” too wide to fit on the trailer. So now what do I do besides feeling very foolish? Our closest neighbor, who began farming the land for us after dad’s passing, lived only about ½ mile away. So I called him, explained my situation and without hesitation he says “I know how to fix that, I’ll be over in 20min”. I had been off the farm awhile, but what was I missing that was obvious to him?
In about 20 minutes I hear a loud motor approaching. He is driving a very large 4WD tractor with a front end loader. He positions the elevated loader above the tractor, we use chains to attach the tractor to the loader, he picks up the tractor and angles it enough that the rear now fits! He says “it’s on, you’ll have to figure out how to get it off!” I laughed and thanked him. After loading the two rear wheels and cinching down the tractor. It was back to Tennessee. Wherever I stopped for breaks or food, the tractor always attracted attention – mostly older guys who had owned or driven one just like it. Once I made it home, my wife’s reaction was why did I bring a bunch of rusted junk home? See first photo:
Fortunately, my wife’s brother, had several tractors and enjoyed restoring them. He agreed to help restore mine and we had a great time over the next year taking it completely apart and bringing it back to life. It amazed me how easy it was finding parts for a 70 year old tractor! The few things that the local Case/International dealership did not have, were available online through collector forums. It was very inexpensive to restore the tractor. The kit to rebuild the engine was about $300. The seat was restored with original canvas for a little over $100. The battery box was about $75. The tires were about $600 and having it repainted by Case/International was about $600. Not bad! The rusted heap now looked like it just rolled off the assembly line! See second photo:
Before buying the mower attachment, I drove the tractor over our new land and quickly discovered the tractor was well suited to the flat lands of Kansas, but ill-suited to the rolling hills of Tennessee. The weight of the engine is too high and the tricycle front end not practical for hills. So I did what any guy would do. I bought a large zero-turn mower and kept the tractor in its original condition!
For the next 20 years, I gave neighbor kids rides, drove it around the neighborhood and occasionally used it for hay rides at church and charity events. Keeping it in my garage, I still had to add air to the tires, change oil, fresh gas, charge the battery, etc. After 20 years, the thrill was gone and I decided it was time to let someone else enjoy the tractor. No one in my family was interested, so I asked my circle of car friends if they knew of anyone who would like to buy an antique tractor.
A month or so later, we were at a crawfish broil at the daughter and son-in-law of one of our best friends. The son-in-law was a vice president at Gaylord Hotels and said “I hear you have a tractor for sale?” I said yes and he said “let me introduce you to someone who might be interested”. He introduces me to a guy named Steve who asks what kind of tractor I had. I told him a 1944 International Farmall B. He then asked what color it was (I knew this guy did not know tractors since all the Internationals I had ever seen were red) and so I pulled out my phone to show him a picture. He said he was interested and when could he come out to see it. Since I was retired, I said just about any time. Four days later he came to the house with three female assistants who began to measure the tractor, take photos and have side conversations. Seemed a little strange. Steve says he wants to buy it but could I first tell him how much it weighed? I expected questions of HP, or speed or regarding implements, but not weight. Fortunately, I had the owner’s manual which showed the weight at a little over 1800lbs. I asked why he wanted to know and he said because he planned to hang it. When I asked what he was talking about, he said he works for Blake Shelton and they were opening a restaurant/bar/entertainment venue in downtown Nashville. The place was to be called Ole Red after one of Blake’s first big hits. And would I mind if they were able to get Blake to come over and film him driving the tractor? Unfortunately, Blake’s schedule did not allow him to drive the tractor before the Grand Opening. They soon came and loaded up my tractor (see third photo) to begin draining all fluids and steam cleaning to remove all stubborn the bits of grease and oil.
My wife and I got to meet Blake and enjoy the facility before the public did at a pre-opening event for all the people who helped to get the venue open (designers, architects, construction etc.). It is a really great setup. The son-in-law that introduced me to Steve, his teams oversaw the renovation of the building. Gaylord is responsible for the hospitality (food, drinks, staffing, etc.) Blake brings in the talent that performs. If you’ve watched The Voice on TV, you get an idea of the source and quality of the talent he brings. The first Ole Red opened in Oklahoma, where Blake is from. The second is in Nashville where my tractor now hangs! They opened a third in Gatlinburg, Tn which now has an older model International Farmall as well. See fourth photo below showing Blake at the podium and Colin Reed, the CEO of Gaylord Hotels to the right side.
And the last photo shows the tractor hanging upside down over the stage - which is why the steaming of the fluids was so important!
Funny how things work out, a tractor from Kansas moved to Tennessee now hanging above the stage at Ole Red. My father would be laughing at where his tractor ended up!
