1951 Farmall "H", Serial #366058

The second tractor that Phil purchased in June, 1999, was a 1951 Farmall "H" with a loader, which weighed in at 5890 lbs. The tractor was purchased from the Gunnison Implement Company in Gunnision, Utah. There is some evidence that this particular tractor was used for launching boats at Bear Lake on the Utah/Idaho border. At least, that was the last real job it had!

Phil removed the original Farmall manure loader and replaced it with a superior Farmhand F-11 loader. Other than that modification, the tractor has remained in it's original unrestored condition.

The Model "H" Farmall, introduced in 1939, was the replacement for the F-20. Industrial designer, Raymond Lowey, had been engaged by International Harvester management to completely restyle the tractor line. The new styling took the form of smoothly contoured bright red sheet metal and a new grille. A foot clutch was placed on the left side of the ample platform, and dual brake pedals were on the right. Gone was the old cable steering brake setup, and a five-speed transmission replaced the four-speed unit of the F-20.

A new engine was developed for the H that was more modern and operated at 1650 RPM. It had 25 HP which gave it the capability to handle a 14" two-bottom plow or to drive a 22" thresher with relative ease. It also featured key-axle rear wheel width adjusting. The spread could be changed from as close as 44" to as wide as 80". This particular tractor has extra long axles, allowing the wheel base to exceed 100", making this "H" quite rare.

The Farmall "H" is definitely the most useful tractor in Phil's collection. It is easy to operate and handles the Farmhand Loader very well. Here you can see it loading an old couch onto a truck headed to the dump. This tractor is also very popular at the Tractor Club shows where it is used for loading and unloading many of the engines and implements brought by other club members.

1939 John Deere "A"

After Phil sold his software company and "retired" in 1994, he thought about buying a farm. However, after giving it more thought, he decided that it wasn't "farming" that he hungered for, it was TRACTORS! It wasn't long until he found a 1939 John Deere Model "A", similar to the one that his father had owned, and the collection began!

Phil did all the restoration work himself, and after several months the tractor looked almost as good as the day it had come off the assembly line. It had all original parts, with the exception of a new magneto which Phil added.

This is the "birth certificate" for the 1939 John Deere "A". Phil always keeps the tractor's genealogy, if it's available. John Deere is the only manufacturer that kept these kind of records, but it allows you to find out when the tractor was completed, where it was "born", when and where it was shipped, and what kind of special equipment it had when it left the warehouse. Usually, each tractor was built to the specifications of the buyer. Of course, as the years went by, things were removed or added. but this allows a person doing the restoration to equip the tractor EXACTLY the way it was when it was originally manufactured. NEAT, huh?