So back in 1945 my grandpa John Glanville is wanting a new model D tractor and because of the war can't get one
In 1948 he goes to the London Ontario fall fair and sees a brand new model D at the george white and sons display
He buys it on the spot and drives it home on a distance that takes an hour in a car at today's speeds
My dad was 4 years old at the time and had 2 older brothers that got to break in the tractor but as time went on he got to enjoy many hours on the D
And be proud to say it was the the first tractor he learned to drive
Grandad was expanding the rented land acreage
and the old d was getting to slow and small for all the work .land rent 10 bucks an acre and getting up to near 1000 acres
In 1958 my grandpa decide to get a fairly new model R and decide to tradein the old D
That did not sit good wirh my father as he knew that old D had a lot of life left in it yet, but grandpa could not afford to keep 2 jds around
Very upset my father in tears decide to brand the tractor forever and took a center punch in one had and a big hammer in the other and stamped KEN GLANViILLE in the front of the radiator
Knowing never to be seen again
Grandma takes one pix of my father and his 2 little sisters before the dealer picks it up
Photo shown
As I grow up I often hear this story of my father branding HIS tractor when he was 14 years old
Well it really was for real when the neighbour came over one day and said u won't believe what I seen in a scrap yard your dads name in an old tractor
And this is 40 years later
So another trip down to the yard my father and neighbour make to verify this and sure enough there it is
By this time I'm 18 and so excited to see grandads tractor but luck would have it the owner of the yard had turned sick and nothing is for sale
Years go by and rumour has it the yard is being cleaned up for scrap .
It wasn't until last fall my father and I are going By the yard and we stop in one last time to try to see it
The owners wife greats us and informs us her husband passed away but that her son would meet up with us to look in the yard and see if it's still there
Around October 2016 we wrestled through the yard weeds and vines and stumbled across 2 old Ds
My father gets his jack knife out and scratches the moss and rust off the front no not this one
Goes over the the other and same thing
My heart sunk it's a lost cause
By this time it's almost 60 years later and my father can't remember if he stamped it on the side or up on top
He goes back to the first one and scratches again
Suddenly I see some stamps
He then remembers its center punch marks he made
He sees his name slowly appear as he scratches the deap brown rust and moss off the front
We found it
Part 2 tomorrow nite
In 1948 he goes to the London Ontario fall fair and sees a brand new model D at the george white and sons display
He buys it on the spot and drives it home on a distance that takes an hour in a car at today's speeds
My dad was 4 years old at the time and had 2 older brothers that got to break in the tractor but as time went on he got to enjoy many hours on the D
And be proud to say it was the the first tractor he learned to drive
Grandad was expanding the rented land acreage
and the old d was getting to slow and small for all the work .land rent 10 bucks an acre and getting up to near 1000 acres
In 1958 my grandpa decide to get a fairly new model R and decide to tradein the old D
That did not sit good wirh my father as he knew that old D had a lot of life left in it yet, but grandpa could not afford to keep 2 jds around
Very upset my father in tears decide to brand the tractor forever and took a center punch in one had and a big hammer in the other and stamped KEN GLANViILLE in the front of the radiator
Knowing never to be seen again
Grandma takes one pix of my father and his 2 little sisters before the dealer picks it up
Photo shown
As I grow up I often hear this story of my father branding HIS tractor when he was 14 years old
Well it really was for real when the neighbour came over one day and said u won't believe what I seen in a scrap yard your dads name in an old tractor
And this is 40 years later
So another trip down to the yard my father and neighbour make to verify this and sure enough there it is
By this time I'm 18 and so excited to see grandads tractor but luck would have it the owner of the yard had turned sick and nothing is for sale
Years go by and rumour has it the yard is being cleaned up for scrap .
It wasn't until last fall my father and I are going By the yard and we stop in one last time to try to see it
The owners wife greats us and informs us her husband passed away but that her son would meet up with us to look in the yard and see if it's still there
Around October 2016 we wrestled through the yard weeds and vines and stumbled across 2 old Ds
My father gets his jack knife out and scratches the moss and rust off the front no not this one
Goes over the the other and same thing
My heart sunk it's a lost cause
By this time it's almost 60 years later and my father can't remember if he stamped it on the side or up on top
He goes back to the first one and scratches again
Suddenly I see some stamps
He then remembers its center punch marks he made
He sees his name slowly appear as he scratches the deap brown rust and moss off the front
We found it
Part 2 tomorrow nite
