The Eternal Nature of Old Tractors

It's not my intension to get philosophical, theological, or sentimental, but it usually happens anyway so oh well.

Besides the family history of agriculture, lessons learned, stories, and such, old tractors are an icon of sorts. Impressive are the things that stand the test of time against the elements, human abuse, or just plain fate. We've heard the stories of tractors that put food on the table for both farmer and customer, that in a surprising twist of fate, returned to those that held it in high esteem many decades later. Engines that sat idle years at a time, break loose, and now come roaring to life.

What is it in these old beasts that refuses to die? They are just steel. They have no life, no soul, no will. All that they have is only what men put into them, a lasting testament to the designers, builders, and users who wished for a machine that would labor nobly to accomplish noble tasks.

It's said, that which is truly good, true, and beautiful, is everlasting. If so, then a simple, yet rugged machine that retains its appearance or function years after it's served its purpose is truly a thing of beauty, a tribute to the men from whom it was built, and of whom it served. It has integrity like a man. Think of a big red barn or an old white farmhouse. Why do some still stand tall? Think of the builders and their humble needs their tools filled. Here's a little something to remember about things that last:

He is like a man building a house, who digged deep, and laid the foundation upon a rock. And when the flood came, the stream beat vehemently upon that house, and it could not shake it; for it was founded on a rock.
Luke6:48

Like a house, as such are old rugged tractors.

Like it!

I've never thought of it that way. I've made the statement that tractors are only cold hard steel but I never thought of tractors of being testament to the ingenuity of mankind. Jim

Well written. Really nice piece.

Thanks for a good piece of inspirational writing, I enjoyed it.

When it comes right down to it though,how many actually DID survive? Take just the 8N Ford for example. 500,000 made. Where are they all now? And consider how many of other makes and models were built. A relative fraction of them survived I'll bet.

Thanks. I'm not in the habit of quoting Scripture, but take it as merely interesting (regarding my MM collection) about being cold steel and not as a religious statement:

The gold also which they have, is for shew,but except a man wipe off the rust, they will not shine; for neither when they were molten, did they feel it. Men buy them at a high price, whereas there is no breath in them.
Baruch 6:23-24

A lot of the 8 N's were restored to new condition and shipped to third world countries so they could produce food to feed themselves. A lot ot attatchments went with them

Which brings to mind, often the tractor(s) we had and sold long ago we wish we could find and buy back to enjoy a second time around, like old friends.

Read somewhere that tractors in general, and N Fords in particular, have a much higher survival rate than automobiles of similar age. Factors- Tractors seldom get wrecked, and one is more likely to keep them and plan to "someday" fix them up. Wrecked cars, on the other hand, are an eyesore and can obviously never be fixed, so off to the scrapper they go. N Fords because they have never lost their usefulness (such as it is)- even new implements can be used on 70 year old Ns.

I began restoring a '48 John Deere D back in the winter. This tractor was purchased new by my BIL's father who I knew fairly well.When the father passed away ownership of the D went to my BIL's brother who stored it for a number of years. When he asked me to restore it I was thrilled and honoured as I knew what this tractor had meant to the family.
As I work on it I often think of Jim (the original owner) and how proud he was of this machine. I wondered what he felt the day he drove it home from the dealership (after all a 20 mile drive with a D does take some time!)Was he nervous about making this tractor "pay"? Would he be more productive and be able to buy that other farm? what would his neighbours and family think of this purchase?
Moreso than automobiles I think old tractors are not looked at as a tool or a thing, but more of an indication what kind of a person the owner is. Although Jim had been gone for close to 20 years we still refer to this tractor as "Jimmy's D"....a monument to another farmer.

Disagree; a whole lot of the N's are still around (including mine). Maybe not up in the midwest big farm country, but down here they're all over the place. Anytime I drive 100 miles in any direction, I will spot at least five.
A few years ago I saw in an old-tractors magazine an estimate that as many as 60 percent of the things might still out there, and most of them working. I dunno.

Come on guys,I was just using the 8N as an example. There were almost as many Oliver 70s made. JD A and Bs,Farmall H and Ms,etc. As many tractors as have been made over the years,there should be 5 of them in every yard in the US.
It's a relative few of the entire number that were built that have survived.

(quoted from post at 19:39:30 08/19/13)
It's a relative few of the entire number that were built that have survived.

Click to expand...

You're probably right when comparing total to number left as you are.
Sure there's a lot of N's out there, same with the two cylinders
and Farmall letter series. There were a lot of them to begin with.
Yet I keep dragging them home and trying to save them from the scrappers.
Sometimes I feel like the little girl who drags home every stray kitten she finds. LOL

Ya,I've got some extra Olivers here that are nothing but parts tractors. I'll probably end up with more,but those stripped down carcass's will no doubt end up melted down some day.

The number of some of these old two lungers,early Farmalls and such that were in some of these older parts yards was staggering.

I can't answer for anyone else, but I remember the conversations between Mom & Dad about him getting a new Allis-Chalmers B in 1948. He traded an older B for this one and a new plow and mower for $675 difference. So I kind of know how they both saved and planned for it. My grandfather bought a new Farmall H in 1942, trading in a Farmall Regular for it. I only know from my cousins that he never drove it in 5th gear, way too fast for him. Both tractors are very common and not particularly valuable, but they're links to my family history and I'm very lucky to have both.

Well stated! And I know it is true, but sometimes I would swear that certain tractors or vehicles have a personality of their own,