Here's a guy who really enjoyed those old Fords, there was an old timer not too far from our shop who used to restore hundred series and older fords, I would always stop and look at them when done and admire his work, we gave him all the remaining parts from our dealership that were not returned when it closed, this was the largest dealer in this area for 35 years, parts inventory took up 2 floors. Article/Interview with him:
Palmer has a number of other rare Ford tractors, including one that people travel thousands of miles from Canada and distant U.S. states to see: a 1949 Model 8N flathead V8 with a Funk Aviation Co. V8 conversion kit. Only 200 were made and only 14 remain, Palmer says.
Palmer looked in vain for one of those 8N tractors for 12 years. "When you think about how they are scattered across the U.S., the chances of finding one are pretty thin." Yet, chance was clearly Palmer's friend, because he found one mentioned in a small farm auction listing near Minneapolis. Eager to bring home his prize, he stuffed $2,200 in his pocket and told his wife, Harriet, he was bringing home a tractor.
At the auction, he discovered another Ford-collecting friend also wanted the rare machine. The other collector bid, but dropped out at $1,200. Once he was out of the running, he made Palmer promise to bring the tractor to the Worthington, Minn., tractor show the following summer. Naturally, Palmer promised he would. Finally, at $1,450, Palmer got his wish and hauled the tractor home.
"I was determined to get it, even though it was in pretty rough shape," he recalls. "The guy who owned it was an older fella who chewed tobacco and spit it all over the hood, so there was gobs of rust on it."
Two months later after some restoration work, another collector offered $7,500 for the rare tractor. "Wherever we take it, bids come rolling in," Palmer says. The last bid was $20,000. Remarkably, Palmer and his son Loren together now own a second of these rare machines. The tractors are good for belt work, Palmer says, but these powerful engines each create 100 hp, which often ruins rear ends designed for mere 25-hp engines.
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Today's Featured Article - A Brief History of Tractors in Australia - by Bob Kavanagh. After Captain Cook's exploration of the east coast in 1770 the British Government decided to establish a penal colony in Australia. The first fleet arrived in 1788 and consisted mainly of convicts who were poorly equipped and new little of farming techniques. The colony remained far from self-supporting and it was not until the early 1800's that things started to improve. Free settlers started to arrive, they followed the explorers across the mountains and where land was suitable set up farms. T
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