This 1953 Jubilee is my late Fathers’, … Mr E.O. Knudslien of Lac La Biche, Alberta, Canada. Dad passed away In October, 2008.
Dad retired in the mid eighties, but was always very active and had to be doing something, so he started doing groundskeeping maintenance. He started off with smaller contracts, and progressed into larger ones, so he started looking for a larger tractor. He found the ad for the Jubilee from a retired farmer several hours away. Dad was originally a farmer too so he was well versed on tractors and loved the thought of having a Jubilee.
My parents hooked up a trailer to their pickup and went to look at the tractor, and ended up bringing it home. As I mentioned, he bought it from a retired farmer, forced to retire because he became blind. As was told by my parents, the happiest person as a result of the sale of the tractor aside from Dad was the farmer’s wife. Although he was blind, he still wanted to drive the tractor, which meant that she would have to bundle up when required and go along with him, then walk alongside the tractor as he drove it and tell him where to steer and when to stop. There was loader on the Jubilee so of course he would have to operate that as well and I could well imagine that there were some “difference of opinions” on those excursions.
Dad went on to use it for mowing and snow removal, and other chores as business dictated. Dad once told me that he would like to restore the Jubilee as it had a few wounds and the paint was peeling off and very faded, but he never got around to it before he passed.
July, 2015, I decided that I should fulfill Dad’s wish and restore the Jub. I removed the loader, gave it a thorough washing and brought it in my garage to start the restoration. I read quite a bit about the Jubilee and discovered that the grille was not correct, it had the oblong crank hole, which accompanied several other “boo-boos” on the hood and other places. I smiled, thinking back to the old blind gentleman, and wondered how many things he ran into before his wife figured out he was blind. I completed the restoration on October 18th for the most part one day before the 7th year of Dad’s passing. I still have to get the correct grille and replace the hydraulic pump, but that will be next spring.
I would like to thank Steiner Tractor Parts for their excellent service and quality parts that I ordered.
Wishing you and all of my fellow tractor fans a very Merry Christmas and all the best in 2016.
Jake Knudslien
Alberta, Canada
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