1953 family heirloom back in service

When my dad quit his International Harvester Dealership in Waterville Kansas in the mid 1950’s to farm full time, he took this 1953 Farmall Super H off the showroom floor to the farm with him and farmed with it till he passed, at which time I brought it down to my farm in Butler County and have farmed with it since 1992. During the 34 years I have had it; it has never had a major breakdown till two weeks ago. I was pushing up a brush pile with it and lost steering, as luck would have it I was only 100 yards from the barn and being in my mid 80’s with arthritis I don’t walk very well! Anyway I got back to the barn, got my 1970 Farmall 826, went down and chained the front of the Super H to the bucket on the 826, lifted it and pulled backward to the barn to work on it.

On tearing it down I found that the upper bolster pivot shaft had fractured after all those years and this day the last ¼ of the shaft finally broke in two. I got online and had Steiner’s send the upper bolster pivot shaft and shaft repair kit, buy the time they arrived I had the front of the Super H stripped & installed the new parts (playing tractor mechanic at 84 years old is a challenge) but I got it back together, putting the front wheel/axle assembly back under the bolster shaft and lining up the mount bolt holes was the biggest chore of the whole rebuild. But thanks to Steiner Tractor Parts my family heirloom 1953 Farmall Super H is ready to go back to work.

Dave Leiber
El Dorado, Kansas

If you would like to send in a story with photo(s) about an experience with your tractor, interesting facts about its history, or a restoration project,  please go to Tractor Story Submissions. If your story is picked to appear on the blog you will receive a FREE Steiner hat. Some stories will also go on to be published in our quarterly magazine. We look forward to hearing your story!