So, I was looking for a 1954 Farmall Super “H” because I love the tractor and because that’s the year I was born. I was always searching Yesterdays Tractors website, and I found the tractor I wanted for sale in Pennsylvania. We had it shipped here to Illinois and promptly started a top to bottom piece by piece restoration, including replacing the tricycle front with a wide front end because I like the wide look better. I also wanted dual wheels for a different look, which is rarely seen on an “H.”

It goes to the local Threshermans Reunion in the Fall, where visitors photograph it countless times at the reunion. It is quite the conversation piece. I took it on a couple of tractor drives in the area, where I met Max Armstrong, the leader in the drives. I was fortunate enough to park my tractor right next to Max’s 1953 Super “H” at one of the stops along the route. We had a nice little visit about tractors.

Anyway, my story is really about two tractors. My wife decided I was having too much fun on the drives, and she wanted to get involved as well, and she wanted a 1954 Farmall SMTA. So, the search was on! I was a subscriber to the Red Power magazine, and someone had an SMTA for sale in Wisconsin. So, we hooked up the trailer and headed north.

Once we got it home, she and I would take rides through the country to get her used to driving it before we went on an actual tractor drive since she was a city girl and hadn’t driven a tractor before. I would follow her down the road with my “SH,” and before long, she figured out her tractor could run off and leave me behind once she engaged the TA, so, without her knowledge, I changed out the governor spring in the “SH” to a heavy-duty spring which gave me way more rpms. Well, the next time we did a country drive, I passed her up, and she couldn’t catch me! So, now she wants to drive the “SH” because it’s faster. Well, ok, no problem, so we switched tractors. So, before we went out again, I changed the governor spring in the SMTA again without her knowing it, and guess what? I almost blew her off the road when I passed her!! I looked in the mirror, and she was shaking her fist at me.

When we got back home, I finally confessed what was going on, and I had a good laugh. However, I don’t recall her thinking it was all that funny! She got the last laugh because now she drives my beloved SH, and I have to drive the SMTA that SHE WANTED!! Oh, well. I love both tractors because they’re 1954s, and they are both the last year of the letter series.

Leonard Wayne Defenbaugh

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