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This 1952 Farmall M was restored by Hunter Breese in 2021 for the JBDewar Tractor Restoration Education Program. The tractor was gifted to him by family-friend Jeff Smith. It was bought new by Jeff’s family and stayed in the family until gifted to Hunter.
Hunter Breese
Paso Robles, California
Tractor Photo Contest Winner
This is our families Allis Chalmers D-21 series 2 that we have owned and used for over 30 years. When my grandfather purchased the tractor, him and my father restored it. We still use this tractor every year for fieldwork like discing and plowing. We love to also try and show it off every now and again when we get the chance.
This picture was taken at a family friend’s barn just down the road.
Harnishfeger Family
Fairland, Indiana
Tractor Photo Contest Winner
Enter our annual tractor photo contest at SteinerTractor.com/photo-contest.
Contest runs April 3, 2023 – June 30th, 2023.
My name Is Cole and I am 19 years old and I love old tractors! I live in West Bridgewater Massachusetts with my family on a small homestead. When I was probably 10 years old I used to mow our yard with a 1973 Massey Ferguson MF14 garden tractor. It began to have some problems so it was set aside and we got a more reliable mower. It sat for many years and I always wanted to get it going again. In the summer of 2020 my dad and I pulled it out and got it started. I was happy to have it running, but I wanted to restore it it’s former glory. I began the long process of restoring it, and after a year I had completed it. It was very frustrating at times but in the end I learned an immense amount and decided that I was ready to take on another project.
One day my mom sent me a listing of a Massey Ferguson 50 tractor that was not running and in need of some love. I had not considered a tractor of this size for my project tractor; I planned on another garden tractor. This tractor was more involved than a garden tractor, but after some thinking I was sold.
On the Fourth of July 2021, my family and I went to New Hampshire to get the tractor. It was not running and had a loader on it so it was some work to load it, but we got it on the the trailer to bring it to it’s new home. Within a week my dad and I had it running. I started working through some general maintenance like changing its fluids and a few other things. The tractor is extremely reliable, it can sit for a month and yet still start right away. She is always ready to work. I want to restore it, but for right now, she has some work to do as well as celebrate the Fourth of July!
Cole Milbery
West Bridgewater, Massachusetts
Photo by Owen Milbery
I restored this 1946 Minneapolis Moline R that my Dad bought new. It did not run when I got it and the overall paint condition was bad from all the pigeon droppings. Many hours were spent rebuilding the engine which required a new cam, rocker arm, rings, and bearings.
This tractor was the main “workhorse” for many years to plow, disk, plant, cultivate, and do all the other tasks that you do on a small 109-acre dairy farm in northern Illinois. My 4 brothers and 2 sisters and I all learned to drive with this tractor.
David Reeverts
Onondaga, Michigan
Tractor Photo Contest Winner
It was late August and I’d been waiting for the perfect night to photograph my Dad’s Oliver 1655 with my daughter’s 1855 pedal tractor. We’d bought her pedal tractor before she was born, my Dad’s tractor had just been fully repainted, and I had a vision that initially looked completely different than this.
I photographed the tractors together with his in the background before deciding to line them up. He really didn’t want any part of being in the pictures but when I asked him to be in “just this last set” he went (hesitantly) willingly. In his basic mowing clothes and her crazy baby ponytail, this moment was born. She turned to find Grandpa and he waved back to her.
Lindsay Dinkla
Casey, Iowa
Tractor Photo Contest Winner
My brother and I are twins and have farmed together all our lives, being 3rd generation on the same farm. We farm tomatoes, corn, alfalfa, almonds, wheat, and cotton.
We both collect and restore antique tractors. I collect John Deere, and Joe collects Case tractors. We both collect mainly Hi-Crop tractors. The orchard tractors shown have both been restored by Joe and me and are part of our own collections. There are not a lot of tractor shows in California but when there’s one we love to attend.
Thanks to Steiner Tractor Parts we have restored and keep our tractors running in tiptop shape!
Augie Scoto
Atwater, California
Tractor Photo Contest Winner
Gerald Greaves bought this 1953 Case VAC tractor from his brother in 1954. He drove it with a mower about 30 miles to his farm. His daughter, Elizabeth Larrabee (seated in photo) mowed and raked hay with it (though it was not her favorite tractor!). Gerald’s son sold the tractor in the 1980s and we lost track of it (much to Gerald’s dismay).
In the early 2000s, Jason Larrabee, son of Elizabeth and grandson of Gerald, was driving along the road about 30 miles from home and saw what he knew was his Grandfather’s Case on the side of the road! It was rough, had obviously been rolled over at some point, and was in bad shape. He called but found it had already been purchased by a 15-year-old boy who wanted it as a project tractor.
A couple of years later, a lucky break came when we discovered who owned the tractor and, indeed, he wanted to sell it! Jason bought it and, with MANY Steiner Tractor parts, has it in great condition.
Our 15-year-old son, Alec, has been running it in parades all summer and loves it!
Marcy Larrabee
Danville, Vermont
Tractor Photo Contest Winner
Out tedding hay as the sun sets with our all-original 1961 Cockshutt 550. The tractor spent its last 25+ years in a barn before we purchased it. It has turned into a very reliable, and one of my favorite tractors to use for farm chores!
Nick Misch
Wanatah, Indiana
Tractor Photo Contest Winner
Watering calves, with Eleanor the 2510 tractor. She is a nice tractor, she’s the one we depend on to feed and water our cattle.
While it’s below zero, and electricity is down she can still start for us to feed cows. So in a way, she’s a hero to the little calf, Tanker Yanker Jr.
Heroes come in all shapes and sizes.
Caitie Schlink
Overbrook, Kansas
Tractor Photo Contest Winner
My papaw purchased this Ford 4000 new in 1964 for $2,200. He passed away, and the tractor sat for years unused.
My husband Jared restored it and had it sitting at our wedding as a surprise wedding gift to me. We rode out on the tractor for our exit from the wedding surrounded by family and friends.
Emily & Jared Hoss
Abingdon, Virginia
Tractor Photo Contest Winner
Growing up on a dairy farm, a “snow day” meant getting on the tractor with a blade and clearing the ½ mile driveway. No matter the weather, milk was picked up daily. My family owned and operated Martin’s Dairy in Dresden, Ohio until the late 1990s.
I was fortunate to purchase our original 1966 John Deere 4020 tractor and bring it back to the farm. Unfortunately, a barn fire destroyed it and several other collectibles in 2014. Purchasing a 1972 John Deere 4020 brings back early family farm memories as I continue to plow out my “Deere” neighbors.
Don Martin
Dresden, Ohio
Tractor Photo Contest Winner
The tractor belonged to my Grandma Bohl. It was her “car” back in the day.
A customer, Ron Rack, who is also a photographer of antique tractors & cars was in our store and asked to take a picture of the tractor which has our old Ford tractor sign mounted to it. Zimmer Tractor has been a Ford-New Holland tractor dealership since 1960 in Brookville, Indiana.
Daryl ZImmer
Brookville, Indiana
Tractor Photo Contest Winner
The 1939 Model A, John Deere pictured, is the oldest tractor among the six owned and operated by a comparatively small (100 acres) but robust (6th generation) rural East Tennessee farm. Day-to-day operations and service records reveal a historical legacy of dependability, loyalty, and reliability on the rural Appalachian farm where it is used. This record of integrity is in stark contrast to that found when using more plastic, disposable, and temperamental machinery deemed “modern”. This comparison is often seen when using public rental pieces and recalling instances where the “older” was required to assist the “newer”- just to get the job finished.
According to John Deere (February 7, 1804 – May 17, 1886), an American blacksmith and manufacturer who founded Deere & Company, farm life is deceptively hard, and dependable machines are a necessity. “I never put on the market a poorly-made implement….Whoever said that country life was simple, never lived on a farm.”, This underlying attitude may best describe why a 1939 simple green giant is one still used today in 2023 and why operators David Banks (shown here) and sons, Byron and William. are appreciative of the brand.
Purchased proudly in 2010 as a first trek into farm auctions by a then coming-of-age farm owner William Banks, the 1939 John Deere was selected as a novice’s pronounced restoration project and as an estate replacement piece for another John Deere, “A” used actively in farming by his great – grandfather from 1950 – 1998. The former John Deere was also used to teach my older brother, Byron, to operate at two years of age. Happily, according to this author and photographer, the “new” 1939 John Deere, Model A, replacement shows no sign of slowing down in it’s duty to dependability, thanks in no small part to maintenance made available by Steiner Tractor Parts and the pride in ownership by the “Banks” Boys when proudly seeking their American Dream.
David Banks of New Tazewell, Tennessee
Photo by Mata Banks
1964 Oliver was bought new by my great grandfather in 1964.
My brother and I had just finished putting a new clutch in and used it to clear snow on the place to break in the clutch.
Jonathon Schmedding
Walthill, Nebraska
Tractor Photo Contest Winner
If you would like to submit 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!
Here is my 1956 Ferguson 40. It was the 503rd Ferguson 40 tractor to roll off the assembly line. My son and I decorated it for Christmas that year and then came a good snow, and my wife snapped this picture early in the morning. The other part of the story the house in which we live was built in 1956 as well.
Anthony Holley
Jonesborough, Tennessee
2023 Tractor Photo Contest Winner
This Farmall Super H has been an invaluable part of our farm. Its versatility to be utilized in all aspects of farm life has made it our go to tractor for everyday tasks…not to mention it looks good doing it! Although putting up hay is our main use for it, we enjoy entering it in tractor pull competitions as it has proven to be a workhorse in its stock condition. In memory of the previous owner, Bobby Rowland, who enjoyed it as much as we do now. He sadly passed away in 2016.
Justin Rowland
Tazewell, Tennessee
Tractor Photo Contest Winner
Our featured tractor stories are selected thruout the year from the winners of our annual tractor photo contest. Our contest runs from April thru July, for exact dates and details go to our contest site at SteinerTractor.com/photo-contest
We also share tractor stories and photos by tractor enthusiasts just like you. If you would like to submit your tractor story visit AntiqueTractorBlog.com/tractor-story-submission
Check out more featured tractor photos and tractor stories
I’m the Fourth generation to put hands on this 1942 Farmall H. After a Four year restore of mostly nights and weekends here it is.
In it’s farming days here in Vermont, the H was mostly used to mow with a John Deere number 5 sickel mower. Nowadays it stays parade ready, but every once and a while the John Deere mower will go on, and the H will be returned back to work. Just far less of it.
John Kellogg
Orwell, Vermont
Tractor Photo Contest Winner
View all our tractor photo contest winners here.
This photo was taken last September 2021 when the sky and the background were just right! These tractors were restored by Craig Huls for his grandchildren.
Left to right: 1957 Massey Harris 444, a 1948 Massey Harris 55, and a 1954 Massey Harris 44 special that is repowered with a Ford 300 six. They are part of a group of seven tractors that have already been given away to our 7 grand kids.
Craig Huls
Hamilton, Illinois
Tractor Photo Contest Winner
We purchased this 1955 Minneapolis Moline GB from a local auction. There were several Molines at the auction, but this one stood out and spoke to us. So we gave it a good home. It had set for several years. With some hard work and love, we brought this gem back to life.
It does not only bring a smile to our family, but to our community as well. We take it to our local annual tractor show and it gets several compliments even though it looks like it just come out of the field.
Luke Christopher Knapke
Portland, Indiana
2023 Tractor Photo Contest Winner
The John Deere 2030 tractor belonged to our neighbor Morris Boles. Our neighbor was a hard-working farmer his whole life and this was the tractor I would always see him baling hay with. Many days as a child I would watch him from our picture window working his farm with this tractor and his faithful dog Bruno following behind him.
After his passing, I purchased the tractor at auction. I did this for two reasons, it’s a great tractor, and someday I hope to be able to farm his fields with his old tractor. I cannot think of a better way to pay tribute to our old friend, we were truly blessed to have him as our neighbor.
Jonathan Garn
Lisbon, Ohio
Tractor Photo Contest Winner