It was 1992 when my girlfriend Lori (now my wife) invited me to her small 160-acre family farm in Gilmanton, Wisconsin. I was a little nervous meeting her family for the first time. But her family quickly accepted me, and even in that first visit, I felt like I belonged. Lori’s family became my second family.
For the next 15 years, spending entire weekends at her family’s farm became a regular part of my life, with or without Lori (-: You couldn’t keep me away. Born in the “big city” of Minneapolis, I was out of my element on that farm. But it didn’t take long before life at the farm was part of who I was. I couldn’t wait for the weekends. Spending time outside working on whatever projects we could find and enjoying family and the fresh air. Those were some of the best years of our life. “The farm” became a very big part of our lives.
Lori’s brother, Mark, and I became fast friends. We would spend weekends together working on one project or another; it was always easy to find something to do. Cutting up dead trees and planting new ones. Fixing old buildings. Putting up tree stands, and going to auctions. Well, all of those projects demanded a dependable vehicle to haul all our “stuff” around, loads of tools, posts, branches and more.
Our weekend workhorse was the family’s old tractor, a 1959 Ford 641 Workmaster. I love this tractor. A faded Ford vermilion red, this 38-horsepower, 4-speed diehard was surprisingly tough and always got the job done. For every hour we spent outside on the farm, you can bet that old, reliable tractor wasn’t far behind pulling an old homemade pick-up box trailer full of 5-gallon buckets of parts and tools for the project at hand.
With a new love of old tractors sparked by that faithful old Ford, we just had to see more. So, Mark and I took a number of road trips to the Ageless Iron shows back around 1996 and 1997 down in Iowa. We’d spend the weekend checking out all the farm gear from the early and mid-1900’s. Marveling over those historic beautiful old workhorses, we would always get inspired to head back to the farm to tinker on, and try to polish up that old, faded Ford.
A couple of years ago, my friend and brother-in-law Mark, as well as my mother-in-law, both passed from cancer within months of each other. In those dark days, Lori and I held on tight to those treasured memories at the farm. But we needed something more.
So, Lori and I went back to the family’s Gilmanton farm. And there it was, almost in its final resting place. My second love — that old Ford. Flat tires, broken cables, and missing hoses, inoperable, rusted out and looking just as 64-year-old farm equipment should look, she needed some love. Thankfully, Lori’s other brother Kevin was there to help us load her up so we could bring her home and give her a new life.
Lori and I are setting aside some funds to fully restore the old Ford 641 Workmaster. But she’s retired from farm life. Rather, we want the family to enjoy that old tractor in parades, fun rides and as a tribute to the time we spent in that magical place, “The Farm” with good friends and family. Spending summers and weekends in Gilmanton also meant the Gilmanton Fair, the parade, tractor pulls, music and everything that goes with life in a small country town. In fact, Gilmanton truly has the best little fair I’ve ever been to. And when this tractor is fully restored, I can’t wait to see my wife and kids drive that old Ford through the streets of her hometown in that parade.
The restoration project of this Ford 641 Workmaster is dedicated to our time spent with family and friends at “The Farm”: my father-in-law, Marshall Longseth; my mother-in-law Jane Longseth; my friend and brother-in-law, Mark Longseth of Gilmanton, WI; and Kevin my other brother-in-law, who is fighting his own battle with cancer. With this old Ford we keep your memories alive and pass it down to our kids so they will always remember their roots, the simpler things in life, and their family at “The Farm.”
Tim Nyberg
