“I recently moved to a location with 20 acres. I was in need of a tractor. After meeting new neighbors and friends, I mentioned that I needed a tractor. One of my new friends said he would sell me his tractor and gave me his address where I went to see it.
This picture says it all. The shed was probably being held up by the wisteria growing through every window, wall, and door. Peeking out the front was this amazing find. A 1959 Case, model 210B. The owner drove it in the shed 6 years prior and had not touched it since.
I put it on a trailer and took it home. I put a carburetor kit in it, the 6-volt (positive ground) generator was rebuilt, and a new battery was installed. It started up and continues to run better each day.
It is a wonderful tractor and a rare model. It has power steering, low and high range, and is easy to drive.”
-Lawrence Hodson
1938 Massey Harris Challenger Twin Power
If I may I would like to share with you a story about a tractor that has been in my family since 1938. I have a 1938 Massey Harris Challenger Twin Power. My Grandfather purchased it from a Massey dealer in Arcadia Iowa on Feb. 25th 1938 according to the requisition that I have. I also have the original tags that were on the tractor when it was new as well as a letter from Massey with the envelope that states he could buy the rear fenders for 15.00 and the pto with the large shield for 35.00 which he did purchase. I have the owner’s manual and the parts book for the tractor and sales brochures as well. I have the steel wheels for it but the tractor is on rubber and buy looking at pictures I have of it I think this might be the only rear tires this tractor has seen. The front tires I think are the second set of rubber because they have red dots on them which means they are World War II rubber. I have not restored it and plan to keep it original. I overhauled the magneto and carb. And it runs like a top but it is not bright and shiny, I have been debating to restore it like a new tractor or leave it as is. I have had been told to leave it as is but we will see.
Thank you
Steve Hansohn
John Deere 720 Before & After
Tractor restoration by our customer Daniel Humbert from Chemin du Petit Molard, Switzerland.
His before and after shots of his John Deere 720 diesel.
The Adjustable-Height Tractor
Henry Ford was a powerhouse of an inventor, registering hundreds of patents during his lifetime. Many of his inventions were key to the transformation of American agriculture, but plenty of others never made it off the drawing board. One of these forgotten projects is a design for an adjustable height tractor.
The tractor was a narrow-front design that allowed for the independent raising and lowering of each of the rear wheels and the front end. The idea was to provide for maximum versatility in a tractor. When raised, the tractor would have the clearance necessary for cultivating crops. When lowered, drawbar strength increased. When plowing, the farmer could even adjust the rear wheels independently of one another to level out the tractor as it drove in the furrow. Ford also mentioned that the narrow front axle could be replaced with a conventional axle when needed.
Ford applied for the patent in 1939, and it was awarded in 1941. No doubt wartime rationing and shortages limited Ford from working out the kinks in his design. Once the war was over, Ford’s tractors were in such high demand that he could sell on reliability alone – no need for special projects like this to boost sales.
To learn more about Henry Ford’s design, you can read the text of the original patent application here (this is also the site where the diagram photos originated from). 
If Ford had figured out how to put this tractor into production, would you buy it?