A Pretty Pair of McCormicks
Jan 18, 2011
Two tractors in the shed near his house outside Marne, Mich., remind Lester Langeland of his earliest days farming with his father John. “Sentimentally, these tractors mean more to me than any others—although today’s tractors are nicer to drive,” he says.
“Dad bought the McCormick W-9 in 1946, when I was 19, because the tractor we had wasn’t big enough for our custom threshing business. I drove that tractor so much. We took good care of it, but we just drove it so much we wore out three sets of sleeves and pistons. We kept the tractor for about 15 years. Many years later, a friend told me the old tractor was sitting in a shed in Hudsonville, Mich., so I purchased it from the owner. All it needed to make it look like new was a coat of paint.”
The McCormick-Deering 10-20 goes back even farther. “I learned to drive on that model tractor, when I was nine years old,” says Langeland. He purchased the tractor (not the same one he drove as a boy) from a neighbor.
Although he’s retired, Langeland stays busy helping sons Marlin and Merle with the family farm near Coopersville, Mich.
Provided by Farm Journal's Darrell Smith
