Today’s tractors are jam-packed with GPS guidance and autosteer, sensors and camera arrays and LED lighting packages. Operators sit comfortably in air-conditioned cabs with built-in mini fridges full of cold drinks and responsive computing displays at their fingertips.
The whole deal gives the look and feel of a rolling mission control/home office on wheels and, quite frankly, many new tractor cabs are probably a whole lot nicer than your average home office.
There’s clearly no going back to the bare-bones, analog tractors with rigid metal seats and open air cabs Dad and Grandpa ran, but many of today’s farmers have cultivated an enduring affinity for the classic farm workhorses of yesteryear.
If you consider yourself among the legions of classic Iron Heads, check out this trio of recent Tractor Tales segments for a quick hit of some of that sweet, sweet farm machinery nostalgia:
Rebel With a Cause: The Ex-Pat Tractor That Wasn’t Supposed to be Sold in the U.S.
Southern Michigan farmer Nicklas Totzke might just possess the ultimate classic tractor trump card: a well-conditioned 1947 Empire 90 that Machinery Pete says is one of only about 380 known to exist today.
Totzke’s prized red Empire was originally shipped overseas to help rebuild bombed-out Eastern Europe farming villages devastated by the Axis blitzkrieg campaign during World War II. He says the spartan red machines are pretty “light duty” and were built with mostly Jeep Motor Company components — produced at the time by Willys-Overland and Ford Motor Company — and were used primarily to pull old horse drawn equipment.
Totzke says about 1,000 to 1,200 of the export-only machines reverse immigrated back to North America, ending up on farms across Canada and here in the U.S., which is how he ended up with his beloved Empire 90.
The Farmall 230 That Dutifully Trudges on in Pennsylvania Dairy Country
Pennsylvania dairy farmer Ed Thiele will never forget the day his father proudly test drove a brand new Farmall 230 around the streets of Butler, Pa. That impromptu dry run must have gone well, because today that same candy apple red beauty with the iconic pewter white IH hood ornament resides in his machinery shed near Cabot in Butler County.
“It’s been in the family ever since,” Thiele says, adding that if a fire were to set its sights on his treasured machinery barn, Dad’s classic Farmall — not the high-priced, expensive modern tractor he uses on his dairy operation — would surely be the first tractor he’d run into the flames to pull to safety.
While the machine today is semi-retired it can still run an auger, Thiele notes. The old tractor is in such good condition you can hardly tell it’s been chugging along for nearly seven decades at this point.
“Back in the day it had a sickle board mower on it, we raked hay with it, pulled silage wagons with it; we did everything with it when I was a kid,” he adds.
Wait, Machinery From the 80s Is Considered Classic Now? Well Then, That Makes Me Old
At one point in time, the John Deere 4840 tractor, at 180 hp, was the largest and most powerful row crop tractor in the manufacturers stable of farm machines. Illinois farmer Chad Jacobs says his 1982 edition represents the final swan song for the model itself, before Deere’s more advanced, new 4850 took its place in 1983.
Jacobs acquired the classic tractor to preserve his grandfather’s memory and heritage. Grandpa picked up the tractor out of necessity, right after tearing up the draw bar in his 4020 hauling manure.
“This is what was sitting on the [dealer] lot; it has 2,800 original hours on it,” Jacobs says. “We still drag a lot of wagons around, so it’s a wagon puller now.”
Jacobs farms with his brother, and the pair are working to teach the next generation of Jacobs progeny about the family farming legacy, passed down over all those rides in Grandpa’s trusty 4840.
“As far as me sitting in here and pulling wagons with it, it just brings back memories of my grandpa,” he says. “I think he’d be very proud of the fact that it’s still being used.”
For more classic Tractor Tales, head over to the @FarmJournal YouTube channel to watch archived segments, or follow Tractor Tales on X @TractorTales. New episodes of “U.S. Farm Report,” where new Tractor Tales segments debut, air every Friday afternoon on Farm Journal TV.
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