IH Tractors on Montana Farm

[Loadstar]

OBG I got a kick out of the fuel can, It is not like the 1256 had a enormous fuel supply.

Is that an extra fuel tank? I just assumed it was the water tank for the cab cooler. I had one very similar on the 930 Case. Held about 5 gallons of water and would use up a fair bit of that in a hot day (assuming the temperamental pump would actually keep working all day).

I'm attaching a picture of what we called a "tiller" here. This one was an eight foot Cockshutt with the seeding attachment so it was dual purpose machine. Thats my Dad on the old 50. Picture taken about 1960.

[Old Binder Guy]

OBG I got a kick out of the fuel can, It is not like the 1256 had a enormous fuel supply.

Is that an extra fuel tank? I just assumed it was the water tank for the cab cooler. I had one very similar on the 930 Case. Held about 5 gallons of water and would use up a fair bit of that in a hot day (assuming the temperamental pump would actually keep working all day).

I'm attaching a picture of what we called a "tiller" here. This one was an eight foot Cockshutt with the seeding attachment so it was dual purpose machine. Thats my Dad on the old 50. Picture taken about 1960.

Loadstar,

You're right about the water jug for the cab cooler, providing the darn pump would function and providing the pattern up in the cooler was working and not leaking, etc. They were decent when working right.

I see your dad's "tiller" and yes they would be the same "only different"! Terminology gets skewed crossing the 49th sometimes. Our "bundles" through a "thresher or separator" here were "stooks" through a "mill" up there in places. And, the 660 was pulling a "plow" or "one way" here which could be translated as "plough" or "tiller" there? As long as we know what we are talking about, that's the main thing.

Dr. Ernie,

I guess Tom told you the Shay was owned by Carl's friend Jack Hoover. And I likely didn't meet the two people you know in Garfield County, but I likely saw them the last time I went through there, since "they" were the "people" there; and they likely waved at me. I hope you didn't attempt to drink the water in Jordan? I can't do it. I'd guess the pop even reeks there? You are right about most of the farms measuring in sections. I heard a couple who mentioned townships. One up in phillips County owned everything in the township except all of the section 16s, which are state "school sections."

This is a lousy photo of me, but it IS me, on the 1953 TD-18A and I was wearing my charcoal and gray IH coveralls, and my wife took the picture in 1964. I had two pair of those coveralls for when I had things to work on at Bourke Motor & Implement in Lewistown. I was either wearing this pair or the other pair of coveralls when the news came over the radio that JFK had been shot in Dallas, and I was working there. I was doing bodywork on the first Scout they sold, which was traded in at one year, by one of the local Hutterite colonies near Lewistown.

Gary

[Old Binder Guy]

Gary, I'm guessing that Degelman sold a few rock pickers in that part of the country judging by the ground in that 660 picture. Reminds me of some of my own land. I see you made good use of some of the bigger ones by the weight box on the back of the 'plow', I always want to call them tillers or diskers.

I'm not sure but we might have been hit by that same blizzard in late April or early May of 1970 as I remember it.

Loadstar,

My son bought a rock picker recently, over at his place at Helena. I can't remember how the Degelman worked. This one he has uses a PTO to turn a rotary rake (Huge thing) that kicks them into the "container", for a lack of better term and that unloads hydraulically. His could well be a Degelman. My old mind doesn't remember things as well as it used to.

Gary

I got an 8" X 10" photo for my birthday over two years ago and they gave this out for Christmas two years ago. This is my son Mike, his wife Pam and my Grandson Jacob. My nephew Randy, restored the Farmall A and it was handy for the photographer. I posted Mike's 1941 Farmall M, which would have worked fine, except it was out at his place, 7 miles away. Jacob is adopted from Guatemala and he now has a sister Heather from there also. I am really, I mean REALLY, REALLY attached to them. They won Granddad's heart!

[Dr. Ernie]

Cute kid, all smile, I see that he has a FULL head of hair, while his dad is folicaly sp. chalanged.

I have seen lots of swamp cooler on the older tractors and never thought of one on a newer tractor.

water in jordan??????????? I thought it was like alot of countries who have bad water they drink a version of fire water instead.......I have been told that Garfield has the highest per capta rate of alochol consumption in the states, after getting to know the locals I would not disagree.

I think that the pop of Garfield co is around 750??? I am probley wrong.

[Loadstar]

My son bought a rock picker recently, over at his place at Helena. I can't remember how the Degelman worked. This one he has uses a PTO to turn a rotary rake (Huge thing) that kicks them into the "container", for a lack of better term and that unloads hydraulically. His could well be a Degelman. My old mind doesn't remember things as well as it used to.

Gary

Gary, nice family photo you posted. Just going to post a pic here of some more "non-red" power to show you the Degelman rock picker. I never owned one myself but borrowed this one from a neighbour one year and was really impressed. They were designed and built not too many miles from me so you couldn't go too far without seeing one of those familiar yellow pickers for years. The newer, bigger model is , I believe, painted white. This yellow one in the picture was plenty big enough for the old Cockshutt 40 back in 82.

They don't see as much use now since there is less tillage going on.

I have a similar "clone" of the Degelman built by Crown. Its a hydraulic driven reel which is the best way to go in my experience although ground drive was ok for an older tractor without sufficient hydraulic power.

[Old Binder Guy]

Cute kid, all smile, I see that he has a FULL head of hair, while his dad is folicaly sp. chalanged.

I have seen lots of swamp cooler on the older tractors and never thought of one on a newer tractor.

water in jordan??????????? I thought it was like alot of countries who have bad water they drink a version of fire water instead.......I have been told that Garfield has the highest per capta rate of alochol consumption in the states, after getting to know the locals I would not disagree.

I think that the pop of Garfield co is around 750??? I am probley wrong.

Dr. Ernie,

Being a physician, you likely know why my son is folically challenged? I thought that was supposed to skip generations? You should see how folically challenged I am! When I was a very little boy, I didn't want to be "ball headed" like my uncle Fritz... Oh well. Jake won't have that problem, I don't believe? Speaking of uncle Fritz, he owned the old Fergus Ranch northeast of Lewistown. I swore as a kid, if you could bottle and sell his water, you could put ExLax out of business. I can't remember if the Jordan water did that or not? I couldn't get close enough to find out and I sure as heck wouldn't put that stuff in my steam engine! Beer is likely the only "drinkable" liquid in Jordan.

Gary

My son bought a rock picker recently, over at his place at Helena. I can't remember how the Degelman worked. This one he has uses a PTO to turn a rotary rake (Huge thing) that kicks them into the "container", for a lack of better term and that unloads hydraulically. His could well be a Degelman. My old mind doesn't remember things as well as it used to.

Gary

Gary, nice family photo you posted. Just going to post a pic here of some more "non-red" power to show you the Degelman rock picker. I never owned one myself but borrowed this one from a neighbour one year and was really impressed. They were designed and built not too many miles from me so you couldn't go too far without seeing one of those familiar yellow pickers for years. The newer, bigger model is , I believe, painted white. This yellow one in the picture was plenty big enough for the old Cockshutt 40 back in 82.

They don't see as much use now since there is less tillage going on.

I have a similar "clone" of the Degelman built by Crown. Its a hydraulic driven reel which is the best way to go in my experience although ground drive was ok for an older tractor without sufficient hydraulic power.

Loadstar,

Thanks for your photo compliment.

No, my son's rock picker isn't a degelman, I don't think? It works on a similar principal though. I now remember the Degelman, now that you send a picture. I'm lousy with names, but pretty good with faces.

Gary

Posted a couple pictures of one of my WD-9s, one with IH offset disk and other with 14' 150 shovel drill.

[Loadstar]

Posted a couple pictures of one of my WD-9s, one with IH offset disk and other with 14' 150 shovel drill.

Nice shots of the old WD9 and drill. That looks like a Carter cab to me although I have never seen one in real life. Cabs on tractors of that vintage were almost unheard of when I was a kid. I think the first cab I ever saw was on a neighbour's 5 or 660 IH tractor. It was a home-built plywood box with some type of glass. At the time it was just the most amazing thing but I think now it would appear very crude. In fact I think that tractor is still sitting not too many miles from here. If I ever get the chance I'll get a picture of it.

I bet that cab was really appreciated on your WD9 some of those cold spring days pulling the drill. My Dad had one of the original "heat housers" on his Cockshutt 50 for winter snowplowing and he often left it on through seeding time for those occasional cold days. It sure made a difference.

[Old Binder Guy]

Posted a couple pictures of one of my WD-9s, one with IH offset disk and other with 14' 150 shovel drill.

Nice shots of the old WD9 and drill. That looks like a Carter cab to me although I have never seen one in real life. Cabs on tractors of that vintage were almost unheard of when I was a kid. I think the first cab I ever saw was on a neighbour's 5 or 660 IH tractor. It was a home-built plywood box with some type of glass. At the time it was just the most amazing thing but I think now it would appear very crude. In fact I think that tractor is still sitting not too many miles from here. If I ever get the chance I'll get a picture of it.

I bet that cab was really appreciated on your WD9 some of those cold spring days pulling the drill. My Dad had one of the original "heat housers" on his Cockshutt 50 for winter snowplowing and he often left it on through seeding time for those occasional cold days. It sure made a difference.

Loadstar,

I'm glad you liked the pictures. That is a MacDonald cab built north of the 49th. I don't remember just where, but they were a very good cab. I had a neighbor with a very early WD-9 (had the early bent gearshift under the fuel tank) which had an arched top aluminum cab and that cab was about five or more years before I'd ever seen a Mac. I had an uncle who had A MacDonald on his WD-9 with 24.5 X 32" (fat Doughnut) tires on it. I remember running this WD-9 of ours before we got the cab. My uncle bought an IH tractor radio, which was mounted on the fender. WOWIEE... Did that ever help kids pass the day with speed. I think it was about 1955, the first time I ever heard Paul Harvey News................Good day! I wrote Paul about five years ago, when he was very sick and had lost his voice. I complimented him on his "pipes" (radio lingo for voice) as being the finest in the business; ever and described listening to him on that IH tractor radio the first time I'd heard him. I got a very nice letter back from Paul.

I'd like to see a picture of the Cockshutt with the Heat Houser. I put a Tisco clone of one on my 300 Utility that I used for plowing snow. That really felt nice in the winter.

Gary

[Dr. Ernie]

OBG was the stone picker your son had, could it have been a Anderson, built in North Dakota if my memory serves me correctaly. Jim Schilling bought a JD "D" with a "cab" on it it was refered to as the outhouse D tom, you might have seen it. It realy looked like a out house, every time I see a home built cab I think of that D.

OBG and for thoes who are new The only Dr. I am is that of B.S. I went to colage to be a Vet, but I was mathamaticaly chalanged. Now I work on old Iron and move dirt.

OBG you guessed it, The water I was refering to in Jordan is Beer......

I have drank to water their and it is not bad but it has to be filitered, alot of alicline. (sp.)

[toyboy]

This is an AMAZING post!!! I just love looking at old pictures of farms, and the tractors they ran. This post is like heaven! Thanks alot OBG for sharing your pictures, i really enjoyed it.

My grandpa has a bunch of old photos i would one day like to get my hand on, even if its half MF half IH.

Aaron

[Loadstar]

That is a MacDonald cab built north of the 49th. I don't remember just where, but they were a very good cab.

I'd like to see a picture of the Cockshutt with the Heat Houser. I put a Tisco clone of one on my 300 Utility that I used for plowing snow. That really felt nice in the winter.

Gary

Not sure but I think Macdonald and Carter did get together eventually. Carter was a company based in Winnipeg , Manitoba. Made a lot of handy farm type attachments and accessories.

Heres a pic I happened to have on the computer showing my Dad's old 50 with the heat houser. Co-incidentally that dozer blade is also a Manitoba product. Cancade. They were a light duty blade but ok on a small horsepower tractor. That nine foot was a good load for the 50 Cockshutt but he pushed a lot of snow. These pics scanned from slides were taken in I think early 1973 when we had a real old fashioned winter with lots of snow. That heat houser was actually designed for a smaller tractor and has been lengthened with some binder canvas to reach the front of the tractor. It had a canvas/plastic windshield too but it distorted your vision so much that it was rarely used. I still have one here but never get around to installing it on the Cockshutt. Just dress up good and try to stay warm.

[Old Binder Guy]

That is a MacDonald cab built north of the 49th. I don't remember just where, but they were a very good cab.

I'd like to see a picture of the Cockshutt with the Heat Houser. I put a Tisco clone of one on my 300 Utility that I used for plowing snow. That really felt nice in the winter.

Gary

Not sure but I think Macdonald and Carter did get together eventually. Carter was a company based in Winnipeg , Manitoba. Made a lot of handy farm type attachments and accessories.

Heres a pic I happened to have on the computer showing my Dad's old 50 with the heat houser. Co-incidentally that dozer blade is also a Manitoba product. Cancade. They were a light duty blade but ok on a small horsepower tractor. That nine foot was a good load for the 50 Cockshutt but he pushed a lot of snow. These pics scanned from slides were taken in I think early 1973 when we had a real old fashioned winter with lots of snow. That heat houser was actually designed for a smaller tractor and has been lengthened with some binder canvas to reach the front of the tractor. It had a canvas/plastic windshield too but it distorted your vision so much that it was rarely used. I still have one here but never get around to installing it on the Cockshutt. Just dress up good and try to stay warm.

Loadstar,

Thanks for putting those pictures on there. I was sitting here at my computer and it just came back to me. My Tisco one was a "Comfort Cover." It makes me so darn mad about things I can't remember any more, that are just on the tip of my tongue, but I still can't remember. It took from when I posted earlier to think of that name.

Aaron,

I'm glad you enjoy some old farm boys shootin' the bull. Just because we've "done there, been that" doesn't mean we aren't harmless, other than being obnoxious on Red Power. I for one, am thrilled a few of you kids appreciate where I've been and what I've done. I've met some great people who've done some interesting things and have some information to share.

Dr. Ernie,

Thanks for filling me in on the Dr. part. That way, I know you won't tell me to take two aspirin and get back on here tomorrow! And you know something... I think it was an Anderson rock picker my son has. Thanks. Now I can come back here and read what it is and not have to remember.

Gary

[Loadstar]

OBG was the stone picker your son had, could it have been a Anderson, built in North Dakota if my memory serves me correctaly. Jim Schilling bought a JD "D" with a "cab" on it it was refered to as the outhouse D tom, you might have

Not wanting to sound like a know it all here Dr. Ernie but as far as I know Anderson equipment started out just 30 miles to the West of me in Southey, Sask. way back in the fifties. My Uncle had part ownership of one of those early rockpickers. I've never used one but they looked pretty crude compared to the Degelman. Anderson also made a line of tillage equipment including rod weeders and cultivators. Heavy and strong looking and theres still the occasional Anderson deep tillage shows up at a farm auction. I haven't heard much of the company name lately and they may have folded or been bought out.

Of course they may have had a factory in North Dakota for a while too.

[hardtail]

Not sure but I think Macdonald and Carter did get together eventually. Carter was a company based in Winnipeg , Manitoba. Made a lot of handy farm type attachments and accessories.

Heres a pic I happened to have on the computer showing my Dad's old 50 with the heat houser. Co-incidentally that dozer blade is also a Manitoba product. Cancade. They were a light duty blade but ok on a small horsepower tractor. That nine foot was a good load for the 50 Cockshutt but he pushed a lot of snow. These pics scanned from slides were taken in I think early 1973 when we had a real old fashioned winter with lots of snow. That heat houser was actually designed for a smaller tractor and has been lengthened with some binder canvas to reach the front of the tractor. It had a canvas/plastic windshield too but it distorted your vision so much that it was rarely used. I still have one here but never get around to installing it on the Cockshutt. Just dress up good and try to stay warm.

Loadstar, I wondered if one day we would get to the winter of 73 I was just a boy of 10 that winter, missed 40 days of school from buses not running out in the country and by spring dozers were clearing snow as the graders no longer could move the 12-15' walls that lined each side of every roadway, it was like driving in tunnels with each intersection being a 4 way stop as you couldn't see anything. Kids would walk up drifts and next be standing on the roof of the house. My buddys dad was still milking and they would have to dig down to get to the bottom of the hay loft door and all feed and water in and milk and crap out. Massive flooding that spring when it all melted a normal 17 mile trip to town was 40+ to find high ground. I have pictures of me canoeing in the field below the house I built now and it looks more like a lake than pasture.

That 50 Cockshutt probably pushed as much snow that year as the entire lifespan of some other tractors. I wonder when the next winter like that will hit and how prepared people will be these days, how do you like Canada now?

[Dr. Ernie]

Loadstar, I am by no means a expert on any thing, infact I found it interestingto actualy know some of the copaney history. We (dad) had 2 anderson stone pickers, and wore out both of them. Dad claimes that they were a good picker, as the last one was sold when I was 8 or so. Judging by the size and number of piles that they produced, and the lack of cusing about them I would have to agree. Rusty Farmer can fill you in on the quality of them as he was did most of the picking at the time of the pickers. When I could handel a "M" I started around 10 or so, could be younger, the picking duties were pased on to me in the form of a stone skimmer. I went around and picked up the bigger ones that worked their way to the surface, 12'' and up generaly. Once we went to notill and quit beating the dirt the growth of stones dramitacly slowed. At one time I rember over a dozen piles of rocks on the farm. By the time I was paying attention, alot of them had been blasted or buried. Years latter, I hualed out 2 small piles after the rapeiest had done their damage( all rocks over 3' were dug out and hualed away), Train Loads (50+ tons in a load) all that was left was the small rocks. I hualed 8 loads a day (5 axile lead) every weakend for a month just to clean up thoes 2 small piles. So yes we had rock, we had them bigger than a D-8 and blasted alot of the bolders, so the 8 could burry them. The rock layer was in the top 4-6' of the ground, I often wonder why they setteled where they did many moons ago.

[toyboy]

Aaron,

I'm glad you enjoy some old farm boys shootin' the bull. Just because we've "done there, been that" doesn't mean we aren't harmless, other than being obnoxious on Red Power. I for one, am thrilled a few of you kids appreciate where I've been and what I've done. I've met some great people who've done some interesting things and have great information to share.

OBG,

Well hopefully one day when I am alot older, i can have all the pictures I have taken from our farm to show people like you did. I have really started taking alot of pictures around the farm lately, mainly because my parenst never really took many pictures of the farm, and sadley we don't have any good picture of the IH power we used to have.

Aaron

[Loadstar]

Loadstar, I wondered if one day we would get to the winter of 73 That 50 Cockshutt probably pushed as much snow that year as the entire lifespan of some other tractors. I wonder when the next winter like that will hit and how prepared people will be these days, how do you like Canada now?

HT, sounds like your winter of 73 was worse than ours in Sk. 73-74 stands out as the most snowfall (bought my first Sno-Jet in Feb. of 74). Also, 1971 was a winter of heavy snowfall as the attached photo will show. That is my 39 Ford sedan parked on a municipal road and school bus route after the municipal graders finally made it through. I don't recall but sure the road was impassable for a while til the grader with V plow could make it through and then wing it out with the side wing. In those days when roads became impassable farmers just opened up the fence and made trails cross country through fields taking the path of least resistance, sticking to the high spots where the wind had blown the snow down to a workable depth.

Yes, the old 50 worked as hard in the winter as it did in summer those days. I recall Dad saying he burnt up a 500 gallon tank of gas the winter of 61-62. We had lots of snow to plow but the drought of 61 had dried up all the sloughs and shallow wells so Dad had to haul water for the cattle most of the winter from a neighbours dugout some two miles away cross country. V plow on the front and a wagon with 500 gallon tank of water on the back cross country in all weather. Plus fighting with that stubborn little pump mounted on the grain auger chassis every time. Deep ice to chop through at the dugout and make darn sure the hoses were all drained when you left or they'd be froze solid when you got back.

This plus all the regular chores of looking after a herd of milk cows makes me wonder just how Dad did it. Of course he was younger then than I am now.

[Old Binder Guy]

Aaron,

I admire your thought about recording your farm life and equipment on film. I learned from practical application that you can't go back and do it after the fact. I wish I'd taken many more pictures. Photo taking was a "special occasion" event on our farm. My mother had been "ruined" by the Great Depression and she just about lost it when I'd grab her Kodak Box to take a picture of a tractor, steam engine or Model T. Now, I'm glad I did it once in a while, and took her guff. She took pictures of the things she wanted, in small amounts.

Loadstar and Hardtail,

Our worst winter here for my time on the farm was 1978. There weren't very many tops of fence posts sticking out, before I started plowing. My kids didn't ride their normal bus route for 47 days. The County patrols couldn't touch it and they had a whole county to try to get to. I rented that house we moved to a teacher/coach and he had to go to work. I furnished the snowmobiles and they all rode five miles to the highway, where they were able to ride the bus from there. The Crystal Lake road by my farmland HAD to be kept open, as there were Minuteman missles on that road, so the USAF did whatever necessary to keep it plowed and later blown with snow blower, as there was no place to push snow. My wife and I took a ride on that road one day, after the weather settled down some in, I think, March. There was a vehicle coming at us, about a half mile down the road, so I had to back clear back to the highway, so that vehicle could get out. We went up about five or six miles and found a hill that had about three hundred acres blown nearly clean at the crest of that hill. I'll bet there were over five hundred head of deer on there sun bathing that day. I think I could have thrown a rock at them (If I could have found a rock in that snow) and I don't think a single one of them would have gotten up and run away. I posted another picture here of my old TD18A 181 with Bucyrus-Erie dozer. She was "ridden hard and put away wet" after that winter.

[Dr. Ernie]

Talk about adding insult to injury, no water all summer and a abundance of frozen water on the surface and still no water. All I can say is he must have been tough as I think a few today would have broken down....

[hardtail]

OBG and Lstar, my dad had a 65 Chevelle Malibu as our family car back then and once or twice he would stop and we'd climb out and up on the roadside snowbanks that were easily 3 times + the height of the car, of course looking back now we probably stopped at the highest spots. I believe there was quite a bit of cold weather as well that year. Much of the extreme depths of snow was from drifting and blowing in, our neighbours cattle would walk over the top of 8' slab fences around the winter pens. OBG I had forgotten about the one way traffic but recall that now you mention it.

DrE I was mainly referring to the metro people where they seem to complain and constantly occupy the ditch if we get 18" of snow now, heaven forbid they couldn't get out to shop on weekends. While the current generation maybe isn't cut from the exact same stock I'm betting while not easy the farming boys would still geterdone, you do what has to be done.

[Old Binder Guy]

Hardtail,

I had that TD-18A 181 in a Quonset shed, used a 2500 Watt water heater plugged in all the time, propane heater under oil pan for an hour before starting, covered all with heavy tarp. I had to hold my mouth just right to get her to crank over and start. It is fun to be able to tell the youngsters these stories, but I wouldn't want to go back to that again for anything. The '18, maybe, but not the winter. I hate to wish my life away, but I hope I never have to experience that again. We did have a nasty winter, snow wise, here in Whitefish circa 1988? I took videos of the construction/neighbor I hired to come plow my road with his Hough Payloader. I videoed for about five minutes. All you could see was the bucket raising over the bank and dumping out the snow. But here, it doesn't get so darn cold as over in the Judith Basin. Over there it could get down around 30 below zero (f) ( I remember 47 below for three nights in a row in 1964) and the wind blow for days. On the other hand, it may be blue sky and the moon out during that period. (I think they called them Alberta Clippers?!) Up here, it gets gray to the ground and we don't get nearly as much wind with the snow and I don't think I've seen colder than 25 below here and most winters it may only get down to 15 or 20 below at its coldest. Kind of a bananna belt? And would you believe, I've lived here 25 years next week, and I've never been inside Mooses? (Private story?)

Gary

[Loadstar]

OBG and Lstar,While the current generation maybe isn't cut from the exact same stock I'm betting while not easy the farming boys would still geterdone, you do what has to be done.

HT. what gets me is that back when we had "real" winters in the 50s, 60s, even 70s, there was so much against us. Hardly anybody had a tractor over 60 hp. Snowblowers were few and far between and many of the roads were not built up high as they are now. Bushes lined many roads and grass was not cut making an ideal "snow trap". So the fields would sometimes blow bare and deposit all the snow right on the road. Snowmobiles were unheard of til the late sixties and I don't think I ever saw a four wheel drive truck til well into the seventies.

Now we have huge tractors with blades, snowblowers, SUVs and 4 wheel drive pickups everywhere you look and I've still got my old Kawasaki Sno Jet out in the shed if it gets really bad. Not to mention the municipal roads are built up high, grass is cut back and the municipality has a huge grader to clear snow. It would make the old Champion grader from the sixties look like a toy. And now we rarely get deep snow or major blizzards it seems.

And Gary, we did get the cold temps here. -20 and -30 was not uncommon for Jan . and Feb. I remember Dad saying he froze his heels one time while out snowplowing. Another time the chloride in the one rear tire either froze or solidified enough that it ruined the tube and he had to get it fixed before he could use the tractor again. No mobile tire repair guys in those days either.

Going to look for a pic of the old V snowplow that Dad had on the Cockshutt 50.

[Dr. Ernie]

Hard tail 18'' of snow???????????? around here if we get 2'' it is a not safe to be in the ditches....a few years ago we had 14'' of snow that fell and they declared a snow emergency, unless you were emengercy personal or had a real good reason to be out you were ticked. I simply shifted the pu into 4wd and took the back roads, no cops their. Our snow here generaly is between a 8''of snow to 1'' of rain to 10''-1''. I do not like the drifts in ND or Mt as the drifts get real hard, I was going over the Judeth mts. a few years back following a snow plow he was only a few miles in front of me, cought him at the bottom. I would hit the drifts and the front axile of the pu would ride up on top of the drift, the rear and the trailer would go through them, it made for a interesting ride.

I know we (farmers) could go through a hard winter, but that does not mean I would want to. I feel sorry for thoes who have. I Missed most of the big stormes, the ones I was in I was too young to realy care, we had snow and it was alot of fun, playing in it.

OBG, a couple of years ago we(wife and I) were traviling along the highline(Mt/Canada border) and hit a batch of cold air 35deg. below 0. I could not get the fuel out on my rear tank and into the pu., fuel filter did not like the temps.

[Old Binder Guy]

Hardtail,

I figured you guys got those Alberta Clippers, or whatever they were called, in your area, too, before we got them? You are right, that people didn't have the equipment then that's available today. We had an old snow blower that was sold to run on our Farmall M. I think the dealer was looking for a sucker to sell it to, or dad may have been wearing a "USE ME" tee shirt? (Actually I shouldn't make up things like that... The kids will think we actually had personalized message tee shirts back then, when the only place I ever saw them was on the local baseball team.) The rotary fan ran in line with the tractor, not at a 90 degree angle as most (all?) modern ones do. It drove off of a sprocket mounted where the belt pulley bolted onto the angle drive, and 60 chain drove it. If you can imagine how the plow could flex the 90 degree front cutting bit, when hitting hard snow, that threw the chain into an uncontrollable mess. And of course the belly pump was the lift and anytime you pushed in the clutch, not only did you lose the hydraulics, but the plow drive. I eventually found a nice angle drive to mount close to the drive sprocket on the rotary fan, mounted a drive shaft on it, made some Fast Hitch points to place on it, mounted it on my 300 Utility. It was kind of handy after a terrible blizzard, for cleaning out around haystacks, but would have hated to back that tractor everywhere to plow snow. I have a fused joint in my neck from birth, so I've never been able to look backward very well. My neck didn't turn well when doing farming either.

Dr. Ernie may have a solution, short of surgery? Ernie & Hardtail... I wouldn't have wanted to be on the road between Kalispell and Browning last night. At mid-night or thereabouts, they clocked 122 mph winds through Marias Pass. The GNRY-BNSF, etc., have had box cars actually blown out of a train in the Browning area.

Dr., you are right about the hard snow drifts in the Judith Basin. I remember in late March or early April of about 1954, it snowed silver dollar (Silver $, another blast from the past) sized snow flakes for three days and blew like nobody's business the whole time. My older brother Bill and I helped Dad feed and try to get around, as there was no getting to our one room school at Glengarry (pop.6). Dad had a sheet of 1/4" iron in the shop for another project, so we bolted clevis' onto it and chained it to one of the TD-40s. We could go anywhere over the top of the drifts, feeding baled hay on this "stone boat" behind the TracTracTor... That is everywhere but one drift. We'd been driving over it for a couple of days and all of a sudden, the TD-40 fell through. We shoveled for about 4 hours, to free it from the snow, as it just kept up-pressure on the high centered undercarriage. It seems it fell into at least four, if not, five feet of drifted snow.

I remember another time in the early winter of 1962, when I headed out to my uncle's place near Suffolk, north of Lewistown in my new 1962 Pontiac Catalina. There was a road between his place on Salt Creek and Winifred, Montana, called "Thrill Hill Road" It was a "roller coaster" type of county road. I wanted to chase the opposite sex in Winifred after leaving my uncles place. I got to going down that road and the hill would be clear as I headed up, but after I topped the first hill, my "walnut shell snow tires" barely got me through the snow going down the other side of the hill. Now I was trapped inside terrible (only soft) snow drifts. Everytime I hit one, the snow would go up over the hood and windshield, freezing up my view and the wipers wouldn't keep it away. After about 15 of those hills, barely making it through each drifted downhill, I finally made it to Winifred. Back then, I doubt I had jumper cables, I don't think I had chains, I'd never seen a nylon tow rope yet, I didn't have a chain and I likely wasn't even close to being dressed for the blizzard I found myself in. I was sure glad to see Winifred and darn sure went home on the highway, where the roads were plowed.

I'm posting a picture here and it doesn't have one darn thing to do with International Harvester, whatsoever. Dr. Ernie, I think you'll get a kick out of it, since you know the instigator. Some construction company rebuilt the highway past Carl Mehmke's about 15 years ago. During quite a rainy period, they had a D-10 Caterpillar parked there, so Carl called Walter's father in-law, Bob Ryffel. Carl talked Bob into loading his little wheel steered, high sprocket drive Model F (or whatever it is?) Cletrac and bringing it over to Carls to unload and take a few pictures. Carl said, "I just wanted to show our Caterpillar dealer the high drive is not new."

Gary

[Loadstar]

Not a great picture but the only one that I can find. Taken in 1968 by an amateur photographer with a camera that cost less than a roll of film does today.

The Cockshutt 50 in full winter regalia. Heat houser with windshield installed. V snowplow up front. There was no lift, it ran on skids. The crank on the front was for adjusting the "suction". In those hard snowdrifts it needed to be cranked nose down to stay under the snow. It could really make the snow fly in "road gear" if it wasn't too deep.