IH Tractors on Montana Farm

[toyboy]

OBG,

Well when we did own our 966, which is what i really wish we had pictures of, i was only 9 or 10 or so when it blew up... Now that I am a little older i make sure i take pictures, and have many of them. My parents may think i am crazy, but one day when i look back it will bring a smile to my face, no doubt about it.

Aaron

Now i have plenty of pictures to show... just not of the ol' 966....

[Dr. Ernie]

OBG the 10 kinda dwarfts the little F........

The 40 droping In LOL I am sorry it is too funny not to laugh at some thing like that. When I was yonger I had a 1/2 ton 4x4 gmc with a 6.2 diesel in it, well we get alot of frezing rains and warm spells just enough to make the first 1'' good and hard well I was getting hay one time from another farm and had to jump the driftsto get in I went over the first couple and then twisted the pu a bit and promply was hung up 2 tires droped through and the other 2 stayed up, well needless to say I had no shovel and had to walk for a tug, 3 miles or so.

I was going to ask you about that pass ,I belive it is near a hittite coloney, I have seen some cars after they have been blown off, have heard of engins as well I was told wind gusts around the 150 mark fairly common.

[Old Binder Guy]

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.

Loadstar,

Boy... I hear what you say about a roll of film costing more today than our cameras did back when I could have used a good 35mm camera to preserve farm life in central Montana. Oh well, I can't go back and re-do it now. And weren't flash cubes an improvement over no flash or flash bulbs? I remember taking a couple of pictures inside the shop and shed. I don't know where the pictures are now.

The old Cockshutt looks to me like it would do a great job of plowing snow. The heat houser made life a lot more pleasant when plowing snow. The engine heat moved rearward by the fan warmed things up pretty well.

Gary

OBG,

Well when we did own our 966, which is what i really wish we had pictures of, i was only 9 or 10 or so when it blew up... Now that I am a little older i make sure i take pictures, and have many of them. My parents may think i am crazy, but one day when i look back it will bring a smile to my face, no doubt about it.

Aaron

Now i have plenty of pictures to show... just not of the ol' 966....

Aaron,

Continue to take pictures of your farm life. Remember 40 years down the road that an old timer urged you to do that. I assure you - you won't regret it, as I know from experience, I wished I'd gotten more along the way. But, I'm darn thankful about the ones I got. Good, bad or ugly!

Gary

[Old Binder Guy]

OBG the 10 kinda dwarfts the little F........

The 40 droping In LOL I am sorry it is too funny not to laugh at some thing like that. When I was yonger I had a 1/2 ton 4x4 gmc with a 6.2 diesel in it, well we get alot of frezing rains and warm spells just enough to make the first 1'' good and hard well I was getting hay one time from another farm and had to jump the driftsto get in I went over the first couple and then twisted the pu a bit and promply was hung up 2 tires droped through and the other 2 stayed up, well needless to say I had no shovel and had to walk for a tug, 3 miles or so.

I was going to ask you about that pass ,I belive it is near a hittite coloney, I have seen some cars after they have been blown off, have heard of engins as well I was told wind gusts around the 150 mark fairly common.

Dr. Ernie,

Model F, That's what I was trying to think of! It is funny about the old '40 now, but at that time it was a terrible thing at a terrible time. I never owned a diesel pickup. I did own an 1980 Pontiac Bonneville with that Chevy diesel in it. The next time I traded, I went back to gas. I never knew for sure what I was getting for fuel in the winter time and I spent too many hours along the road, trying to get diesel to flow through the lines.

You are thinking about the Hutterite colony south of Browning, on the Valier cut-off, I'll bet. Or are you thinking about the one between Grass Range and the Judith Mountains out of Lewistown? I wondered, as you mentioned driving in snow drifts on the Judiths. Browning is one of the windiest places on earth. There are no wind farms there however. Our governor had a big wind farm built out of Judith Gap. The gap is very windy and so is Livingston, Montana. Those three spots have to be vying for the windiest spots on earth? However not real windy, compared to the other three, Tubacase lives in Great Falls and I seldom drive through there to my "old country" in the Judith Basin, when the "gymnasium floor" size US flag isn't kind of standing straight out, so you can count the stars and not miss any.

Gary

[Dr. Ernie]

You are correct about the Huttite coloney south of browning. My memory is slipping, When I get older I do not know what I am going to do, forget my head I guess.

When you get stuck in the snow it is never funny. BUT after a bit of time has passed it usaly becomes funny then, I rember one time dad said "turn here you can make it, it is not that deep" ..... WRONG ......It, the snow was bumper deep with a layer of ice under it.(refer back to the snow guide only here it was more like 6-1). well being a good boy scout I had a shovel in the back. 2-3 hrs later diging by myself while some one watched I was backing through my blown in tracks almost getting stuck 2 more times. I was pi@@ed then and now I just laugh about it.

[hardtail]

Well you guys have named it the Alberta Clipper, we call it the Siberian high, last place that it passed through gets blamed for the new arrival, that may not be entirely true as once the Siberian high is established and overhead one can look forward to 1-2 weeks minimum of -30 to -40 and beyond but rarely a stitch of wind. The houses flues go straight up 50' and the semi exhaust trails past the end of the trailer and do the turbos sound great at that temp

I think Montana and North Dakota get worse storm bursts and high winds and drifting and while not very enjoyable at the time don't last as long. Drifting and snow with heavy moisture content around freezing temps can be the worst. Yesterday by Lethbridge a number of semis where blown off the road and overturned in the ditch by the big wing gusts, almost all were long van trailers.

[p8ntball329]

Man I dont think I've ever seen so many vintage photos on one thread before! I got a few to post that are neat but I dont have a scanner

Tony

[PALOUSE]

Well you guys have named it the Alberta Clipper, we call it the Siberian high, last place that it passed through gets blamed for the new arrival, that may not be entirely true as once the Siberian high is established and overhead one can look forward to 1-2 weeks minimum of -30 to -40 and beyond but rarely a stitch of wind. The houses flues go straight up 50' and the semi exhaust trails past the end of the trailer and do the turbos sound great at that temp

I think Montana and North Dakota get worse storm bursts and high winds and drifting and while not very enjoyable at the time don't last as long. Drifting and snow with heavy moisture content around freezing temps can be the worst. Yesterday by Lethbridge a number of semis where blown off the road and overturned in the ditch by the big wing gusts, almost all were long van trailers.

Well, I got busy the past few days and couldn't find much computer time. I hate it when that happens. Too much internet privation and I start getting the DT's. Anyway, I've been looking for a place to jump back in here.

I see where you guys have been swapping some snow stories and I can't really compete with that. Here in the Palouse the weatherman seems to follow the idea of "everything in moderation". That isn't to say we don't get our severe weather "spikes", but nothing lasts too long and we are accustomed to getting several "winters" per season. Passing storms are almost inevitably followed by chinook winds, milder temps, then sooner or later it all starts over again. We did, nevertheless, experience the windstorm you mentioned last Friday. Not too much damage here locally, but power was off overnight in many places. Coast apparently got hit pretty bad. Generally our moisture comes in from the coast and the cold air comes in from the north. I have heard a meteorologist say that the Palouse and Idaho panhandle are the point where three different weather systems tend to converge, so the outcome here is always somewhat of a crap shoot.

Anyway, I have been scrounging through my picture files to find something interesting and I've come up with the ones below. I understand that the Coffee Shop tolerates "off color" stories, (about other than red iron) so will present these here.

Around the 1930's several brothers here were looking to upgrade their farm power, possibly from horses, so they arranged the demonstration of this Caterpillar 60 on their farm. A bit before my time, but a relative told me the story. I guess they liked the idea of a crawler, but ended up buying a Cat 30 instead. So now, many years later, several of their grandchildren have rescued the old 30 from a weedpatch back of the barn, cleaned and painted it up and made it into a monument in front of their house. Parts were missing and rainwater had long since found it's way into the engine, so a conversation piece is mostly what it had become. But they are proud of it's significance in their past and wanted to preserve it. The seat had long since disappeared so they made one out of wood, using old pictures as a guide.

I have more Cat 60 pictures about another machine that my dad and uncle both owned at different times, but will try to post them later. Also of the Cat 30 "Monument".

[Loadstar]

Palouse, those are some great vintage black and whites but what are they trying to do with the crawler on that sidehill? Looks a little steep for tillage even for that area. Looks like the operator is leaning trying to throw his weight to the high side in an effort to balance the cat. KInd of like we do on the older snowmobiles up here.

[PALOUSE]

Palouse, those are some great vintage black and whites but what are they trying to do with the crawler on that sidehill? Looks a little steep for tillage even for that area. Looks like the operator is leaning trying to throw his weight to the high side in an effort to balance the cat. KInd of like we do on the older snowmobiles up here.

Loadstar...In this area I would say at least 30-50% of our farmland is that steep. The topsoil is deep and runs to the tops of the ridges, at least originally. We have good rainfalll and good organic matter. The soil is basically heavy and doesn't blow easily. In the right year those steep northsides often produce some of the best wheat. They are shaded longer and the winter snow hangs in longer there. Again, all that depends on the timing and a certain amount of luck. Each year is different as to where your yield comes from.

Granted, over the past 100+ years since the Palouse has been broken out it's native bunchgrass, lack of knowledge and technology has taken it's toll on the topsoil on the ridges. Both annual cultivation and water erosion has aided gravity in pulling some of the topsoil down off the hills, to where the underlying clay shows. But, we've learned to manage tillage practices and now have the horsepower to stem that process, presuming we try. Today's fertilizers help rejuvenate the clay ridges to where they once again yield better and have the benefit of more organic matter grown on them. If you back away from the hills in the Palouse you don't get much farming done.

The ridge where the Cat 60 was photographed is not too far from my place. I'll have to look the next time I go by there but I suspect that it has now been seeded back to grass under the government CRP program. With the farm economy being what it is these days, many farmers are opting to put their more "difficult" ground into these temporary retirement programs, awaiting better times. Some whole farms have gone into CRP more recently. That's a new phenomenum in this area. In my time in farming I have seen a handfull of different conservation programs come and go. I see them as signs of the times.

Anyway, I've found a few more photos from a more recent time, middle 70's I recall. That's the same tractor in all pics, I just built a cab on it later on. I believe I've posted it in the past, with a dozer on it.

[JD Humm]

Palouse, those are some great vintage black and whites but what are they trying to do with the crawler on that sidehill? Looks a little steep for tillage even for that area. Looks like the operator is leaning trying to throw his weight to the high side in an effort to balance the cat. KInd of like we do on the older snowmobiles up here.

Loadstar...In this area I would say at least 30-50% of our farmland is that steep. The topsoil is deep and runs to the tops of the ridges, at least originally. We have good rainfalll and good organic matter. The soil is basically heavy and doesn't blow easily. In the right year those steep northsides often produce some of the best wheat. They are shaded longer and the winter snow hangs in longer there. Again, all that depends on the timing and a certain amount of luck. Each year is different as to where your yield comes from.

Granted, over the past 100+ years since the Palouse has been broken out it's native bunchgrass, lack of knowledge and technology has taken it's toll on the topsoil on the ridges. Both annual cultivation and water erosion has aided gravity in pulling some of the topsoil down off the hills, to where the underlying clay shows. But, we've learned to manage tillage practices and now have the horsepower to stem that process, presuming we try. Today's fertilizers help rejuvenate the clay ridges to where they once again yield better and have the benefit of more organic matter grown on them. If you back away from the hills in the Palouse you don't get much farming done.

The ridge where the Cat 60 was photographed is not too far from my place. I'll have to look the next time I go by there but I suspect that it has now been seeded back to grass under the government CRP program. With the farm economy being what it is these days, many farmers are opting to put their more "difficult" ground into these temporary retirement programs, awaiting better times. Some whole farms have gone into CRP more recently. That's a new phenomenum in this area. In my time in farming I have seen a handfull of different conservation programs come and go. I see them as signs of the times.

Anyway, I've found a few more photos from a more recent time, middle 70's I recall. That's the same tractor in all pics, I just built a cab on it later on. I believe I've posted it in the past, with a dozer on it.

Wow, extraordinary photos. Bet riding on such slopes would make one's rear end sore as all get out. Especially the down hill cheek.

This has been a great thread.

[PALOUSE]

Palouse, those are some great vintage black and whites but what are they trying to do with the crawler on that sidehill? Looks a little steep for tillage even for that area. Looks like the operator is leaning trying to throw his weight to the high side in an effort to balance the cat. KInd of like we do on the older snowmobiles up here.

Loadstar...In this area I would say at least 30-50% of our farmland is that steep. The topsoil is deep and runs to the tops of the ridges, at least originally. We have good rainfalll and good organic matter. The soil is basically heavy and doesn't blow easily. In the right year those steep northsides often produce some of the best wheat. They are shaded longer and the winter snow hangs in longer there. Again, all that depends on the timing and a certain amount of luck. Each year is different as to where your yield comes from.

Granted, over the past 100+ years since the Palouse has been broken out it's native bunchgrass, lack of knowledge and technology has taken it's toll on the topsoil on the ridges. Both annual cultivation and water erosion has aided gravity in pulling some of the topsoil down off the hills, to where the underlying clay shows. But, we've learned to manage tillage practices and now have the horsepower to stem that process, presuming we try. Today's fertilizers help rejuvenate the clay ridges to where they once again yield better and have the benefit of more organic matter grown on them. If you back away from the hills in the Palouse you don't get much farming done.

The ridge where the Cat 60 was photographed is not too far from my place. I'll have to look the next time I go by there but I suspect that it has now been seeded back to grass under the government CRP program. With the farm economy being what it is these days, many farmers are opting to put their more "difficult" ground into these temporary retirement programs, awaiting better times. Some whole farms have gone into CRP more recently. That's a new phenomenum in this area. In my time in farming I have seen a handfull of different conservation programs come and go. I see them as signs of the times.

Anyway, I've found a few more photos from a more recent time, middle 70's I recall. That's the same tractor in all pics, I just built a cab on it later on. I believe I've posted it in the past, with a dozer on it.

Wow, extraordinary photos. Bet riding on such slopes would make one's rear end sore as all get out. Especially the down hill cheek.

This has been a great thread.

You might notice that on the open tractor pics I had my arm out, bracing myself on the downhill side to a crowbar that I had mounted beside the tractor fuel tank. It served the dual purpose of something to hang onto and being useful for knocking out clods of dirt that would wedge between the discs and stop a gang from turning when discing rougher ground. I was pulling John Deere CC's that particular day. Only the more recent tractors had decent seats on them, considering how many hours we spent on them. "Ergonomic" wasn't even a word back then I don't think.

Found a couple more pics. The first one you might recognize as being taken from across the draw from the previous one with the discs. And the remaining pic is my 151 four way combine working a rather miserable hill. Hot weather and lots of dust.

[PALOUSE]

Well you guys have named it the Alberta Clipper, we call it the Siberian high, last place that it passed through gets blamed for the new arrival, that may not be entirely true as once the Siberian high is established and overhead one can look forward to 1-2 weeks minimum of -30 to -40 and beyond but rarely a stitch of wind. The houses flues go straight up 50' and the semi exhaust trails past the end of the trailer and do the turbos sound great at that temp

I think Montana and North Dakota get worse storm bursts and high winds and drifting and while not very enjoyable at the time don't last as long. Drifting and snow with heavy moisture content around freezing temps can be the worst. Yesterday by Lethbridge a number of semis where blown off the road and overturned in the ditch by the big wing gusts, almost all were long van trailers.

Well, I got busy the past few days and couldn't find much computer time. I hate it when that happens. Too much internet privation and I start getting the DT's. Anyway, I've been looking for a place to jump back in here.

I see where you guys have been swapping some snow stories and I can't really compete with that. Here in the Palouse the weatherman seems to follow the idea of "everything in moderation". That isn't to say we don't get our severe weather "spikes", but nothing lasts too long and we are accustomed to getting several "winters" per season. Passing storms are almost inevitably followed by chinook winds, milder temps, then sooner or later it all starts over again. We did, nevertheless, experience the windstorm you mentioned last Friday. Not too much damage here locally, but power was off overnight in many places. Coast apparently got hit pretty bad. Generally our moisture comes in from the coast and the cold air comes in from the north. I have heard a meteorologist say that the Palouse and Idaho panhandle are the point where three different weather systems tend to converge, so the outcome here is always somewhat of a crap shoot.

Anyway, I have been scrounging through my picture files to find something interesting and I've come up with the ones below. I understand that the Coffee Shop tolerates "off color" stories, (about other than red iron) so will present these here.

Around the 1930's several brothers here were looking to upgrade their farm power, possibly from horses, so they arranged the demonstration of this Caterpillar 60 on their farm. A bit before my time, but a relative told me the story. I guess they liked the idea of a crawler, but ended up buying a Cat 30 instead. So now, many years later, several of their grandchildren have rescued the old 30 from a weedpatch back of the barn, cleaned and painted it up and made it into a monument in front of their house. Parts were missing and rainwater had long since found it's way into the engine, so a conversation piece is mostly what it had become. But they are proud of it's significance in their past and wanted to preserve it. The seat had long since disappeared so they made one out of wood, using old pictures as a guide.

I have more Cat 60 pictures about another machine that my dad and uncle both owned at different times, but will try to post them later. Also of the Cat 30 "Monument".

OK. Managed to get the Cat 30 inserted in here.

[Dr. Ernie]

Palouse, Nice pictures, I have always wondered what it would be like to farm some interesting ground as out flat ground does get boaring.

Nice story of the Cat 30, it is too bad it has been outback all of these years, as they do make nice pieces. One more thing on the Crawler side, we DO tolerate, even welcome, if perient to the topic which varies greataly, other colores, and many other things as well...

[Wes]

Anyway, I have been scrounging through my picture files to find something interesting and I've come up with the ones below. I understand that the Coffee Shop tolerates "off color" stories, (about other than red iron) so will present these here.

Around the 1930's several brothers here were looking to upgrade their farm power, possibly from horses, so they arranged the demonstration of this Caterpillar 60 on their farm. A bit before my time, but a relative told me the story. I guess they liked the idea of a crawler, but ended up buying a Cat 30 instead. So now, many years later, several of their grandchildren have rescued the old 30 from a weedpatch back of the barn, cleaned and painted it up and made it into a monument in front of their house. Parts were missing and rainwater had long since found it's way into the engine, so a conversation piece is mostly what it had become. But they are proud of it's significance in their past and wanted to preserve it. The seat had long since disappeared so they made one out of wood, using old pictures as a guide.

I have more Cat 60 pictures about another machine that my dad and uncle both owned at different times, but will try to post them later. Also of the Cat 30 "Monument".

OK. Managed to get the Cat 30 inserted in here.

[/quote

PALOUSE could these pictures be of the same cat 30

[PALOUSE]

Anyway, I have been scrounging through my picture files to find something interesting and I've come up with the ones below. I understand that the Coffee Shop tolerates "off color" stories, (about other than red iron) so will present these here.

Around the 1930's several brothers here were looking to upgrade their farm power, possibly from horses, so they arranged the demonstration of this Caterpillar 60 on their farm. A bit before my time, but a relative told me the story. I guess they liked the idea of a crawler, but ended up buying a Cat 30 instead. So now, many years later, several of their grandchildren have rescued the old 30 from a weedpatch back of the barn, cleaned and painted it up and made it into a monument in front of their house. Parts were missing and rainwater had long since found it's way into the engine, so a conversation piece is mostly what it had become. But they are proud of it's significance in their past and wanted to preserve it. The seat had long since disappeared so they made one out of wood, using old pictures as a guide.

I have more Cat 60 pictures about another machine that my dad and uncle both owned at different times, but will try to post them later. Also of the Cat 30 "Monument".

OK. Managed to get the Cat 30 inserted in here.

[/quote

PALOUSE could these pictures be of the same cat 30

I don't think so. For one thing the grousers on yours appear to be wider and different. And I don't recognize any of the surroundings in your photos. Yours looks to be in better condition.

I've got some pictures of the Cat 60 that my dad owned wy back when, then sold it to my uncle. They're both gone now but my cousins like that old 60 and have it tucked away in their barn. I'm sure it would run with some work, it was when they originally put it away, but both of them are having health problems and are hoping that their kids will pick up on that project some day. Everybody is too busy right now.

[Dr. Ernie]

I would love to pick up the project, that is a nice looking 60, it looks like a fairly easy restoration.

[Old Binder Guy]

Palouse,

You & Loadstar have had some good stuff going here. It is interesting to see all of the historical farm equipment, IHC or not. I've been trying to finish up Christmas stuff, as we go to Helena to our son's (and grandkids next week) plus I've got a sick wife and have to go to work tomorrow morning at 0-dark:30. Thanks for carrying the ball and I hear what you say about internet withdrawls. Between this and my time on SmokStak, I go nuts if I can't at least check stuff.

I will try to put some more IH stuff on here, but since I started with Carl Mehmke and Caterpillar, I thought I'd post some of his best friend, before he passed away. The late Max Tyler put together a heck of a (50-60 crawlers) Caterpillar, Cletrac, Monarch, Allis-Chalmers, Fordson Trackson, etc. collection, but no TracTracTors. He didn't like them, from the days when he was in the CCCs. Max's collection is about a mile south of Eddie's Corner in the Judith Basin. Worth seeing, if you ever pass through that way. I think I may have been about 11 years old the first time I stayed over night at Tylers, as Mike, his oldest son, was (and is) one of my best friends in life.

Gary

[Loadstar]

Palouse and OBG , you have some great old crawler pics. I don't have much to compare in that line except for this old one from the early 1950s when my Uncle was a municipal councillor. I believe this is him standing beside the crawler tractor (which I think is an IH) at the time they were doing some road construction. That grader/maintainer they were pulling had the hydraulic system powered by a Wisconsin engine according to the info that I have. So it required a man riding it to operate the hydraulics.

[kjohn]

Loadstar: Good pics of the old roadbuilding outfit. Nice set of dual straight pipes on the old crawler. No wonder the old guys all have to be yelled at!

[PALOUSE]

Palouse,

You & Loadstar have had some good stuff going here. It is interesting to see all of the historical farm equipment, IHC or not. I've been trying to finish up Christmas stuff, as we go to Helena to our son's (and grandkids next week) plus I've got a sick wife and have to go to work tomorrow morning at 0-dark:30. Thanks for carrying the ball and I hear what you say about internet withdrawls. Between this and my time on SmokStak, I go nuts if I can't at least check stuff.

I will try to put some more IH stuff on here, but since I started with Carl Mehmke and Caterpillar, I thought I'd post some of his best friend, before he passed away. The late Max Tyler put together a heck of a (50-60 crawlers) Caterpillar, Cletrac, Monarch, Allis-Chalmers, Fordson Trackson, etc. collection, but no TracTracTors. He didn't like them, from the days when he was in the CCCs. Max's collection is about a mile south of Eddie's Corner in the Judith Basin. Worth seeing, if you ever pass through that way. I think I may have been about 11 years old the first time I stayed over night at Tylers, as Mike, his oldest son, was (and is) one of my best friends in life.

Gary

Thought I'd post these yet today since I only have so much space per post.

Until we got better at cutting and welding around here many of the earlier tractor cabs were wooden. They worked good enough but usually got pretty snakey and rattled a lot after the first season from all that vibration crawlers are know for. We didn't care, anything to get out of the wind. When the weather warmed up we simply took them off. They only bolted on with a handful of 3/8 bolts through the track fenders.

This one was actually built to fit a TD-40 but I managed to make it fit the TD-9. You can see the cutout for the high forward diesel tank of the 40's. I just filled that in with a piece of plywood. I got this one from my uncle for $10. He had had it built for him years earlier and never did like it. So he never used it and ten years later it was still in mint condition. Eventually I built a steel cab for this cat.

[john r]

Sorry I have no pictures of it;the 1973/74 winter you mentioned the roads here got so deep muncipality bought a V plow for a sp buggy and loaded maybe 10 yard of gravel for wieght. We had a farmer another 15 miles up the road had a heart attack feeding cattle in a blizzard at night so they sent the uke and ambulence to get him but it was too late.That big v plow made 6ft high ridges going in that filled in level:pushed them up a lot higher coming back. It took a D7 running around the clock about a week to reopen the road

[Old Binder Guy]

Palouse,

A bunch more interesting photos... Again! Thanks so much for your contributions. I'm really enjoying the rest of you "taking the ball and running with it." I am going to place a few more of the pictures Hardtail placed in the construction thread of mine, earlier.

Loadstar,

Thanks for posting those old TD-18 photos. My heart always does a little "skip" when I see two exhaust pipes like those. They are fantastic. I remember back to when I last worked at Bourke Motor & Implement in Lewistown, Montana. We had a TD-18 in there from the Horse Ranch, which I don't think had 200 hours on it. Someone there was working on a reservoir repair and smoked the rear head. They hauled it in and put on a welded head. That didn't last, so they brought it back and placed a new head. It had an unusual dozer arrengement, with a winch on the rear and cables running through pulleys and tubes. I guess my point is, that thing was as close to new as I'd seen in the 1970s.

kjohn,

Yell a little louder, like my wife does. What.....? Huh....?

The TD-18A photos I'm placing here are also near and dear to my heart. The first one is the one of my wife sticking my IH A-160 truck in mud, during harvest, and my pulling it out with the TD-18A. I worked a long time with getting the chains so I didn't tear the rear end out of the truck, right off of the springs and off of the frame, as the old '18 would have done that pretty easily. The second picture is of my uncle Audie on our earliest 1933 TD-40, me on my TD-18A and my cousin Fred on his TD-40. Fred's is the one I now own, in earlier posts. This third picture doesn't even look related to IH or TracTracTors. It was a train wreck at Sipple, Montana in the spring of 1956. Notice the steam locomotive lying on its side in the rear left center. I remember scalded handprints on the boiler headsheet, where the engineer and fireman died in the wreck. I borrowed my brother's Brownie Hawkeye to take the picture. The connection? The late Gordon W. Borcherding had "my" TD-18A, the late Max Tyler had his D-7, and the late Dale K. Best had his HD-10 there to move scrap iron for the old Milwaukee Railroad, so they could get the mainline going again. I fell in love with Gordon's TD-18A and little did I know that in about 7 or 8 years, I'd own it!

Gary

[Loadstar]

Loadstar,

Thanks for posting those old TD-18 photos. My heart always does a little "skip" when I see two exhaust pipes like those. They are fantastic.

The second picture is of my uncle Audie on our earliest 1933 TD-40, me on my TD-18A and my cousin Fred on his TD-40.

Thanks for identifying the TD 18 guys. I was never sure just what to call this one but now I can label it. What was the deal with the twin pipes? I don't know much about the power plant on these, was it something other than IH?

Wow, fingers are still stiff. I've been out snowblowing at -8F this morning for an hour.

[PALOUSE]

Palouse,

A bunch more interesting photos... Again! Thanks so much for your contributions. I'm really enjoying the rest of you "taking the ball and running with it." I am going to place a few more of the pictures Hardtail placed in the construction thread of mine, earlier.

Loadstar,

Thanks for posting those old TD-18 photos. My heart always does a little "skip" when I see two exhaust pipes like those. They are fantastic. I remember back to when I last worked at Bourke Motor & Implement in Lewistown, Montana. We had a TD-18 in there from the Horse Ranch, which I don't think had 200 hours on it. Someone there was working on a reservoir repair and smoked the rear head. They hauled it in and put on a welded head. That didn't last, so they brought it back and placed a new head. It had an unusual dozer arrengement, with a winch on the rear and cables running through pulleys and tubes. I guess my point is, that thing was as close to new as I'd seen in the 1970s.

kjohn,

Yell a little louder, like my wife does. What.....? Huh....?

The TD-18A photos I'm placing here are also near and dear to my heart. The first one is the one of my wife sticking my IH A-160 truck in mud, during harvest, and my pulling it out with the TD-18A. I worked a long time with getting the chains so I didn't tear the rear end out of the truck, right off of the springs and off of the frame, as the old '18 would have done that pretty easily. The second picture is of my uncle Audie on our earliest 1933 TD-40, me on my TD-18A and my cousin Fred on his TD-40. Fred's is the one I now own, in earlier posts. This third picture doesn't even look related to IH or TracTracTors. It was a train wreck at Sipple, Montana in the spring of 1956. Notice the steam locomotive lying on its side in the rear left center. I remember scalded handprints on the boiler headsheet, where the engineer and fireman died in the wreck. I borrowed my brother's Brownie Hawkeye to take the picture. The connection? The late Gordon W. Borcherding had "my" TD-18A, the late Max Tyler had his D-7, and the late Dale K. Best had his HD-10 there to move scrap iron for the old Milwaukee Railroad, so they could get the mainline going again. I fell in love with Gordon's TD-18A and little did I know that in about 7 or 8 years, I'd own it!

Gary

OBG...I stuck a truck like that once, loaded to the gills with 18,000 lbs of seed peas. Had a little wet spot to cross in order to get where I wanted to go, maybe 30 feet in diameter. Got the dumb idea that if I just rushed across it it wouldn't matter. DUMB IDEA! Right rear duals sank like a rock, set the bed right at ground level. Front wheels made it though, were up on firm ground. Like you I took my time about pulling it out of there with my TD-40. A fertilizer dealer who had a lot of experience with this sort of thing told me to get a good hold of the frame in front and carefully pull it ahead, since the front wheels were already up and there was firm ground there. His advice was don't try to pull it back through the mud. It worked, as the stuck axle found firm ground it came up smoothly. He said they don't pull apart that easily, especially in soft ground.

Pic of that truck below. It was one of my favorite possessions, a '65 1600 with 304 and 4+2 speed. I sold it in 1984 with only 32,000 mi on it. Had heavy St. Paul hoist and auxillary hydraulics piped to rear.