On the Road Again

By Staff
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12143 SE 147th, Portland, OR 97236

It was 9:00 a.m. Sunday morning when Charlie called to let us
know that Craig could bring the trailer over that afternoon and
pick up ‘that thing’ out in back of Charlie’s barn.
After church we hooked up the tandem wheel trailer and proceeded
over to Charlie’s house some three miles from our place.

Charlie Vander Zanden is a throw back to the old time automobile
mechanic with a barn and garage full of unusual pieces and
equipment. When we arrived he was working on a 1935 International
Cat, overhauling the engine. After visiting awhile and showing us
around, Charlie took Craig and me out back to look at this thing
sitting in the weeds and bushes. Charlie said he rescued it just
before two guys hauled it off for scrap metal some thirty years
ago. He had always planned to get it running but somehow never
quite found the time to finish the job.

He liked my fifteen-year-old’s interest in old engines and
wanted Craig to take the project over. So Craig dug out his fifty
dollars and the exchange was made. After some discussion and
planning we finally backed the trailer up to this piece and put the
winch on it for loading. A few grunts and groans from Charlie and
Craig and we saw it safely fastened down for its first movement in
some thirty years.

After getting it home, unloaded, cleaned, and examined, we were
unable to find identifying marks or lettering. Since then we have
shown it to several collectors and even took it to Brooks, our
local gas engine show, where an old timer did give us a piece of
information. ‘You need a big garden to turn it around,’ he
said as he stood grinning in the hot sunshine.

Craig is looking for any information that readers can provide.
He thinks it is powered by an Ideal engine, air cooled. We found a
picture at the bottom of page 214 in the Encyclopedia of
American Farm Tractors
by C. H. Wendel, that looks like
ours.

The length is 9 feet; the width is 4 feet 6 inches. It is
powered by the front wheels which are taken in and out of gear for
steering by levers on each handle. The single flywheel is 18 inches
in diameter, solid and must weigh some 200 pounds. The tractor has
a 6-inch plow underneath.

Craig and I would appreciate hearing from anyone who can help us
identify this unusual piece and the type of engine. We have started
restoration. Suggestions and assistance would be greatly
appreciated so we can get it ‘on the road again.’

  • Published on Nov 1, 1982
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