Incomplete Collection

By Staff
Published on October 1, 2000

10990 Byron Court Woodstock, Illinois 60098

This is the first time that I have ever written an article to
GEM. I have enjoyed reading the stories of all my fellow
collectors and their ‘diamonds in the rough.’ This magazine
has led me to purchase many pieces of equipment, which are in my
collection today. My interest in tractors started when I was five
years old. My grandfather, Joseph Loucky, would take me to tractor
shows and talk about the days that had gone by.

The first piece of equipment that I bought was a Fairbanks-Morse
model Z hit and miss engine. I was only fourteen at the time but
worked very hard mowing lawns during the summer to save the money
to buy this engine. The shipping of it from Massachusetts to
Illinois cost the same as the purchase price of the engine. It is
hard to believe, but it has taken up to last summer to restore this
engine, and I am now twenty-three.

The second piece in my collection was a 1940 Farmall model B
tractor. This tractor came from Burton, Kansas, from a gentleman
named Shawn. He collected many different types of tractors and was
willing to help a young person get started in the hobby. Five
hundred dollars was all that I had at the time and what he was
willing to sell me the tractor for. This money also came from lawns
and repairing lawn mowers for the people who lived on my street.
The reason why I had to have a Farmall was because of an interest
my grandfather instilled in me. He used to use a Farmall Cub to
work a small parcel of property that he farmed with friends and
family members in Clarendon Hills, Illinois. I originally set out
to buy this Cub, but my mother’s uncle was not willing to sell
it at the time.

When I turned eighteen I bought the pride and joy of my
collection, a ? scale Advance-Rumely steam traction engine. This
engine came from Michigan and was on display at the Clyde Poll
Museum for many years. Unfortunately, due to health reasons, he was
willing to part with the engine, which was his father’s, for a
very reasonable price. It took more than a year of mowing lawns to
pay for this one, but it was well worth it.

The latest piece in my collection is a 1942 Farmall M tractor
which I purchased in my own hometown of Woodstock, Illinois, and
did not have a long ride to get it home. Through all these years I
worked with my grandfather on not only these pieces in the
collection, but many other small engines and tractors, often
hearing many stories of the old Farmall Cub in Clarendon Hills.
This brings me to the reason why I am writing my first story.
Perhaps later I will have enough courage to write a lengthy story
for each of the above machines, but this particular story I am
writing is to hopefully obtain the missing piece to the
collection.

The Farmall Cub that my grandfather spoke of so often was sold
by my mother’s uncle, Frank Holas, in 1995 to Jim Yurgil a few
houses down from the old farm in Clarendon Hills, Illinois. After a
lengthy restoration, including a serious rebuild of its
transmission, he sold this tractor with implements and a few pieces
of paperwork that originally came with it. My mother’s uncle
bought this tractor in 1947 at the local county fair. It was
purchased on the first day of the fair with the condition that it
would be shipped to his farm when the fair was over. As I
understood the story, a small walk-behind garden tractor was given
to the delivery man as part of the trade, along with money to
purchase the tractor. During its life in Clarendon Hills, it spent
many years plowing their fields, planting their corn, and
harvesting the fall crop. It also mowed several acres of grass with
a sickle bar that he had purchased with it. My grandfather used
this tractor very often to mow and work his father’s and the
other relatives’ land. He would also do repairs to it, such as
sharpening the teeth on the sickle bar. Unfortunately due to
urbanization, my relatives began to sell off their land and the Cub
was not used as often. Eventually this tractor sat for many years
until my mom’s uncle was convinced to sell it. Unfortunately it
was not to me. The only thing that I have to remember this tractor
by is a few photos and old 8-mm films, which my grandfather took
when they were using the tractor on the farm. I only saw this
tractor once in my lifetime and I was very little at the time. It
looked enormous to me as a small kid, and probably added to my
fondness of Farmall tractors. Unfortunately, last September my
grandfather passed away after a short battle with cancer. Shortly
before his death I often joked of hunting down the old Cub and
buying it, but all of my search efforts have led me to a dead end.
I am now turning towards my fellow collectors in any way, shape, or
form to help me to bring this tractor home to its original family.
After talking to Jim Yurgil, he believed that he sold it to someone
in Indiana around 1995 or 1996. He does not recall who the person
was and, unfortunately, I do not know the serial numbers from the
tractor. This tractor was originally equipped with a rear power
take-off, electric starter and lights. It had a manual implement
lift on it, which was pretty banged up, and its handle may still
show signs of being bent back into place by its restorer.

By writing this story, I am hoping that some reader out there in
Indiana may remember buying one or someone who bought a Farmall Cub
from Clarendon Hills, Illinois, a few years ago. I would greatly
appreciate if this person could contact me so I could visit or even
purchase my family’s Cub so it will no longer be a memory
anymore. I can be reached at home by phoning (815)-334-9044, or by
mail at the above address.

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