117 N. Second Street Waterford, Wisconsin 53185
I’ve been a subscriber of the Gas Engine Magazine for quite
a few years. I really enjoy each issue and read them over and over
again. I’m also a charter member of the S. E. Wisconsin Antique
Power & Collectibles Society. Here are some pictures of the TD
6 that I found a miles from home.
It is the crawler that I remember being used to farm a marsh
when I was a young fellow. Now that I have become interested in
collecting rust, dust and old stuff, I began to remember this
crawler and thought it was something I had to have for my
collection.
As it turned out, it was rather a complicated procedure to get
this TD 6. When I contacted the elderly owner she was just in the
process of wanting the barns, sheds, and orchard cleared of the old
iron. So I agreed to this task. Nothing but nothing had been
touched in 31 years. My son Steve and I, along with grandson Jacob,
tackled the job. It was a lot of hard work, but also interesting
and rewarding.
When we finally got to the shed where my prize TD 6 rested for
31 years, to our surprise we found the engine was not stuck. So we
belted up another tractor to the belt pulley and spun it. We turned
it over for about 15 minutes, and believe it or not, it started
without changing the fuel or anything. Within an hour, my sons
Steve and Dave, and grandson Jacob, were taking turns rambling
around the farm having a blast.
There weren’t any real major repairs that had to be done to
the mechanical parts, but you can see by the pictures it needed a
lot of exterior work. It has been a real eye catcher. Our club show
last September was the first I took it to. I put the white oak
blocks on the tracks so it was ready for a few parades.
Oh, by the way, I just retired, so I changed the name of my shop
to Pat’s Old Engine Shed. Where I plan to spend a good share of
my time.
