HCR 1, Box 29A Douglas, North Dakota 58735
Early in 1986, my brother-in-law, Gilbert Swenson, called me
from Redding, California, about a 1923 Fordson for sale.
‘It’s in pieces,’ he said, ‘but a real good
buy.’
So my wife and I went to California to look; we liked it, bought
it and rented a U-Haul trailer. We loaded the pieces and pulled it
behind our motor-home back to Douglas, North Dakota.
And now the fun began! Some of the parts on the tractor were
missing, so I bought another Fordson with a stuck engine for parts
from a neighbor. I was able to get some bearings and gears from a
place in Escanaba, Michigan. I changed the ignition system. I did
away with the magnets on the flywheel and the spark coils. I
obtained a bracket and drive assembly with a magneto which drives
off the camshaft. A one blade disc plow made in Columbus, Georgia,
came with the tractor which I restored.
As one can see by the picture, the restoration was hard work,
but the result is my pride and joy. However, my wife says I cut up
the yard too much driving around with the lugs.