Rt. 1, Box 124, Lake Beaton, Minnesota 56149
Being active farmers and collectors of Farmall and McCormick
tractors, my sons and I wanted to collect and restore a Farmall
diesel tractor from the 1940’s and 1950’s. These tractors
are getting hard to find.
We knew of a Super MD that was sitting in a slough about four
miles east of us. The farmer who owned it was a friend of mine. I
persuaded him to sell it to us for $250.00. The tractor hadn’t
been run since 1973 when it was last used on a mounted corn picker.
During those 15 years of sitting in that low area, the farmer had
taken numerous parts off it to use on another M tractor he had. So
the wheels and drawbar, lights, etc. were missing. The engine was
full of water all the way to the top of the exposed exhaust pipe.
We tore the engine down. The pistons were stuck tight. We had to
finally drill a hole in the top of each piston and tap 1′
threads into them and pull the pistons and sleeves all in one
piece.
We put in new IHC pistons and sleeves and bearings, new valves
and seats. We had the radiator cooked out. The tractor ran good, so
we took it out to the wheat stubble and plowed all one afternoon,
pulling a 3/16′ plow. It handled the plow very well and used
very little fuel.
The following weekend we took it to a local antique tractor
pull. The tractor got first place in the 5500 lb. class and second
place in the 6500 lb. class. So it is a very powerful tractor for
its age, especially when you consider that it pulled against
tractors that were souped up, rebored, etc.
We finished the restoration last winter by rebuilding the entire
steering sector with new bushings and bearings and rebuilding the
steering shafts and bolster shaft. Then a fresh paint job made it
look like it did in 1952. We are proud to have this tractor in our
Farmall collection!
