E6362 Highway 22, Manawa, Wisconsin 54949
In July of 1991, I was president of the Union Threshermens’
Club. That year we were featuring International tractors and
machinery during our annual show. Since I am all IH, the members
decided I should be in charge of it. I own a restored F-20, F-30,
H, a Cub Cadet, 1 horse M engine and a corn sheller. Over the
years, I have also sold three IH tractors. I said I would never buy
another one, because I had no one to drive them. I must have been
lying to myself.
On the last day of the show, a gentleman by the name of Dick
Werth came up to me and asked me if I liked International tractors.
I said that I did. I think I was teethed on the steering wheel of
an International I guess that’s why he asked me. He went on to
tell me that he had a tractor for me. I asked him what kind it was
he replied, ‘A 22 x 36 McCormick Deering.’
He lives only two miles from me, and the show, and wanted his
tractor to stay in the area. I asked him how much he wanted and
told him I would be out in a few days to look at it.
In a few days I did go out to look at it. Well, I was taken out
to a shed, and way in the back, she sat. I looked her over. Boy,
she needed a lot of work! The fenders were bad, the back wheels
were rusted away, the hood was bad, and the engine was tight. She
was a 1930 and had a gas manifold. I said I’d take her. I
always wanted a tractor like that.
I got her home that fall, but didn’t start working on her
until the fall of 1992. Right then I decided that she would be
running and done by July 1993.
That fall I got the fenders done. I had found two more that also
needed work. So, with the help of my son-in-law, Kevin, we made two
good fenders from the four bad ones. I also got the bad wheels
done. This was something I had never done before. First, I cut the
old rusty rim off and welded new ones on. Then I painted them and
put tires on, which were given to me by a friend.
I was working under the boxelder tree in the backyard. With the
weather getting cold, I put the fenders back on and removed a lot
of the parts which could be worked on in the garage during the
winter months. I cleaned up those parts and started on the
hood.
I ran an ad in the GEM. A gentleman called from Watertown. He
said he had a hood, but it wasn’t much. They are hard to find,
so one Saturday Kevin and I drove down there. Well, I came home
with it, but I still had to have one piece of the hood made by a
friend of mine.
The weather was warming up, so I went back to work outside. I
cleaned up the rest of the tractor and broke the engine loose.
I needed the help of another friend to get the valves ground. He
said I needed two valve guides, and one of the valve seats should
be replaced. So I started looking around for parts. I found a head
about 12 miles from me. I made a deal with that fine gentleman, and
we made one good head out of two.
Now I had the engine back together and new wires on. It was May.
I was ready to try and start it. I made a can to hook up to the
carburetor with some gas in it. Then I started cranking. I only
cranked about 10 times and she was running. This was one of the
happiest days of my life!
With that done, it was time to put everything back together and
paint her. Kevin and I took the finished tractor for a test drive.
We drove it back to Dick Werth’s house. Boy, was he ever happy
to see her running again.
Well you see what a person can do with the help of a lot of good
friends. This tractor can be seen at the Union Thresheree in Symco,
Wisconsin, held each year the last full weekend of July.