889 San Antonio Crk. Road Santa Barbara, California 93111
This 1928 Cletrac Model K crawler tractor, serial #5804, was
restored by me and my son Richard. I wanted to restore a Cletrac,
because my father used this very model on our ranch when I was a
kid.
We found the Cletrac on a ranch north of ours, made a deal with
the owner, and came home with it one day about two years ago.
Everything seemed to be there under all of the rust.
As I have said, this tractor has a lot of sentimental value. One
like it was used on our ranch in Goleta, California, by my father
(Richard’s grandfather). The pleasure of restoring this tractor
with my son, to see it on the ranch again, was a great
experience.
We disassembled the entire tractor and went through the whole
process. It took the usual labor, hard work and an incredible
amount of time. We finished two years later.
The Cletrac is one of the smallest, most compact trac-laying
models of its generation. We brought our Cletrac back to life,
restored it for its sentimental value, and we are pleased beyond
explanation.
Richard drove the Cletrac in our ‘Valley Days Parade’.
It was a real crowd pleaser on its first outing, and made us very
proud. We wanted to share our story with you.
