A Brockway Farm Tractor?

I have been collecting antique tractors for about ten years now and up until I took this photo I never new the Brockway Company made farm tractors. The company which is well-known among antique truck collectors due to the fact that it was a truck company from 1909-1977. The Brockway Motor Company made very few farm tractors in the early 1950's making this a very rare find for me in Brooklyn, CT.

A Step Back in Time

Most antique tractor collectors tend to love history. I know that I certainly love American industrial history from the early 1900's to the 1960s. Pioneering something as simplistic and genius as the "lift-all" and "culti-vision" was a major success for the International Harvester Company. With one easy lever, a farming could lift all cultivators without using hydraulics and he could see where he is going. This ad was feature in the February 1940 edition of Farmer Journal. 

An American Tradition

Every Fourth of July I like to parade the tractors around with American Flags all over them...American fun at its finest. Pictured is my 1945 Farmall A beside my barn and grapevines. Something about those stars and stripes looks good on an antique tractor.

Washington County Fair

One of my favorite local events in the summer is the Washington County Fair here in southern Rhode Island. I snapped this photo over by the tractor/truck pull ring where many local collectors had their tractors up on display! Sometimes its good to take a break from buying and working on tractors to just admire the antiquity and simplicity in them at shows like this.

Another Great Buy

Just last summer I made a short trip up to Blackstone, Massachusetts to check out a Ford Model T dump trailer I had found on Craigslist.org. I instantly fell in love with the nearly 100 year old piece of equipment and for the price of $100 I just had to drag it home with me. After about a month I turned the 100 years of rust into a fully functioning dump trailer with custom lettering. The dump trailer has wooden spoke wheels along with solid rubber tires! Not something you see everyday..especially for $100.

Lawn Ornament

I'll reluctantly admit that not all of my antique tractors are in running order. My 1941 Allis Chalmers C only cost me $250 but sadly the engine is seized and I drag her up to the front yard for a Halloween Decoration for now. Perhaps one day this tractor will be in my restored collection!

Best Purchase

Nothing makes me feel as good as when I buy an antique tractor for a fair price. In the condition I bought this tractor in, it was worth far more than what I paid. It needed minimal things such as paint and gaskets, as well as a radiator weld. After investing a few months of work (during my free time) I managed to get my 1940 Farmall H to look like this for a total cost under one-thousand dollars. You jealous?

A Beautiful Fall Day

There was nothing subtle about the way Autumn fell upon us here in New England. One day I was wearing shorts and changing gaskets in my 1945 Farmall A and the next day I was wearing a jacket and using the John Deere to clean up all these leaves!

Scene From a Bike Ride

As a landscaper, I'm a lover of beautiful scenery such as this. About two months ago I went for a 12 mile bike ride after work and I came across this scenic sight about a mile from my house. I often see scenery such as this near my house but since I was on a bike this time I decided to stop and take some photos.  As I gazed into the hay field I felt like I was somewhere far away, somewhere serene, regardless to the fact that I was on the side of a main (sort of) road. This behemoth is a mid 1960s International 656 Hydro with a John Deere hay mower behind it. Not the  type of tractor I collect but  I figured if I enjoyed this view then so would someone else.

A Bit of Art

Other than collecting antique tractors, I absolutely love drawing. I drew this piece about one year ago in my dorm room when I had some free time. I had nothing to look at while drawing this, it was a bit of a freestyle drawing. I am not entirely sure what model John Deere tractor it is that I drew but it is definitely early 1930's, judging by the body style. While I may not have ever been properly trained how to draw, I'd say this was one of my most successful drawings using only pen and colored pencil. Surprisingly, I do not own an antique John Deere tractor. I don't know how the market is in the rest of the country, but in New England John Deere's are far too expensive for my liking. For now I'll stick to collecting my International Harvesters and Allis Chalmers.

It's All About Timing

Sometimes when you've got an engine apart you've got to take a minute to stop what you're doing and take a photo. Here we see the timing gears at the front end of a Ford Model 8n engine.There's something photogenic about these heavy steel gears with precision angled teeth. Timing gears have since been outdated and mostly replaced by timing belts. Nevertheless, these gears will be performing their duty for a long time to come.

My First Restoration Project

My father and his family came to the United States from Italy in 1970. Just like all other Italian immigrants, they lived in the city in a predominantly Italian neighborhood. Of course they liked the hustle and bustle of the city, however my father often missed the farms and fresh country air of his home village of Pietravairano. This desire to be out in the country stayed with my father to this day. When he  married my mother,  they purchased a lovely house away from the city and and raised three kids there. Ever since I was a small child I loved being on and around farms as often as I could. My love for history is also just like my father's so we collect antiques together. In the summer of 2009 we purchased the tractor pictured above. It is a 1944 International Harvester Industrial Model A. By 2009 I had been to dozens of county fairs and tractor shows/pulls yet I had never seen an International Harvester tractor that wasn't dressed in the infamous IH Red paint. The tractor grasped our attention instantly. We made the purchase and proceeded to haul the tractor behind us, smell of diesel exhaust in the air, for about 70 miles. Little did I know, but the next three years of my life would be spent working on this old beast for hours on end with my father and brother. Today, this tractor is still the only one of its kind I have ever seen at the nearby tractor shows. According to other collectors I have spoken to, this tractor is worth a pretty penny due to its condition and its rarity... Too bad I'll never sell it.