Old Tractors

Kevin Coolidge


I find myself on a back road, late at night, with a flat tire. It’s not snowing heavy—well, not yet--but there are flurries dancing in the beam of my headlights. Okay, headlight--I still haven’t fixed the passenger side headlight after I hit that deer. I take the flat off. I hate having to do anything with my car. I am male and so I am obliged to pretend I know something about cars. I mean, if there is steam coming out from under my hood, I will open the hood and stare at the engine just like I am diagnosing the problem. All the time, I am hoping someone will stop by and help, or at least offer me a shotgun so I may put the car out of my misery, but hey, I can handle a flat…

I believe that’s why I find the tractor books by Roger Welsch so appealing. The first rule of writing is to write what you know. If you write all you know, and you don’t learn anything new, then what is there to write about? Welsch is a retired college professor from Nebraska who was about as mechanical as myself. He had never even changed the oil in his car. He still doesn’t, and so what could be more natural than writing a book about how to get rusted piece of iron running again?

Old Tractors and the Men Who Love Them is about rebuilding a 1937 Allis Chalmers WC tractor. Welsch is a folklorist and humorist who has appeared on the CBS News Sunday Morning program with a segment called “Postcards from Nebraska”. There’s lot old Rog doesn’t know, and he’s the first to admit it. “Okay, so I don’t know many of the answers,” explains Roger. “Thing is, most books like this are written by experts who have forgotten the kinds of problems beginners like me run into.” He may not have all the answers, but he knows all the questions.

So, why restore an old tractor? Well, for one reason everything is right there. You don’t even have to lean over to reach the oil filter. It’s at waist level, right where any sensible person would expect it to be. An Allis WC has exactly four wires, one to each spark plug, which sits right out in plain sight. You don’t need a lot of tools to work on them. It was understood by the manufacturer that these tractors were going to be worked on by a farmer without a lot of time and who owned a couple of wrenches, a screwdriver with a broken tip, and a hammer.

Sometimes, it is just as important to know what not to do, and Roger gives many examples of his mistakes. For example, you should never eat peanuts in the shop. Anyone who has ever had red squirrels in their attic can identify with the why. These little pests will stash peanuts in transmissions, valve covers, rag boxes, and everywhere else they can squirm.

There’s some good solid advice for a mechanical novice. Welsch covers the basics like the shop, tools, safety equipment, and resources. He does all this with a quirky sense of humor, observations on life, and how to manage to stay married while dragging home yet another pile of orange rust. He makes tractor-restoring sound therapeutic and fun and heck, I feel like even I could do it. If you enjoy this book, be sure to check out his follow-up, Busted Tractors and Rusty Knuckles. Thing is, learning is a process. Hmm, maybe instead writing what I know, I’ll write about what I want to know…


Lefty loosey or righty tighty? Old tractors or classic cars? Drop me an email at frommyshelf@epix.net. Miss a column? Catch up at www.frommyshelf.blogspot.com Find out why Hobo left the farm in “Hobo Finds A Home.” Does not contain any Allis Chalmers tractors because Farmer Brown rides a John Deere. Be sure to catch Hobo on 60 Minutes interviewed by Andy Rooney.