Restored Fordson tractor has MCC roots
Editor's note: This is the second in a series of articles highlight local involvement in the 2002 Kansas Mennonite Relief Sale.
By JENNIFER WILSON
News editor
On Monday, for the very first time, Jerry Toews' labor of love found its way into the sunlight.
For the past four months, Toews has spent countless hours in his Goessel shop, completely rebuilding the tractor that will soon travel to the 2002 Kansas Mennonite Relief Sale.
Monday, he revved up the engine and took it for a spin.
Not too bad for something that last December was completely in pieces.
The tractor Toews has restored is a rare 1918 Fordson, and it has special significance for the MCC sale, he said. That tractor model was part of a project that essentially marked the start of the Mennonite Central Committee.
The year was 1922, and many families in Russia were facing extremely difficult times as their country's government collapsed around them. With not enough food to go around, people were starving and in desperate need of help.
In response to that need, a group of Mennonites in America sent over 50 Fordson tractors and 50 two-bottom plows to aid the Russian Mennonites.
Two of the Russians grateful to receive a tractor were the parents of Newton resident George Dyck.
"It gave them hope," Toews said. They were able to plant more than 4,000 acres of wheat that first year.
Each year at the MCC sale, many restored cars and tractors are sold to collectors. And last year, Dyck decided that he'd try to find a Fordson to restore — the type of tractor his parents received almost 80 years ago.
And Toews was the man to restore it. Although he's a retired band instructor, he's always loved restoring old tractors, he said.
When they first came off the Ford assembly line in 1917, the Fordson tractors were a revolutionary new product, Toews said. Before that time, most tractors were massive machines that were difficult to repair and very expensive to buy. An average tractor might stand 20 feet tall and cost $3,000 to $5,000.
"They were just monstrous," he said.
Then along came the Fordson, which stood as tall as a man's chest and cost around $300. The Fordson destroyed the competition.
"He just put them out of business," Toews said.
To begin to restore a Fordson, Toews started from scratch by completely disassembling the tractor.
"I knew it would be a lot of work, but I like challenges," he said. "It needed absolutely everything."
Toews also utilized the help of other mechanically minded men from the area. Rod Abrahams constructed the wooden steering wheel, Sonny Bartel used his machine skills on the transmission bearings, Lowell Heinrichs worked on the gas tank, and Russell Abrahams worked on the valves. Orlando Voth also donated many of the parts, Toews said.
"I'm kind of particular," Toews said. "I didn't cut any corners."
More than 750,000 Fordson tractors were produced by the time the line was significantly altered in 1927. Since this tractor was made in 1918, that makes it all the more rare — it's hard to find the first year of a model, Toews said.
And to complete the setup, Toews has tracked down an Oliver two-bottom plow to attach to the back of the Fordson.
That's a story all its own.
Toews wrote an article for the 'Gas Engine Magazine' dealing with his restoration of the tractor — and he put out the call for a two-bottom plow. He got three responses: one from South Dakota, one from Minnesota, and one from the Pennsylvania/Ohio border.
To make a long story short, the plow arrives today.
"That's really thrilling," he said.
The tractor will be auctioned on Saturday, April 13, at 1:30 p.m.
