Rebuild "Rush Job" Pleased 100-Year-Old Dad
Not many tractor restorations get done in 40 days. But that's the deadline Harry Hutchins faced with his dad's 100th birthday coming up August 11, 2008. Hutchins recalled that spring that the 1945 WC Allis Chalmers his dad bought new 63 years earlier was sitting in a pasture rusting away. He and a good friend, Bill Gardner, decided to restore it as a birthday present.
"They dragged it out of the brush on May 20, and on June 29 they were able to start working on it," recalls Hutchins' wife Dorothy. "They had 40 days to turn that rust bucket into the gift of a lifetime."
The two got busy searching the internet and antique tractor magazines for parts. Another friend, Richard Grzegorowicz, rebuilt the motor, and a mechanic pal and neighbor, Dale Bishop, helped out.
The only part they couldn't locate was a pulley for the pto. It was needed to run the mounted mower, which they also restored.
"Bill and I put in about 700 hours cleaning up the frame and parts, and then Bill painted them all," says Hutchins. "But it was worth every second to see Dad's face light up. He just kept saying, æIt's unbelievableà just unbelievable.' "
The best part may have been helping his dad take the WC for a drive. "I told him we would do it in reverse of when I was a kid," explains Hutchins. "He was in the seat, and I reached around and put it in gear, let the clutch out, moved the throttle half way up, and he drove it down the road."
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Harry Hutchins, Quechee Hartland Rd., Hartland, Vt. 05048 (ph 802 436-3177; Dothutchvt@aol.com).
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Rebuild "Rush Job" Pleased 100-Year-Old Dad TRACTORS Antiques 33-6-2 Not many tractor restorations get done in 40 days. But that's the deadline Harry Hutchins faced with his dad's 100th birthday coming up August 11, 2008. Hutchins recalled that spring that the 1945 WC Allis Chalmers his dad bought new 63 years earlier was sitting in a pasture rusting away. He and a good friend, Bill Gardner, decided to restore it as a birthday present.
"They dragged it out of the brush on May 20, and on June 29 they were able to start working on it," recalls Hutchins' wife Dorothy. "They had 40 days to turn that rust bucket into the gift of a lifetime."
The two got busy searching the internet and antique tractor magazines for parts. Another friend, Richard Grzegorowicz, rebuilt the motor, and a mechanic pal and neighbor, Dale Bishop, helped out.
The only part they couldn't locate was a pulley for the pto. It was needed to run the mounted mower, which they also restored.
"Bill and I put in about 700 hours cleaning up the frame and parts, and then Bill painted them all," says Hutchins. "But it was worth every second to see Dad's face light up. He just kept saying, æIt's unbelievableà just unbelievable.' "
The best part may have been helping his dad take the WC for a drive. "I told him we would do it in reverse of when I was a kid," explains Hutchins. "He was in the seat, and I reached around and put it in gear, let the clutch out, moved the throttle half way up, and he drove it down the road."
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Harry Hutchins, Quechee Hartland Rd., Hartland, Vt. 05048 (ph 802 436-3177; Dothutchvt@aol.com).
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