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He Farms With Antique Equipment
Roy Noel farms with antique equipment many collectors would envy.
    “I bought my 1960’s 2-row, model 40 Deere combine used in 1982 and have harvested with it ever since,” says Noel, who recently turned 78.
    The old combine harvests corn planted with a model 50 Deere tractor and a 2-row model 290 Deere corn planter built in the 1950’s. He still cultivates with a 2-row cultivator on the 50. All of it was bought when Noel and his wife Ruthann bought their 102-acre farm in 1970.
    At the same time, they also bought a sickle mower and loader for the 50 John Deere, a 1958 model 330 International, and a Case one-row corn picker built in 1945. All of it remains under roof, has its original paint and is ready to go. If his “newer” combine ever fails him, he can turn to the Case.
    “It still runs, though I haven’t used it since I bought the 40,” says Noel. “I did put some new gears on the shucking rolls and replaced a couple of sprockets, chains and belts over the years.”
    The model 40 has required some work as well. Noel has replaced the paddles that feed corn back from the snapping rolls and a driveshaft for the pulley that runs the separator. He notes that finding parts is getting more difficult.
    “I had to make some brass bushings for it,” says Noel.
    Careful maintenance combined with keeping all his equipment under roof has contributed to its longevity. Much of it is stored under or in Noel’s picture-perfect barn built in 1923. He feels working older equipment still has value. For example, the planter is equipped with a three-speed transmission for planting different populations.
    “Hybrids are bred to be planted at higher populations, so the last few years I’ve been planting around 30,000 kernels per acre,” says Noel. “The old combine handles the higher populations well, though it can bog down, and I have to stop to let it clean out.”
    He’s quick to add that like all of his well cared for equipment, “it still does a good job.”
    Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Roy H. Noel, 14 Dutch Run Rd., Piketon, Ohio 45661 (ph 740 289-2851).


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2013 - Volume #37, Issue #4