After a family Plow Days event a few years ago, Dean Holthaus says he and his cousins wondered aloud, over a few adult beverages, why Farmall didn’t build a tractor with a cab like the Minneapolis Moline Comfortractor.

“That got me to thinking about the old truck cab I had at my shop, and maybe I could mount it on my Super M,” Holthaus says. Soon those thoughts turned to action.

Over the winter, Holthaus used his skills as an auto mechanic and body repair specialist to fit an International KB-7 truck cab onto his Super M. He custom-formed and fitted the cab, then painted it a glistening Farmall red. The finished product looked factory-made.

“Driving the tractor was a lot of fun, and the cab was really quiet except for some transmission noise,” Holthaus says. “I drove it around town, had it in a few parades, and made an appearance that fall at our family Plow Days. Everyone who saw it was smiling, taking pictures, and really excited.”

Like many clever, creative shop projects, this build has a story behind it. Holthaus acquired the stripped-down cab from a local body shop and describes how he reshaped it: “When I first set it on the tractor, it was too tall and just plain ugly. I stripped out the floor, cut 4 to 5 in. from each side, and cut away the back metal beneath the rear window. Next, I removed an 8-in. pie-shaped section from the roof, tapering it to the front.”

That created a more streamlined look, which he found acceptable.

To stabilize the rear opening, he built a channel-iron frame and then fabricated a large sheet-metal door with hinges and a handle.

“That’s the only way in, using the drawbar as a step,” Holthaus says.

The front of the cab is neatly fitted around the gas tank and tractor frame. Round rod, formed to the opening and covered with rubber edging, created a smooth, finished look. Holthaus welded sheet metal to the corner panels to create a radius transition from the sides to the front, then added small windows so the driver could see the front wheels.

Holthaus thought the original cab was too tall, so he cut 4 to 6 in. of metal from both sides, giving it a slight backward tilt.

“That way, the driver has a clear view out the windshield and through the small windows to the front wheels,” Holthaus says.

He removed the front window from the original cab and created a new opening for the windshield glass. The door windows remain intact to provide ventilation. The steering wheel extends through the front of the cab, and the operator can easily reach the other tractor controls from the platform. He removed the springs from the original tractor seat to lower it and provide the operator with more headroom.

The cab’s base is reinforced with welded square tubing and covered with plywood inserts to provide a smooth floor. Six bolts secure the cab to the tractor and can be easily removed if the cab needs to be removed.

“Building and fitting the cab was very enjoyable,” Holthaus says. “I’m pleased it turned out very well. All that time I spent working with my dad when I was a kid, cleaning up old rusty tractors and helping him paint them to look like new, really paid off.”

With his project complete and local showings wrapped up, Holthaus decided to post photos of the tractor and cab on the Farmall Restorations and Repairs Facebook page. He had no idea how much interest it would spark.

Turns out the visuals created enough buzz to almost burn up his phone.

“Within a week, I had 1,200 messages. Everyone thought it was the coolest thing they’d seen and wanted to know how I built it,” Holthaus says. “I didn’t have the time or energy to respond to all those messages; however, I did want to sell it.” 

He contacted Mecum Auctions, but they no longer handled farm equipment, and another auction company wasn’t interested. He listed it on Facebook Marketplace and says, “It was unbelievable that within a week I had 20,000 views and 5,000 messages! After the second week, the views went to 60,000 and many more messages.”

Eventually, Holthaus sold the tractor to an auto dealership in North Dakota.

“A day after selling it, I received a call from Tractor House. They mentioned that my tractor and cab were creating ‘quite a buzz’ on the internet, and they wanted to sell it for me. All I could tell them is I sold it yesterday.”

Holthaus says he has no reservations about selling the tractor and cab and has no plans to build another.

“It was a fun project, and I still have another tractor for Plow Days and plenty of work at my auto shop.”

Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Dean Holthaus, Richmond, Minn. 56368 (DeanHolthaus@gmail.com).