By CINDY LADAGE
Wrenching Tales 

The future generation of agriculture was out in full force at this year’s Half Century of Progress Show. Held Aug. 27-30 in Rantoul, many FFA clubs from around central Illinois brought their antique tractors to this event. One of the groups was the Tuscola FFA. President Calvin Miller, member Trent Ponder and Secretary Logan Stenger were selling tickets for a 1955 John Deere 60 tractor.

Calvin said, "It came from our John Deere dealer in 1956. It was passed around and we got it in Monticello, Ill.

"We know the guy who was selling it, and we got a good deal."

The tractor came together with a bit of assistance from groups in the community. "It works really well," Trent added. "It has a new radiator. We went through it and the transmission. Dust and Sons donated the paint and Dale’s Diesel Services painted it for us. Titan Tires donated all four tires.

"We got it in November of 2014. We worked on it for five months, then debuted it at the Penfield Historic Days tractor show."

The Penfield show was in July, just a little over a month before the Half Century of Progress.

The drawing for the John Deere 60 will be Oct. 23 – anyone interested in buying a ticket can call Calvin at 217-317-9464.

The Charleston FFA was also at the Half Century show. Mitchell Starwalt, secretary of the club, said it was raffling off a 1959 460 Farmall. "We got it from Terry Funk of Sullivan," he said. "It was overhauled before we got it. We stripped it down to look it over and to see that all was good."

Harrison Hoene, club treasurer, added, "We had new hoses and gauges put on, along with new tires, rims and a new seat. We also had new sheet metal and redid the damaged front end."

Painting on the Farmall 460 was provided by Jay Romack of Paintn 2 Perfection of Neoga, Ill. "We got the tractor in the fall of 2014," Harrison explained. "We finished it up at the end of July. We are selling 2,500 tickets, then we will raffle it – then we will start on another!"

Anyone interested in purchasing tickets for the 460 Farmall should call Emily Perry at the school ag department, at 217-639-5000.

Finally, the Heyworth FFA group was offering a 1956 Ford 640.

Emily Corum, FFA chaplain, noted, "This tractor was used on a golf course before we bought it. They used it for retrieving balls."

"We worked on it for two years. We took it down to bare metal. The engine went to Joe Frederick, who runs a business for Fred Farms," Sentinel Trevor Brooks added. Agriculture teacher Jestun Nutter said the tractor was sand-blasted and was painted.

This raffle will finish with a giveaway date of Nov. 4. Anyone interested in tickets for the Ford 640 should call 217-473-2322. The money from the project is used for scholarships and the fund next year’s tractor, which is an 8N Ford.

For more details about the Half Century of Progress itself, check out its website at www.halfcenturyofprogress.com

Readers with questions or comments for Cindy Ladage may write to her in care of this publication.