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Club Restores 70-Year-Old Combine
A 70-year-old combine that hadn't been moved for about 50 years but still had air in its tires was recently restored by the Boone County Antique Tractor and Machinery Club in New Ross, Ind.
Because it was well maintained and stored inside, the 1935 John Deere 5A combine was in very good condition when club membe
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Club Restores 70-Year-Old Combine AG WORLD 33-1-22 A 70-year-old combine that hadn't been moved for about 50 years but still had air in its tires was recently restored by the Boone County Antique Tractor and Machinery Club in New Ross, Ind.
Because it was well maintained and stored inside, the 1935 John Deere 5A combine was in very good condition when club members purchased it last spring. In September, they pulled the combine with a 1947 John Deere AR tractor to the delight of the crowd at the Farm World Expo in Lebanon, Ind.
"It's just amazing that it still runs so well," says Dan Tyler, who worked on the combine along with a dozen other club members. Few people knew the combine existed just three miles from Lebanon, and club members were pleased they could buy it from the heirs of the farmer who owned it.
After starting the combine, they discovered the head of the Lycoming 4-cylinder engine was cracked, so they had it fixed. Most of the work focused on cleaning up the combine and loosening parts. Among the few parts that needed replacing were tires, a pan under the auger, and a new canvas (which is being custom-made in Ohio).
The 12-ft. cutterbar comes off and rides on a cart behind the combine when it is being transported. There is a rotary weed seed cleaner on top of the hopper, and the combine was likely a quality one in its time, Tyler says. While mostly pulled with tractors, the combine was also used with horses.
"It's amazing that they figured out in the 20's and 30's how to make something like this," he adds, noting that the basic combine design remained the same until rotary combines came out in the 1970's.
Tyler stores the 14-ft. tall combine in one of his sheds, but the antique club plans to combine wheat with it this year and relive a piece of history.
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Boone County Antique Tractor and Machinery Club, John Hume, 11149 West 450 South, New Ross, Ind. 47968 (ph 765 918-2232, jchume@tds.net; president John Shelburne 765 894-6766; treasurer Dan Tyler 317 769-6390).
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