The
John Deere manure spreader I saw for sale on the black top was straight out of
old farming America. Its bed measuring 4
ft. wide x 8 ft. long x 2 ft. high resembled that of a horse drawn utility wagon
and covered wagon of pioneer days. The "L" on its aluminum plate (no serial number) means two wheel. I’d been looking for one to
restore and use because nitrogen pellet fertilizer is expensive and this simple
spreader is one I could pull with my utility JD tractor. 2014 also saw the pasturing of sufficient
cattle numbers to justify the effort. Adding
to the attraction was the fact that it had belonged to my Uncle Henry and his family
who had stored it in a chicken coop. Its
condition, except for the tires, was amazing.
The bed is treated wood and minimally rusted iron and steel
which was once all John Deere Green.
Last
week’s installment of Machinery Pete
on rural RFDTV’s cable channel said there’s a revival in interest in used
manure spreaders with some going from $14,000 to tops of $20,000 at auction. I think it must be an apples and oranges
situation because I paid only $900 for this one which I think is a mid-1950s John
Deere. From there the expenses of
restoration began with a $75 tow. A
couple a people were surprised because I had it towed, but it’s better to be
safe than sorry even though the tubes were actually in good shape. Making do and inflating old damaged tires is
dangerous. My cousin got killed at the
OK Tire Shop when a tire blew up in his face.
The
first thing I did when I got it back to the farm was to have the tow truck put
it on level ground outside the shop. I
would need good light and open air since I would be doing a lot of priming and
painting. For the most part the weather
held even though there were several days of rain and others that were just too hot
for me. Notice I put the axles on cement
blocks and chocked them from moving.
(I’d found an old screw jack in the garage.) I also drove a T-Post at the tongue and
secured it with one of my old USMC belts.
Restoration means going underneath to do the cleaning and figuring out
how the thing works. It also means
safety. One slip and you’re
crushed. Other than that I began the
cleanup painstakingly by hand with an ice pick, wire brush, whisk broom, rags,
and sand paper. If you think I knew what
I was doing. You’re wrong. What
in the world do I do now and how does this thing work?
