This page is dedicated to "The Wallace Boys". John, George and Gill.

All gave some for their country, some gave all.

Judy and I just got back from Lewisburg, TN where the Wallace family calls home. In the picture is my aunt Jane and a 1948 Farmall Cub. She and her husband Bill bought this tractor used in the very early '50's. My uncle Bill used this tractor till he died to mow his yard. My uncle John L. Wallace then took over the mowing duties on the family place and his place next door until his death in 2005. My aunt Jane is in her 90's now and asked me to take the tractor and give it some TLC. In the picture on the right is me after loading the tractor. The Wallace homestead is shown in the background. The house is vacant now. It was just too much for my aunt Jane to take care of. We still meet there on special occasions since it is still fully furnished. I'm afraid it will be sold soon as none of the kids have the interest or money to keep a place like this up. Its a beautiful old place, I will hate to see it go. Both my dad and uncle John were born in the house. My grandfather Cecil C. Wallace died there. There have been weddings there, and that is where we all meet when there is a death in the family. I feel lucky to have a piece of that memory to take with me.

Well, its now been about a month since I brought the "Cub" home. As you can see I have really gotten into the restoration. The hood is off having some body work done and most of the parts I need have either been ordered through IH/Case (most parts are still available) or I have found on ebay (such as the missing tail light, tool box and other misc. parts). I hope to have the restoration finished by spring. The International Harvester "Red Power Roundup" will be held in Lebanon this year and I would like to show it there. There will be around 2,000 other Farmalls there! I will not be putting the mower back on as it makes it too hard to get on and off the trailer. Besides that, it would actually be harder to restore the mower as the parts are not readily available. I think the family will really like it when its done.

Well, Its Thanksgiving now and I have made a little progress. As you can see, I have pretty much broken the Cub down. I have finished rebuilding the rear end and axels and have put them back on. They will have to come off one more time to put the new brake bands on. You can see why the tractor didn't want to stop. There was 50 years worth of gunk inside that housing! The engine is in pretty good shape so I don't plan on doing anything to it. The clutch was in good shape, just needed a little adjustment. I have finished rebuilding the hydraulic unit. Boy that was something. Lots of little parts. I don't guess I'll know if it works till I get it back on the tractor. I have had really good luck getting all the parts I need. Charmichael Tractor, a dealership in Talbott, TN, has provided all the seals, gaskets, new seat, new gauges, brakes and some other small parts. O.E.M Tractor Parts and TM Tractor Parts have provided excellent repo parts which they manufacture for Farmalls. I have found several original parts that I needed on Ebay such as an original two color rear light which this tractor was missing. Miller Tire still carries the original Firestone tires for the front wheels. I had the rims sandblasted and will use the turf tires that were on the tractor. After Thanksgiving, I will get the tractor ready for painting. At least get the tires mounted and painted. I sent the hood and gas tank out to a body shop for a few repairs and its ready and primed. More later.

Well, its been a few months now and better weather has really made a change in the Cub. Parts are actually going back on! The frame has not been completely painted yet, but I hope to get that done this week. I am using a better paint than was used on the previous rebuilds and am returning it to the original color. (At $45.00 a quart for paint alone!) The original color had a little more orange in it than the last color it was painted. It should really shine when I'm finished. I painted the last of the parts that are not attached to the tractor today. I am really pleased with the way they turned out. I will get the top of the hood painted tomorrow and will be really ready to paint the chassis. After that its just a matter of putting everything back together. The rear tires were in pretty good shape, so I painted the rubber with a special paint to make it look almost new. I have painted the rims and they are ready to be put back on the tractor. The fronts needed replacing and they are painted and ready to go on also. All of the electrical has been refurbished and repainted and also is ready to go back on the tractor. Well, I'm not making any promises, but by the end of May, this family heirloom may all be put back together. And who knows, with a little luck, maybe by June there will be the putt putt of a 1948 International Farmall Cub tractor at Sycamore Ridge Ranch.

Well, after a lot of time and work, here is the finished

1948 International Cub!

Well, Here is the finished story. Judy and I finally got the chance to take the Cub back to the old homestead. This Thanksgiving 2006 we put the Cub on the trailer and headed to Lewisburg, TN. My aunt Jane and Dad were to be together at my sisters house for Thanksgiving. I was finally able to show aunt Jane and my dad the finished project. They were very pleased as were the other family members in attendance. In the picture from left to right are: my cousin Nancy, Aunt Jane and my Dad, Col. George Wallace, Retired

1953 Farmall Super C

Well, I had such a good time fixing up the cub, I though, what the heck, I might as well fix up the garden tractor. Its a 1953 Farmall Super C with fast hitch. It also has a full set of cultivators, side dressers, 2 row planter, 2 bottom plow, a middle buster and a drum carrier. This tractor leaked from every place that had fluid and maybe a few extra places. I used up a gallon of hydraulic fluid in 30 minutes! When I took it apart, there was gunk 3 inches deep in places. I spent two weeks just trying to get all the crud off the tractor. After that I had to replace every seal on the tractor. I also completely rebuilt the hydraulics. The engine was in pretty good shape, so I didn't have to do anything there. There are some people that I would really like to thank for helping me with this tractor. As always, I relied on O.E.M. Tractor Parts for battery box, gauges and a host of other stuff. The Brillman Co. for a excellent wiring harness. John goes to great pains to make these harnesses as original as possible and it included EVERY wire on the tractor. They told me that they have original equipment that actually braids the wire. They can custom make just about anything you may want. K&K Antique Tractors for my decal set. I bought one of the cheaper Mylar sets and was really disappointed. I don't know where they got their information on how the decals should look, but they didn't look like any I saw in Farmall Letter Series Tractors by Guy Fay and Andy Kraushaar (This is a must have book for Farmall restorers.) and the set wasn't complete. The vinyl set from K&K is excellent with every decal and a few extras. They also have a lot more stuff that is not on their web site. It would behoove you to order a catalog from them. And lets not forget my Case/IH dealer. Still the best place for seals, boots and all the other OEM stuff. And if you ever want some good information and opinions from a lot of very smart guys and gals (most are pretty smart), you can always check in the discussion forums at YTMAG. Ok, enough said about that.

Now for the before picture.

And After!