Farmall Super M

This is my Farmall Super M, serial #500490. According to the Wisonson historical society it was built in June of 1952 at the Louisville plant. The four hundred ninetieth one to come off the line.

It was originally purchased by my grandfather in 1953. This is the first tractor I can remember driving by myself as a boy (I was born in 1962).  It was on the farm until 1971 when it was traded off in for a new 656. My grandfather thought it had blown up. Later we discovered it because of a broken valve spring, we think he just wanted a new tractor.

 In 1991 our neighbor we farmed for called my dad and said to come over that he had bought a Super M. So my dad went over and seen it was our old tractor due to the things he had made and put on it as a teenager. The neighbor passed away in 2007 and I had the opportunity to by it back in January 2008 and did. I drove it home in February and we bolted the last wheel weight on in May making it complete.

Carburetor rebuilt, new gaskets, new rims, new tires, powder coat muffler, new 2150 paint, and an assortment of quality restoration parts from company’s such as yours made it turn out very nice. 

 The thing I liked most as a young boy was when you brought the throttle back shut from wide open going down the road it would pop and crack. It still does it, and is still a lot of fun to drive.

 We have taken it to a couple of shows and have had great response for our efforts.

 Thank you.

Todd Beechler
Berne, IN

1955 Ford 860

I own a 1955 Ford 860 recently entered in your customer appreciation day show this year. Thank you for this opportunity to share my tractor restoration story with you. I look forward to reading this and many other stories you plan to add as new pages on your website.

Before moving from Auburn Hills, Mi. out to the country, my family of 5 lived in a 3 bedroom single-wide for 8 years. It was all new but we needed more room and knew we could get more land up North. My first priority was finding a job up there God willing and that happened in 1998. We began our search for a new home in 1999 and found a wonderful place on 3 acres in Lapeer County the following year. Again the Lord blessed my family. And what a change that was. The first thing I saw was this huge front lawn and my self armed only with a 20” push mower. Needless to say it wasn’t working out. Winter of 2000 was coming and did it snow, 5 foot drifts covered the fence not to mention blocked me in several times. We didn’t have four-wheel-drive and I thought to myself, never again! Perhaps I said it out loud a few times while breaking my back over a snow shovel.

Spring 2001 we needed help, what we needed was a tractor. Honestly, I first started looking for a riding lawn mower. Of course it had to be a John Deere but soon found even used was out of my price range. Lapeer County was littered with old 8N’s and I quickly discovered I could get a lot more tractor for my money. Switching gears to a farm tractor, I set my mind on the Ford design from then on. But this one needed tires and that one didn’t run so the summer came and went. I needed more power to keep up with the harsh winters of Northern Michigan. Finally in the fall I found this ad in the local paper for a Ford Tractor with implements $5,000 and 16’ trailer $750. Sure it was way over our budget and didn’t say what model/year or even if it was running. But I was running out of time and had to go check it out. I called and sure enough it was still for sale. This was another answer to prayer and as it turns out God was good that year too.

The town was Attica near Kings Mill, MI. about 10 miles away. The owner had purchased a new home in the woods and didn’t have much room to walk around, let alone get a tractor between all those trees. Paul Bunyan met me at the door. Towering over me was this large man 6-6” at least 250 lbs, flannel shirt and work boots. “My name is Daniel Bertovich, so you’re looking for a tractor are you?” he said with a deep voice. He took me around to the garage and opened the door and said here she is. He told me he purchased it from a retired farmer and had been using it to set beams for new home construction. This old rusty Ford, parked over a pool of oil, was larger than all the 8N’s I was looking at before. Sure enough, it was an 800. It had a one-arm loader and rear blade but the lights were up on top. I asked how much for just the tractor? Unfortunately he explained his wife says this is a package deal and everything must go or no sale.

Well, I looked it over and found a lot of body damage but it was a solid tractor, all original and all there. I asked, “What else has it got?” He pointed out a 2 bottom plow, bail pick, tire chains and a full set of pie-shaped wheel weights. Under cover of the autumn leaves, was an old Woods brush hog sinking in the mud too. Of course there was a 16’ tandem axle trailer in need of much repair as well. “How does it run” I said, as he reached for the keys. It was slow turning over but she fired up with a little knock and white smoke came out of the exhaust. Not a good sign I thought but took it for a drive up the road and back anyway. The steering was loose but the hydraulics and transmission were fair and I was good with fixing engines. Daniel didn’t seem to have the time or money to put into it, lucky for me!

Well I made him an offer of $3,000 for just the tractor to which he refused. Then I gave him a check for $250 as down payment to hold it until I could come up with the money and with a firm hand shake, told him to think about my offer. Two weeks went by and the ad was still in the paper. I called back to let him know I was still interested and wanted to take another look. After making a short stop at the bank I brought my wife along this time and she gave me her approval if this is what I really wanted. With cash in hand I said I’ll give you the $5,000 for everything but want the trailer along with my final offer. He went inside to talk it over with his wife and came back out with a big smile and said SOLD. As it turns out my bumper trailer hitch was not going to get me home so I had to call my Brother-N-Law Rich Exelby to load up the tractor on his trailer. I would help him restore a John Deere 60 in the future. Everything else was put on my trailer I just bought and we headed for North Branch.

I got on the Internet and started looking up serial numbers. This was a Series 800 Model 860 built in 1955. It had every option available…172ci, 5-speed, live-hydraulics, PTO and 3 point plus all that other stuff that came with it. The tires had chloride in them and the radiator leaked. Still, I was in Heaven that year and got right to pulling stumps, putting in a garden, plowing snow and landscaping the lawn with big rocks and railroad ties. The only thing I did that year was install a new starter switch and adjusted the clutch pedal so the PTO would disengage. Several years had gone by and there was more rust now than paint. The next tax refund would cover the cost of our pole barn. She immediately became my second wife but once I got into the restoration project in 2005, I found there was more bodywork than met the eye. That year I had my Ford power washed and all the paint came off. It helped make disassembly a cleaner project too. Honey I have to paint it now, just look at it I said. I can’t take it out of the barn like this!

Summer 2006 I began to overhaul the engine before doing the paint job. This meant tearing down the entire tractor and splitting the engine from the transmission. The rebuild included new rings, valves, resurfaced the head and putting in all new seals and bearings. I purchased a gasket set and new PTO shaft from Dan’s Farm Equipment of Metamora. Dan closed his store and I had to find a new place for parts. Remarkably I was amazed to find you could still get all those old parts, you just had to know where to look like Paul’s Tractors of Clio. That’s when I found Steiner’s Tractor Parts too. Dave had all those hard to find items like the original radiator hose clamps, step-side brackets and tie rods. I buttoned up that Red Tiger and started prepping the hood and fenders for paint.

It seemed every part I took off needed to be welded. My Brother-N-Law Leroy Davis and his Son-N-Law Andy Sirpilla helped with that. Rich Exelby helped me rebuild the dual clutch and straighten the bumper. I did the breaks, rear axle seals and installed the new wiring harness. My carburetor rebuild kit came from J&S in Lapeer. The radiator came from North Gate Radiator of Lapeer who also repaired the fuel tank. I bought new Firestone tires at Marlette Oil. My front axle support was completely wasted. I had a retired machinist make me a new threaded sleeve to fit the new axle pin. After a thorough cleaning of the transmission, rear end and countless wire brushes, the engine was installed and I shot the main tractor primer red in 2006. I added several personal touches like painting the fan silver. A little chrome here and there with matching oil cap and breather helped make the tractor unique.

My Ford 860 exhaust has a cast-iron gooseneck support elbow believed to have come off an NAA. It bolts right to the front fuel tank support and the muffler attaches to the end of it. The exhaust pipe attaches to the end of this support that curves straight up. The end of mine had rusted clean off so I cut it back some and had a new pipe bent in an "L" shape to fit from Mr. Muffler of Lapeer. The muffler and rain cap on top was purchased at TSC.

Painting was new to me but luckily I met Richard Henderson of Columbiaville, MI., a real restoration expert, willing to let me borrow his paint guns. That took the remainder of 2006 and most of 2007 as each part got two coats of primer and 3 coats of paint weather permitting. The tarps I put up didn’t keep all the overspray out so now I have a red garage. All the sand basting was done by N&R repair of Millington. Dick Coulter Ford New Holland sold me the original factory finish and Lapeer CARQUEST Auto Parts had the primer, hardener and other paint supplies. After extensive body repair, I painted the hood and nose cone assembly, front grille and fenders later that summer 2007. Craig’s Signs of Lapeer made up special die-cut decals for the hood that read Model 860. Except for lifting the front axle into position and placing the hood, I did all the assembly on my own. I even made the Rest-O-Ride seat adjustment my self because I could not find that part.

First time back in the dirt was November 2007 and after a little timing adjustment it runs like it looks! We had a mild winter but I still managed to take her out in the snow that year. With all the original decals now in place the following spring, my Ford 860 was ready for its first showing June 21, 2008. Keeping my tractor original was another top priority. I kept it 6 volt positive ground which is plenty enough juice if you keep them clean and dry and maintain a good ground. I still need the original headlights, fender bolts and a few other minor details. I'm going to keep the wheel weights and work on the implements next year in preparation for the next Mackinac Bridge crossing event. Adding up all the receipts, I’m just over $4000.00 in parts and labor. Tacking on my labor, the initial cost and the extra tools puts me into this for over $12,000.00 dollars. I plan to enter a few tractor shows and maybe another local parade or two before I put her back to work keeping up our property full time. I’ll never sell it or stop petting on it and for that I owe many thanks to my number 1 wife Yvonne for her understanding.

I enjoyed every step of the restoration project and now have a greater respect for old iron and the wonderful people that restore them. Giving these old tractors new life brings back a time when America was strong and vibrant and things had a touch of class. There is no better feeling for any “Mr. Fix It” than making something run that’s older than you are…unless you’re working the land and catch the Mrs. checking on you from the front porch. She thinks my tractors sexy! You’ll appreciate it more when you do most of the work yourself. If it were not for the time involved I'd do it all over again on an 801 Diesel. Best be happy with what I have if I want to stay married ha, ha. I wouldn’t mind helping someone else though. I could certainly direct you where in Michigan to find everything your going to need. Thanks to Steiner’s Tractor Parts and all the many folks that helped along the way!

Thank you again for your time and best regards,

Geoff Parmenter
Owner 1955 Ford 860
North Branch, Mi.