Russ' Vintage Iron

A photo of an owner's manual of long-gone farm equipment on X, formerly known as Twitter, caught my eye the other day. This led me to search for manuals we might have in an old cabinet in our shed. What vintage iron discoveries were made?

When you are a lover of vintage iron, the thought of old tractors is never far from your mind. Since it is Valentine's Day and the color most associated with the day is red, it is only fitting that a couple stories about red tractors are featured in this month's Russ' Vintage Iron column.

I had several uncles who farmed, but only my uncle Jack farmed with Oliver tractors. While my dad and the other two uncles liked John Deere, Jack's favorite tractors were the ones with darker green paint. And the two will always go together in my mind.

Last month in Russ' Vintage Iron column, I wrote about visiting a farm and running across a vintage International Harvester combine sitting in a tree line. This month I am sharing some of the many responses to that column. Some comments mentioned I missed some models, while others shared their...

A simple errand turns into a column in this month's edition of Russ' Vintage Iron. Crossing paths with a rusty, old combine in the trees sparks some thoughts about vintage International Harvester combines.

For the September Russ' Vintage Iron column, the original plan was to find another subject after two months of delving into Thieman tractors. But another interesting email from a reader altered this plan, and it is more about the somewhat forgotten tractor manufacturer from Albert City, Iowa.

The Thieman tractor was the subject of last month's Russ' Vintage Iron column. This month we have a couple of emails detailing more about the Thieman tractors, including one from a descendant of the founders of Thieman Harvester Co.

A simple conversation with a neighbor turns into a Vintage Iron column idea. A long-defunct tractor manufacturer built an inexpensive tractor during the Great Depression until World War II. Thieman tractors came in a kit and farmers assembled their tractors with their choice of a Ford...

Those who love vintage iron look forward to the beginning of summer, as it marks the start of small-town parades, tractor shows and antique tractor pulls. June is when many small-town celebrations take place, and parades are often at the heart of those. Who is bringing vintage iron to these...

Pennsylvania farmer Lucas Criswell's first tractor, a 1974 Case 1370, which he traded in 1998, popped up in different places a couple times over the years. The last time led to a big chance for the next generation of the Criswell family to get it back and restore it.

FFA students always look forward to Drive Your Tractor to School Day each year. While it usually takes place on a cold morning, many students drive their family's tractor to school to promote agriculture. In many small towns, the event turns into a special day for the entire community.

This month's edition of Russ' Vintage Iron features two Farmall stories from readers. These come after Case-New Holland (CNH) announced various activities planned to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the now-famous Farmall name.

Case IH celebrates 100 years of Farmall tractors. In 1923, an IH engineer had a vision of a tractor that would replace horses and perform many -- if not all -- farm tasks. The new tractors would allow farmers to easily cultivate their crops and the legendary Farmall brand was born.

Large, farm-place Christmas light displays always impressed me as a kid. Seeing Christmas lights on buildings, fences, and even farm machinery was remarkable. For a few years, roughly three decades ago, we did the same thing on our farm.

The 100th annual National Cornhusking Championship was held this month near Macomb, Illinois. While very few people around today have much experience picking corn by hand, family stories and history bring this lost practice back to life.

This month's edition of Russ' Vintage Iron is a look at grain storage in the past. The corn crib was an essential farm building.

In this month's edition of Russ' Vintage Iron, we take a closer at some of the lesser-known tractor variants. Some vintage tractor manufacturers had slight differences in their versions of the same series of tractors, while other makers had more complex different versions of the same tractor.

Russ' Vintage Iron column about John Deere potentially ending production of the moldboard plow prompted stories about the past from readers. This month, we present three of their interesting tales of plowing.

There has been some talk on social media recently of John Deere ending production of the moldboard plow, the implement the man John Deere founded his business on 150 years ago. Years of using John Deere plows created many memories for generations of farmers.

I have worked at DTN for 25 years as of May 5. We look back at my time at the company and how Russ' Vintage Iron came to be.