Old Iron in Star Valley

Blog

  • Mowing Alfalfa with the Model A and Number 5 Sickle Mower

    Mowing hay (a mixture of alfalfa and grass) with a John Deere Model A and Number 5 sickle mower. We have a nice rotary swather, but thought it’d be fun to spend some time and shoot some video of the A and No. 5.

    Mowing with the Model A and Number 5 Sickle Mower

  • Feeding After Dark with the John Deere A

    I was a little later getting to the feeding tonight, but it gave me a good opportunity to use my newly installed LED lights. They are a lot brighter than the originals, yet still fit in the same housings (and look “original”). Also, the snow is getting deeper. It’s been pretty cold lately, so the tractor still goes through it okay. It was around 10 degrees F when I was feeding.

  • 1947 John Deere A Engine Rebuild

    I recently rebuilt the engine on the 1947 A. I changed out the head and block, plus put new high-compression pistons in it.

    This video shows a few photos, plus the first few drives with the newly rebuilt engine. The newer high-compression pistons sure make a big difference!

    Special thanks to Jerry’s Machine & Engine Parts of Idaho Falls, Idaho, for their work with the new head and block.

  • Feeding Cattle with the Model A

    Last year, I used the 630 to feed with. However, I thought it would be fun to try the A as well. I think the A is one of my favorite two-cylinder models.

    In this video I’m feeding beef cattle (Herefords and Angus) with the A and a custom-made feeder. The feeder used to be a round bale bagger. I converted it to work with the 3x4x8 large square bales. Bales are loaded with a 3020 PowerShift.

  • Farmall Super M

    Recently, I had the opportunity to purchase a 1953 International Harvester Farmall Super M. The tractor was in a non-running condition. It had a stuck (seized) engine, and was missing a few other components.

    Farmall M
    Farmall M, purchased by my great-grandparents on my maternal side, shortly after WWII.

    Although I am mostly a Deere person (meaning, I prefer to purchase and use John Deere equipment), I have a respect and admiration for all classic pieces of farm history. The Farmall line of tractors is no exception. Although my paternal line was mostly Deere (with the exception of having a few Ford N series machines), my maternal side often had Farmall tractors. The tractor posted here, left, is a Farmall M that was purchased by my great-grandparents on my mothers side. Farmall tractors were also very popular in the valley, although I believe my particular town was mostly Deere.

    My great grandfather with others from town, helping move a building. The JD is a 1940 Model A, and the other two are Farmall Model H.

    The other thing I enjoy about restoring these old machines is seeing them come back to life again. One of the most enjoyable moments is having that first fire. Although it took a while to fine tune its running, I was able to learn a great deal and believe I have it running well now.

    Here are a few videos I put together of the restore of the tractor, along with taking it out and letting it stretch her legs for a bit.

  • Peregrine falcon Nearly Takes Out Drone

    I was flying my drone (DJI Mavic Air) up a canyon to get some nice shots of the beautiful mountains. While I was reviewing the footage, I was surprised to see a Peregrine falcon had decided at the last moment to not try to have the drone for lunch. I’d say they both got pretty lucky!

    I as fortunate, however, to get some footage of such a beautiful animal!

     

  • 630 Driving Through Water

    The past few days have been very warm and have received what seems like non-stopped rain. That is very unusual for this area. It has basically turned most of the fields into standing water puddles.

    In this video, I am taking the cattle out a bale of hay. Where I fed the cattle was a high spot without any water. Getting there, however, was quite interesting!

    Help support my channel by contributing on Patreon.

    https://www.patreon.com/kylew2001

  • Support me on Patreon

    Balancing a day job, running a farm, and restoring/using old tractors and equipment takes a lot of resources! Unfortunately, the process to create the videos of these old classic tractors does take some cold hard cash. If you’d like, feel free to support me on Patreon. I’ll still continue to create them without it–but a little help would be much appreciated!

    Thanks,

    Kyle

    https://www.patreon.com/kylew2001

  • Driving the JD 630 through snow while feeding

    This video is a compilation of different days feeding cattle and driving through the snow. The 630 makes a good feeding tractor, and with the extra weight of the bale feeder on the back end, it handles the snow nicely. That being said, this year we are nowhere near normal snow levels–had we received the snowpack we normally receive, I would have most likely had to switch it up to a bigger tractor.

  • 2017 Farm Year in Review Video

    This video is a summary of the activities on the farm for 2017. It covers cultivating the Alfalfa, disking, sprinkling, cutting hay (swathing), raking hay, baling hay, hauling hay, and feeding the beef cattle.

    Tractors in use are a John Deere 4230, 4640 FWA, 4020 Diesel PowerShift, 3020 Diesel PowerShift, 630 gas, and 730 Diesel. Also shown are models 420 Utility, 435 Diesel, and a Model A.

    Videos are shot with an iPhone and DJI Phantom 4.

    2017 was a very busy year, with a lot of accomplishments, and a few failures. This was also the first full year with the new Reinke center pivot, which greatly increased the farm yield.

    Hopefully, 2018 will be a successful year, filled with many new adventures and prosperity.