I found a BEAR in the Woods!! Yesterday!;Added More PIX!

[Tmac]

Ok not really a real live bear ) But an early model FMD. I may get this tractor for the hauling it out. What makes it a bear is that it part way up a mountain. The road is nothing more than a trail, steep enough that I almost didnt quite get to it by walking. Trees are grown up around the tractor.

It is an early model I never checked any #s but it has the shutters on the radiator. I was thinking that these shutters were only on the 52 and 53 models is that right? This tractor has a loader on it and fair tires. The engine had been run out of oil and is seized. To get it out, some logging will have to be done. According to the guy that owns the place the tractor has been there for many years. Someone else owns the tractor. The land owner is going to ask the tractor owner for me to have it.

Here is the pix. For a look see.

Front View



RH Side view




Rear View

[Kim]

Now THAT sounds really interesting!!!!

[henk]

Tmac,

Mine is a 57 and has the shutters.
Would like to see some pictures.

[MAXPOWER]

my 56 also has shutters

[The Swanndri Guy]

Tmac ,not a bad looking loader either, and rear wheel weights. TSG.

[essex pete]

What is amazing is how good the tin work is. Your climate must be so much better for preservation than here in the UK.

[BarryM]

Tom,

Shutters were used up until March-April 1957. This was also around the time the Kerosene engine finished.

[Bensdexta]

How did you find it - just by chance??
Look forward to you hauling her out

[Tmac]

How did you find it - just by chance??
Look forward to you hauling her out

Yes Ben by chance.


As for rust here in EA Wa it is not vicious here. Most stuff just petrifies. But where I moved from in Western Wa even plastic rusted over night there ;((


The guy that told me about it, said it was a "56"



I went to this guys place to buy a water pump and some big pipe wrenches. He is just south of the Canadian border. 150 miles north of me. He asked me if there was anything else I needed he had and to look around. I pretty much didnt need much else but he said he was selling his place, he has been there for nearly 25 years now. He is also 61 and just cant handle living up that mountain anymore. When I was looking for his place from the Hiway I missed finding the road to his place, he said before it was a steep bumpy drive. That was hardly an apt description, it is a narrow parting in the trees that is the remnants of a log-skidder tracks!! My C-10 Chev pickup hardly had clearance of the side mirrors from standing trees. While we were talking, up at his place the subject of tractors came up. I mentioned that I had and used a Fordson Major. He then said there was a disabled one on his place that was going to have to go. I said lets go see it. So camera in hand I followed him up the mountain up this skidder trail. About 3/4 the way up I started to get winded out. He then said it wasnt much further. Even he had to look a bit to find it. But then there it was in all of its blueness, it set in this log landing. I got to say it must have been a strong runner before it was run out of oil to get there. I also was surprised at the condition of the tin little rust, no bullet holes and all the parts are still as it was left ).

The guy that owns the land isnt even sure the tractor owner is still alive, he hasnt seen him in 7 years. But has an address for him which is near a 1000 miles from the tractor. No matter what, when the land is sold the tractor HAS to go.

I guess that you can find these old beasts just about everywhere. Although FMDs are now a somewhat rare item in the USA now. (


.

[henk]

Great find Tmac. Try to save it. Seems very complete.

BarryM, That would be the time that the markII engine started production.
I must say I use them always because I have no heavy jobs to do and the tractor will not get warm enough.

[Bensdexta]

Nice story - you can't forsake her now
Best sharpen your chain saw!

[Kim]

If I was 3 thousand miles closer I'd volunteer my services to help you haul it out! It would be a shame to see it rot away or be scrapped. Please keep us informed of your progress!

[Tmac]

"If I was 3 thousand miles closer I'd volunteer my services to help you haul it out! It would be a shame to see it rot away or be scrapped".

Kim aren't you about tired of living in Mass. Wa is a great state to live in. Ever thought about moving?
No need to worry about scrappers getting it, most are in to big of a hurry to load and dump to go after this tractor This real work!

Ben I think it is going to take more than my chainsaw to get this rig out!! Then again Iam not sure I can get a chainsaw up that mountain!;) I could hardly walk up there carrying a camera!!


What I was thinkin this will either have to come out under its own power or heavy equipment like a cat. The problem with a cat is the high cost to get it there maybe more than the tractor is worth.

What I was thinking is to put another engine on a trailer like system that would fit the 3 pt hitch then run a drive shaft to the PTO then use that to power it out. The loader bucket is stuck into the dirt and that would have to lift up. The hyds for the loader are a separate pump on the front of the engine. But it does have a DAR valve. With the PTO turning it would have hyd pressure to that valve. Then hook the loader into the DAR tractor system to lift the bucket.

Iam not sure that Iam up to this type of job any more. But you know what, if this tractor stays up there a few more years it is going to belong to ancient history and a lost civilization. Just an artifact of time right. As of now I only know of 3 people that knows where it is at!! Then if the owner is part of the dearly beloved crowd that only leaves 2 of us!!

[john.n]

could you disconect the hyd hoses, dig the loader out the ground, then jack/ lift the loader and use some angle iron tird to the exposed rams to hold the loader up. or remove the rams altogether and make some solid bars to replace them for the route home.

[Kim]

Hi Tmac! I spent a little time in eastern Washington about 8 years ago and it is indeed a beautiful state. While Massachusetts politics and taxation has worn me down, a recent state senatorial election has given me new hope so I guess I'll stick it out a while longer, but thanks for the invite! I have a Major with a backhoe/loader and a seized engine. When I needed to get the hydraulics operational, I put a pipe tee in the system with a hydraulic hose to the remote hydraulics on another tractor and let the other tractor pressurize the system. Ir worked like a charm and I got everything up in the air so I could move the Major to where I wanted it. A small skidder or 30 to 40 HP 4X4 tractor should be able to haul that major off a mountain as long as the tires are up and things aren't hurried. I really would enjoy helping in an adventure like that and wish you the best of luck!

[Tmac]

Hi Tmac! I spent a little time in eastern Washington about 8 years ago and it is indeed a beautiful state.

That amazing no ones comes to EA WA just to visit you must have had business or friends here. What area of EA Wa did you visit?

As you more than likely noticed Ea Wa is a vast unhospitable arid desert. We wouldn't be nothing without the Columbia River dams. With temperature swings from lows of -30* to highs of 110*+. These temperature swings make for some of the highest temperature variants on earth.


You are probability aware that you could sell a home on a city lot in Boston then with the proceeds buy a 5000 acre producing farm in Ea Wa, right! At least around my parts! I bought 9 acres for $10 bucks, thats right $10 bucks!!


John.n
Iam think I may have to use the bucket as a brake when descending the grade. It is really steep, if a guy would fall down when walking up this grade you may find yourself at the bottom before you know what happened!