Students take ’46 Farmall from beleaguered to brilliant
By Maureen Vander Sanden
correspondent
Students in the Waterford FFA are cultivating skills beyond the classroom and cornfields, with the local organization’s most recent tractor restoration project.
FFA Chapter President Kevin Ehrhart has led his peers though six months of tinkering and detailing to unveil a lustrous red 1946 Farmall Model H that the group is now raffling off.
Proceeds will go back into the local FFA for agriculture promotions and future restoration projects, according to the club president.
The concept was started a few years ago by Ehrhart’s brother Justin, who, with the FFA, successfully restored a 1940 John Deere B and an early ‘60s Oliver 770.
The experience, according to the FFA leader, has been a great way for members to work on something all future farmers love, while honing valuable life skills.
“Besides the actual mechanical tractor building, there is a lot of practice with setting the budget, and working through things to stay under the budget,” Ehrhart explained. “From the start, it is made clear that we (restore) the tractor for the learning experience.”
Work on the most recent project began in the Union-Grove-based Ehrhart farm shop at the start of the year, with the FFA team of seven spending two to four nights a week working on the tractor until it was completed in mid-July.
The search for a machine worthy of new life begins close to home and with certain features, the Waterford Union High School senior said.
“We want a decent sized tractor, but not one that is too large, because the restorations can quickly become very expensive,” he explained. A complete tractor, with all the sheet metal intact, as well as a motor and transmission that are “in decent shape” are also on the checklist.
“If we can find them for a decent price, or if they are donated to the project, it is always a huge plus,” he added.
Community State Bank, the project’s major sponsor since the program began in 2016, donated the initial purchase cost. The Farmall restoration came in at $7,500.
To read the entire story see the Sept. 6 edition of the Waterford Post or Westine Report.
WIN THE TRACTOR
Raffle tickets are $10 each and can be purchased at Community State Bank, 1500 Main St., Union Grove or at Fall Harvest Days, Friday, Sept. 13 through Sunday, Sept. 15 at Racine County Fairgrounds, 19805 Durand Ave., Union Grove.
The restored 1946 Farmall Model H drawing will take place at Community State Bank on Sunday, Sept. 15. Only 1,000 tickets will be sold.
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