Keith Grimm owned the featured tractor for this year’s Midwest Old Threshers Reunion. The tractor is a 1953 Minneapolis-Moline UB that hails from Charlotte, Iowa; it has only been in Keith’s hands a few years, after meeting up with a friend at a reunion.

“I found this tractor about an hour from here in Illinois. Last year I made the deal right before the show. When I found out I had the featured tractor, then I had to fix it up,” Keith explained.
The lovely Prairie Gold UB was put to work on the dyno during the show and Keith said the little tractor cranked out 45 hp on the PTO. “It has a powerful engine,” he added, surprised by the power it put out.

Keith has just begun researching his neat tractor. “This is the first year they had the steering wheel on this model,” he shared.
While Keith did the mechanical work – what little was needed – he said it was a friend who painted the hood, gas tank and seat. “This was in pretty good shape. It needed new tires and a bit of hydraulics,” he said.

Sitting next to it was an heirloom tractor, a 1939 MM Twin City that his grandfather had owned. This is the tractor that kick-started Keith’s interest in the hobby.

“My dad (Richard Grimm) gave it to me, the Twin City, was I was probably 10. We tore it down and it was down for 12 years before we found all the stuff,” he explained.

His dad is well known in the antique tractor collecting hobby; in fact, Keith said he had even been featured on an “RFD” episode.
After restoring the family Twin City, Keith purchased a 1930 MM 21-32 that last year was used on the Baker fan at the Midwest Old Threshers Reunion. Once it had been working, but Keith thought it was just a matter of time before the old girl wore out- so he sold it and used the cash to purchase the UB.

Even though the UB was a bit of a celebrity at the show, she didn’t get to slack off and neither did Keith. The tractor was hooked up to a corn sheller on Saturday and had been literally all over the show grounds. It decided to act up a bit, sending Keith on many trips to the antique tractor parts section each day.

“Having the featured tractor this year, everything started on Wednesday,” he said. “The starter solenoid went out. Thursday, the carburetor, then Friday, the voltage regulator. I truly supported the flea market; they know me by name.”

Besides the tractor’s antics, the volunteers at the show were also having a bit of fun with Keith as well. Every day was an adventure, when he would arrive at the grounds, trying to locate his tractor.

“The best feat is just trying to find it the next morning. Yesterday it was in the tractor driving yard, and today it was up by the museum. I could just see the fender; that bright Prairie Gold sticks out.
“Tomorrow, it will be another tractor adventure. It is just fun.”

Readers with questions or comments for Cindy Ladage may write to her in care of this publication.