The International Harvester 19th annual IHC Winter Convention was in Columbus, Ind., on March 3-5. The event was hosted by Indiana’s Chapter 7.
Part of the emphasis on the show was a big anniversary for IH. Tom Smith, chapter president, said, “It is hard to believe it has been 50 years since the Cub and Scout were introduced by International Harvester. Both of these lines had a major impact on society and in certain aspects, were ahead of their time.”

The show included a variety of tours, including the filled Cummins Diesel Engine plant. This plant serves customers in 290 countries and territories, and has a network of more than 500 company-owned and independent distributor locations and around 5,300 dealers’ locations. Many parts of the show were sponsored by Cummins.
Besides the tours, pieces of e
quipment were also on display. IH chapters had tables sharing information about upcoming shows, and one room was devoted to vendors that sold all things in Farmall red. Red Power owners Dennis and Sallie Meisner were on hand with copies of their magazine. Sherry Schaefer of Heritage Iron – a 1960s and older antique tractor publication – was also at the show.

One of the machines on display is thought to be the first Cub Cadet garden tractor produced by IH. Owned by Dave Reising of JI Farm Equipment of Poseyville, Ind., Ken Hammonds of Cub Cadet Services determined the Cub Cadet on display was “the earliest production Cub Cadet garden tractor.”
Reising had a chance to speak with one of the engineers who was part of the design team on the first Cub Cadets. Al Wolka, who now serves as a Lutheran minister and these days lives, on the family farm his great-grandfather bought over 100 years ago, said, “I worked on the first Cub Cadet made in late 1959 through mid-1961, at the International Farm Equipment Research Engineering Center (FEREC).”

Jordan Churchill was set up near the Cub with possibly the last International truck produced: A 1986 Model 1654. Jordan works for UHL Truck Sales out of Louisville, Ky. This truck is owned by Todd Uhl. “His dad, Bernard, sold the truck and the dealership has been around for almost 60 years,” Churchill shared. “They had to point the truck and put a new motor in it. This is the first show it has been to in a while.”

Outside the Holiday Inn where the show was held, there was an array of IH tractors on display, as well as a Scout that had the unlikely name of Harvey. The truck is a Scout 80, the original Scout model introduced in 1961 by IH.
The show offered educational seminars, with topics from Allen Wolka’s “The Events That Led to the Introduction of the Original Cub Cadet” to “Preserving IH History.” There was a consignment auction and a Saturday evening banquet where famed broadcaster Max Armstrong spoke. Max co-hosts “This Week in AgriBusiness” on RFD-TV and also hosts an hour-long show on WGN Radio where he has been heard every week for more than 30 years.

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