It was over 70 years ago that the 1935 John Deere 5A combine rolled off the factory floor. Built with a Lycoming 4-cylinder engine, it is a beautiful piece of machinery.

It took the time and talent of the Boone County Antique Tractor and Machinery Club of Lebanon, Ind., to put one back in good working order. Club member Dan Tyler, who did a lot of the restoration work, fired her up Sept. 6 at the Farm World Expo, much to the crowd’s delight.

The combine was hooked up to Dan’s 1947 John Deere AR tractor that he bought at a sale three years ago. Dan, also of Lebanon, owns seven John Deere tractors: the AR to which the beautiful 1935 John Deere 5A combine was hooked up, along with a JD 420, a 1941 L, a 1937 L, a JD 1010 and a homemade JD tractor.

At the Expo, with the exception of his AR, his homemade JD tractor caught a lot of attention. Many wanted to see just what it was.
“I found it in a junkyard. It has a combine engine and 30 miles per hour is its top speed,” he shared.

While most of his tractors are John Deere, he also has a 964 770 Oliver that belonged to his father. This, he keeps for sentimental value.

John Shelburne, club president, said the 1935 John Deere 5A combine the club owns came from the estate of a local owner, Nobel Schneider. “It sat in the barn for 40 years. We pulled it out and got the engine running.

“The best anybody remembers, Nobel used it in the late 1950s. It has been shedded ever since. We bought it from one of his daughters in April and got it ready for the county fair.”

“We got the engine running and the bottom of the grain harvester loosened,” Dan added.

The only missing pieces are the canvas portions for the combine. Finding the right canvas proved to be a bit daunting, but once they contacted the Amish they knew, they said they could help and will make the canvas for the combine.

With the canvas in place and the combine in tiptop shape, next year the club plans to harvest wheat with this moving piece of history. Finding a place to do this is not an issue.

“We have a lot of members in the club that have access to wheat fields,” John shared.

He explained the laborious process the combine goes through to harvest grain. “First you start the engine with the crank,” he said. “Next, the pulley runs the belt. The clutch pedal is flipped and this starts the head.

“The canvas would then bring the grain into the machine. The bars knock grain off and the straw goes out the back and the grain goes into the tank.”

John pointed out another section where he said a bag could be hooked up when harvesting clover, to collect the seed to save and use the following year.

The reel comes off and makes it easier for transporting the combine down the road. The reel on this combine is newer than what they originally found on the machine.

The combine was just one of the machines that the Boone County club brought to the Expo. It had 67 antique tractors on-site, with common brands as well as some rare ones. With about 60 active members and around 125-130 on the books, the number of tractors and the members that came to volunteer and share information about them was good.

John is a retired electrical engineer who is occasionally convinced to come out of retirement for a job or two, but his interest in antique tractors comes from his childhood on a farm.

“Many of us that are retired work on tractors during the wintertime. I have a tractor like the one I lived on back then,” he said.
What makes those members take the time and effort to come bring out their tractors? In John’s words, “They are a good group of people.”

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