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Kimball’s Ferguson combo makes splash at Farm Days

Richard Kimball of West Liberty, Ohio, was at this year’s Historic Farm Days show in Penfield, Ill. His tractor was part of the “Classic Tractor Calendar” group that came to the show for its 20-year reunion.

This year’s gathering included tractors from as far away as California, Alaska and Florida; Richard was one of the Midwest honorees. “I have a 1956 Ferguson 40 high-arch tractor; it has a Ferguson side mounted baler,” he explained.

The tractor and baler combination is rather unusual. “I don’t know how many side mounted balers were made. They were all recalled and I don’t know why for sure.”

Richard said the history is rather fascinating. Ferguson and Massey Harris merged in 1952. They sold the Ferguson baler to farmers after they merged. After the balers were out in the public, Ferguson recalled them, and the story gets even murkier.

“They came to get the baler from farmers and gave them a new Massey Ferguson No. 3, which was a pull-type baler,” he said. “They then took the Ferguson balers to the warehouse and torched them or scrapped them.”

Only a few balers survived – like his, which got tucked away. Richard said no one knows why the balers were recalled, but explained that the Ferguson mounted baler used a system similar to one that the International Harvester had. “The tie-string mount was made in Canada and they brought it to the U.S., and it might have been a copyright infringement,” he speculated.

With IH king in the United States in those days, Richard felt it might have been easier to recall the balers than fight the big company about patent rights. He reiterated this is just his take on what happened, and he has no proof.

He learned the similarities between the Ferguson and IH balers when, after purchasing his baler, the knotting mechanism would not work properly and he was able to get parts from the neighbor who owned an IH baler. “They were interchangeable,” he said.

There was an adaptation for hill work as well. The Ferguson trademark is also part of this combination. “Harry Ferguson had to have his three-point hitch,” Richard added, pointing out the three-point combination with the draft control located on the side of the tractor.

His tractor was purchased in 1992 or 1993. The high-arch tractor was used to cultivate corn or cotton. “I got the tractor at a consignment auction that today, they call a jockey sale. The baler was purchased about two years later,” he said.

The baler was found at a public auction in Salem, Ohio. “A dealer bought the baler and put it in his shed to restore. When the dad died, the son maintained the dealership, then he sold out and everything went.”

When Richard purchased the baler, it wasn’t painted and was rusty. The knotter didn’t work. He had to make a modification because the tractor and baler would not fit onto his trailer. Using the Ferguson idea on how the unit comes apart, he did a similar variation in back.

The 40 high-arch tractor and mounted baler combo is great to look at, but Richard said baling hay with it is a dirty job. The combination is also a bit of a challenge to assemble. “It takes two hours to put this together and two hours to take it apart,” he said.
Visitors were lucky to see this rare operation, considering the history of the baler and the time it takes to place the two together. The Ferguson combination is just one of Richard’s antique tractor and accessories, but one of his favorites because he is partial to the brand.

“I grew up with Ferguson and Massey as a kid,” he said. “We used a Massey combine until the late (19)90’s when there were no dealerships left.”

Besides his beloved Ferguson brand, Richard said, “I have Deere, Oliver, Minneapolis-Moline, Massey – and just too many.”
This doesn’t mean that he isn’t still looking. He and his friend, Marilyn Bergman, enjoy traveling to shows and he keeps on the lookout for “anything unusual that I can afford.”

Richard is a farmer or, as he laughingly said, “an agriculturist.” He grows corn and soybeans, and quit the dairy business in the early 1990s. These days the dairy industry in Ohio, he said, is no longer on every small farm, and there are only a few big operations – some with as many as 4,500 head – many operated by farmers who came over from Holland.

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

9/2/2009