Neuschwander is among entries for the Antique Car/Tractor show that was held at the Goodridge Centennial

The following article was submitted to the Eagle by Dustin Neuschwander, pictured left, next to his restored Farmall H tractor. The article was orginally published in Iron Memories magazine and was written by Donna Hogan.

Antique tractors seem to have a way of rekindling memories of days gone by. Dustin Neuschwander of Grygla, Minnesota was a youngster when his great-grandfather (William John Neuschwander) bought this 1951 IH Farmall H at the neighbor’s auction sale in the early eighties. Dustin recalls how the family used the H for many years, and passed it down from his great-grandfather to his grandfather, Vernon Neuschwander, who passed it to him. It is impossible to imagine the amount of work this tractor did baling hay, auguring grain, and hauling in haystacks from the field. You have to appreciate its benefit to the family. It was more than just a tractor, it provided for a way of life. The H was stored in a shed on the family farm for about five years when they finally got it running again in 1998. Getting advice from his grandpa, Vernon, on how to get it running after he pulled it from the shed, is a memory he will carry forever. The little tricks that Vernon shared were learned over time while he farmed with the H; these tricks can’t be found in a textbook or manual, they came from experience. Dustin promised his grandfather he would restore the H one day. Dustin kept that promise, and his only regret is that day came too late for Vernon to see the fully restored H; he passed away before the restoration was finished. John Smith of Oklee, Minnesota restored the H for Dustin. He overhauled the engine and replaced the clutch, along with other minor mechanical items that needed repairs. The sheet metal was in good condition; there were some small dents in the hood that were repaired. All of the original parts were reused in the restoration that took about four months to complete. Smith did the full restoration of the tractor from the ground up as far as all the paint, lights, wiring, front tires, seat, decals and body work. He also replaced all the bolts with chrome bolts. Vernon Neuschwander had a mechanic do the engine overhaul and the replacement of the clutch. 

Dustin says, “When I got the tractor out of the shed, after it had been sitting for years, I was always driving it around the yard and grading the driveway with it. It had a bad clutch so it would grind the gears when you would shift, and my grandpa told me I couldn’t be driving it that way! If I was going to restore it, I needed to get a clutch put in it. So we hauled it to a mechanic to get that replaced, and that’s when we found out that the engine needed to be over hauled. So Grandpa just had them do that because we were already there,” he recalled.

Dustin is not an antique tractor collector, the H is a piece of his family’s history, and his plans are to see that it stays in the family.