Iron Memories

As the Fourth of July looms on the horizon I often reminesce with family and friends of the old day's (for me it was the 1950's)

Every year scores of children are injured or killed in accidents involving lawnmowers. In fact, one out of every five deaths caused by a lawnmower involves a child. Injuries and deaths from lawnmower accidents can be reduced dramatically if parents would follow these simple guidelines.

Always Prepare Your Lawn for Mowing.
Check your lawn for items such as sticks, rocks, toys, sports equipment, dog bones, wire, and equipment parts. The debris could be thrown while mowing, possibly hitting the operator or bystanders.

Handle Fuel With Care.

Safety tips for Tractor Rides

This morning I was reading a tractor safety report put out by the State of Iowa department of education. The report discussed general tractor safety. Although the rules apply to a tractor ride there also some additional situations that apply on the rides you would not normally encounter. With the large number of Antique tractor rides taking place in the upcoming summer months, I thought now would be a good time to remind readers to think safety while on the ride. Below are some that came to my mind right away.

For those who have been going through withdrawal, missing Richard's Oliver knowledge and safety tip blog posts. I just wanted to write a few short lines and let the readers know Richard is only out of the office temporarily. SO don't give up, keep visiting us here at IronMemories.com. I promise he will return soon.

For those of you missing his safety tip articles I will be posting them until his return. It probably won't be the same but bear with me until he returns.

Each spring, as soon as the weather permits, and sometimes sooner, the antique tractor rides begin to take place. There are two major components to any successful ride, the organizers, and the antique tractors.

Follow-up story to; Rare 1964 Schafer 20000 PS154 tractor sold May 7th by Purple Wave Auctioneers during 3I Show.

Today I got a call from a very excited Jon Melchert from Morristown, Minnesota. Jon was the winning bidder on the Rare 1964 Schafer 20000 PS154 tractor sold May 7th by Purple Wave Auctioneers during the 3I show in Garden City, Kansas.

On May 7, 2009 Purple Wave Auctioneers sold an extremely rare, 1964 Schafer 20000 PS 154 tractor, at their sale held in conjunction with the 3I show in Kansas.
The tractor, part of a collection owned by the late Harold Winkel, sold along with several other collectable tractors and a customized pick-up.

The Schafer brought $18,700 from a phone bidder in Minnesota.

This is the first in a series on destination sites

Bowens Mills, Middleville, Michigan

Historic Bowens Mills with it's 1864 water powered Grist Mill, Cider mill and museum, is a registered Michigan state historic site. In addition to the mills the park features an 1840’s plank house, one room schoolhouse, trappers cabin, craft Shoppe with working artisans, woodworking and copper shop, general store, 17’ water wheel, an eleven room 1860’s Victorian home built by the Bowens, former owners of the property, Arts and Entertainment center, trading post, restaurant and more

Three..three..three, do I hear four thousand. The cry of the auctioneer is a familiar sound to many antique equipment collectors. Retirement Auctions are an excellent place to locate antique equipment. You can find most anything from gently used to well-worn, sometime even full collections of tractors and machinery.

The first production model Schafer PS154 will hit the auction block. This tractor is number one of only a handful of tractors built by the Schafer Plow Company. Sale of this tractor will be bittersweet for the late owner Harold Winkel's, family.