New Deal Tractor Co.


NEW-DEAL General Purpose Tractor

	www.newdealtractor.com celebrating this historical and unusual antique

Here is a photo of my pride and joy. This is one of the eleven New Deal tractors known to exist to date. As you can see I'm in the process of restoring it in the photos. Unfortunately a person can't find any history or quality photographs to go by. On the flip side this unties a persons hands and gives you a bit of freedom to restore it to a personal preference. A very fun tractor that always gets questions. The one question I always get after I tell the history of the New Deal tractor Co. is "what's it worth?" I don't really know. How do you put a value on something like this anyway?

In the following photos lets go over the basic construction of a New Deal tractor and you'll understand why the Johnson brothers were known to be so mechanically inclined. They started with a basic Model T Ford engine and chassis. Here's the basic Model T car front end with radiator and tins removed.

The Johnson brothers invested most of their capital in the iron front axle and rear reduction units. These were fabricated by the Martin-Bush Iron works for the Johnson's tractor. As you can see the front axle is very beefy and utilizes Model T spindles and steering joints to help reduce cost. Both front and rear wheels are also cast by the Martin-Bush Co. Wilber and Vernon then welded steel rims to the cast iron wheel spokes. As you may already know steel and iron both require different welding materials and techniques. This made for a poor rim weld bead and produced unprofessional looking results.

Here's a shot of the rear axle along with the massive gear reduction units. The Johnson's cut down a standard Model T rear axle then fabricated plates and brackets to attach the iron gear reduction units to each side.

I find it amazing that Henry Ford fabricated rear axles with steel tubing riveted into a cast iron housing and it doesn't leak a drop of oil!

Wilber and Vernon really show their ingenuity and resourcefulness when it comes to the transmission of the New Deal tractor. Somehow they scrounged up an old transmission that practically bolts up. The transmission is a Chevrolet model 490. It connects to the Model T transmission through a married Ford & Chevrolet U-joint combination. The Chevrolet transmission and output shaft is machined to accept the Model T rear axle pinion gear and then bolts directly to the axle housing. As you can see it's a very clean installation and looks nice. I'll bet it took some time and experimentation to come up with this arrangement.

The next owner to be, I just hope he find as much enjoyment and satisfaction in this New Deal tractor as I do. At two years old he's turning into daddy's little shop hand so I'll just keep my fingers crossed.

Here it is ready for the 2007 fair!