PEORIA MAGAZINE June 2023

Underwood applies four coats of the original Farmall red paint to each one of his restorations. He taught himself how to do the body work. “I make mistakes and then do it better the next time,” he said. Tires for one tractor can cost about $2,000. “As long as the tires stay up and are equal on each side, I don’t buy new ones,” he said. All of Underwood’s Farmalls are from the company’s “letter series” – models C, H, or M. “I’ve got one that’s the same age as I am, a 1941,” said Underwood. “There’s an old M sitting down there. It’s a 1940. All the rest of these are ’41 to ‘52. “I like to put ‘em back the way they came out of the factory,” said Underwood. Underwood’s restoration process begins in the winter, “just cleaning the grease, sanding.” By July, once all the crops are in the ground, “I start putting the restored Farmalls will be on display on U.S. 24, about a half-mile west of Braker’s Market From 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. on the Fourth of July and Labor Day,

Ron Underwood and his extensive collection of Farmall tractors outside Eureka

them back together, putting on the tires and the wheels, hood and radiator.” He tries to restore one tractor a year. “One year I did three of them. That’s too much.”

Underwood has not sold any of his restored tractors, “but I’ve got three or four 1948s I may pick out and sell … and ‘46s,” he said. “I’ve got too many. You’re always buying batteries and having trouble getting them started, unless you run them every day, which I don’t. “I’ve gotta back off sooner or later and turn around and buy another one.” Underwood figures he needs to acquire two more models to fill out his collection: a ’39 and a ’45. He winces when thinking about the one that got away. “I was bidding on a ’45 years ago and I quit too soon bidding, or I would have had it.” He admits he still kicks himself for not staying in the bidding, “but then sometimes I kick myself for buying one, too.”

THE ROMANCE OF YESTERYEAR HAS ITS LIMITS

Thinking back to his early days of farming, “I wouldn’t mind going back to those days sometimes, but just for a short time,” said Underwood. “Dirty, sitting down in that tractor. You’d get up early in the morning, a little damp, and by 10 in the morning, you had a mask of dust on your face. “Today, if the air conditioner quits, I quit,” he said. Displaying the restored Farmalls is a real kick for Underwood. “People will stop by. I don’t know who they are or where they came from, but they’ll say, ‘My grandpa had one of them.’ “Then you just talk. It’s something to do.”

Linda Smith Brown is a 37-year veteran of the newspaper industry, retiring as publisher of Times Newspapers in the Peoria area

JUNE 2023 PEORIA MAGAZINE 11