A Great-Great-Family Fix-up - 1927 Fordson F

As a child, Richard Wilde of Wall, Texas would climb onto the seat of his grandfather’s 1927 Fordson F, stored in a rickety shed, and pretend he was driving. Purchased new by Alos Kahlig in that year, it served a long, useful life, and was retired to that shed where Richard sat in the seat and daydreamed—until the shed collapsed around it.

Alos passed in 1965, and his son-in-law Elo G. Wilde got it running briefly in 1967. Then his son, Richard, and brother Harvey inherited the tractor in 1973 and it stayed in Elo’s barn for another 36 years. Then a few years ago, Richard’s grandsons, Marcus and Jacob Dalton, needed a project for a high school mechanics class.

What an education the boys got from the project. After more than four decades of disuse, virtually everything was disassembled, cleaned, repaired, or replaced. The two great-great grandsons of the original owner expended more than $7000 in the 8-month restoration.

Today, Richard says the tractor is again in storage after doing periodic duty at tractor shows and parades. Since it’s in such good shape now, it may have another 90 years ahead of it.