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For some collecting and restoring is just a hobby, but for others it’s a lifestyle.

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The Story Behind One Of The World’s Most Expensive Tractors

This content is for members with a free or paid account. Not A Member? Click HERE to join. Harold Ottaway was one of the pioneering tractor and engine collectors in the hobby. He collected his first engine in 1949, a little horse and three-quarters Associated in a junkyard for five dollars. It grew from that […]

Resurrecting History – Restoring A 20HP Mogul Engine From A Wood Splitter – Part 1

About 8 years ago, a collector posted some photos on the Smokstak forum about an engine he found in the woods of Nova Scotia, Canada. What interested us, was that it was a 20 HP Mogul Stationary Engine. First it was International and second, it was a hard to find Mogul Stationary Engine.  The story […]

International Harvester 30-60 Titan Tractor

The largest of International Harvester‘s line of Titan tractors is the 30-60 Titan. This massive beast has a horizontal, two-cylinder side by side engine with a nine inch bore and fourteen inch stroke giving it 1,781 cubic inches of displacement. International Harvester built the 30-60 Titan at the Milwaukee Works in Milwaukee, Wisconsin from 1915 […]

International Harvester Motor Cultivator: Pioneering the Path to the Farmall Regular

The International Motor Cultivator is an unusually designed tractor built by the International Harvester Company meant to be a versatile lightweight tractor that could replace the horse for most field work. Work on the International Harvester Motor Cultivator started in 1915. Documents show a patent was submitted on October 23, 1916, and production commenced in […]

Chicken Stories – Comical Tales From Working At A Chicken Hatchery

This content is for our members only, click HERE to join. When my father was in college he worked for a chicken hatchery. These stories are just a few of the interesting and comical happenings that occurred during his time working there. For years my father has told “chicken stories” that have become a favorite […]

Explore Harold Ottoway’s Collection Through the Lens of a 20-Year-Old Hi-8 Video Camera

This content is for members with a free or paid account. Not A Member? Click HERE to join. Every spring myself, my father and our friend Rex would travel to Wichita, Kansas to visit Harold Ottoway where we would tour his collection and deal on some of his treasures. My father and Rex did this […]

Forgotten History: Resurrecting the WW 1 Mobile Military Laundry Unit & Its Steam-Powered Cleanliness

You tend to discover interesting photographs sifting through hundreds of images on the National Archives digital collection. I came across an image from 1919 labeled ‘Mobile Laundry Unit,’ sparking my curiosity since I wasn’t sure what that meant. So, I searched again, this time using those keywords. What I found was…

John Koch’s Dangerous Encounter While Plowing With His 8-16 Tractor

This article is from the May 1917 Issue of Gas Review Magazine.  The Explorations of Koch by  B. J. PAULSON Whether or not Dr. Cook really discovered the North Pole makes no difference whatever as far as this story is concerned. He was an explorer, at any rate, bore the name of Cook and had […]