The orchard trio

Here are the work horses of my grandmothers orchard, from left to right.

Johnny: Johnny is the oldest of the group, and is the grandfather figure of the three, his is wise, kind, and thoughtful. Johnney is a 1940 All Fuel John Deere B (meaning he can run on kerosene if need be) that has been in my family sense he was bought new by my great grandfather. When bought new, my great grandfather also purchased the mount on cultivator set for Johnny, and yes he has the optional hydro lift on him as well. Back then, he would be used to cultivate my great grandfathers strawberries every year and he loved it greatly. When my great grandfather auctioned off his farm and equipment, Johnny was bought by my grandfather with his cultivator set and for a number of years was used to cultivate my grandmothers garden.

Sadly all this work was taking its toll and Johnny's head gasket on his engine had given out, causing water to get into his cylinders and freeze up his engine every so often. Then when my grandfather pasted on he was given to my uncle who then parked him outside behind the garage ( where the photo was taken) for a number of years, his wiring was chewed by mice and his engine was badly froze up due to the fact that my uncle put anti-freeze in his fuel tank to prevent frost damage, this caused his carb to get badly gummed up and one of his pistons was froze up good as well from it. 

After seeing him sit like this for a number of years and seeing my uncle only fix his wiring, I had had enough of it and I asked him not long after the 30th Annual Alpena Antique Tractor & Steam Engine Show ( oh which Aaron got to go to and  boy did we have an amazing time) I asked my uncle if I could get him up and running again, he said he didn't care and then I talked to my grandmother about it and she said she would pay for all the parts as she wanted Johnny running again so that we could have him cultivate once she planted a garden again, and so thats where it all started. My good friend Nick Smith and his grandfather helped be get him up and running over at their shop ( we hauled Johnny over there not long after the show) where we set to work freeing up his engine and then cleaning up his cylinder head and getting several other things done. Several parts had to be ordered, such as a new manifold because the previous mechanic to work on Johnny smashed the original one in with a hammer while trying to get it off, new radiator hose, a new fuel line, his mag had to be rebuilt, and we also needed to get fuel tank brackets as well. 

Once all that work was done we started him up for the first time in years and boy did he sound great, his radiator was empty so we didn't run him for long. Then we took him home sometime around March of this year, we would have had him finished long before that but time and having to wait for parts to come in didn't help anything. Once back at my grandmothers we topped up his radiator with 5 gallons of water and discovered a few leaks, one was on the lower metal water pipe ( I patched that with jb weld and packing tape, its only temporary as we plan on ordering a new pipe), and the other was around the flange of the return water pipe to the rad ( I put a good coating of permatex on the mating surfaces and it sealed it up good). Once those were taken care of I took Johnny for his first proper drive around the orchard to make sure he was running right, of course I did this before fixing the big leak on the return water pipe so it didn't last long, but once it was fixed i fired him up and took him for a good run around. Now the big thing I have to do is fire him up and let him warm up good, then shut him down and snug up all his engine head bolts to make sure there is a good seal on his head gasket.

Currently Johnny is sitting behind the garage a must better feeling John Deere B, although he can't cultivate with his own cultivator due to some missing parts, i'll see how well he manages with the pull behind cultivator we use for working up the orchard and hopefully get him back to work and running like he should be.

Miss Alice: Alice is the second oldest of the group and is looked at as a sweet kind, grandmother who enjoys working in the garden on a sunny day. She is a 1947 Allis-Chalmers Model C that was purchased by my grandfather from a local farmer back n the day work around the orchard. When my grandfather bought her, she came with an original Allis-Chalmers underbelly mount sickle bar mower, an original Allis-Chlamers cultivator set that mounts on her like Johnny's does, and a buzz saw rig that was used by my grandfather to cut cord wood back when there was a wood furnace in my grandmothers house. Alice for a time, was used to cultivate my grandmothers orchard being that Johnny was down and out and wasn't fit to work. Later on my grandfather built a spray tank for her and its been mounted on her since, and it has been used to spray down the trees or the orchard for many years now. 

But, due to the fact that Alice is kept outside in a shed that is much to short (length wise) for her, she was starting to look very rough, so my uncle had her restored but the people who restored her did a real cheap job on her wiring, of which still needs to be redone today but its not so bad to the point where she can't run and drive. Her paint job was done on the cheap as well with spray paint but its very hard to tell that it's spray paint. The main thing that needs taking care of on Alice is her generator. Being that she's been outside for so long, her generator had rusted up big time and needs a full rebuild, my uncle had it cleaned out and re-brushed but it still doesn't charge. 

When my grandfather pasted on, he left Alice to my mother who, at the time was living down in Detroit and obviously couldn't do anything with her and thus, Alice has stayed at my grandmothers.

Other then that, Miss Alice is in good health and enjoying these wonderful summer days by napping in the shade.

Aaron: Aaron is the grumpy uncle of the three and the youngest. He is a kind sort and is willing to work and likes to work hard, although he's usually grumpy when he's woken up to go to work he usually doesn't complain much. I myself have driven Aaron more then ether Johnny or Alice mainly because well, he's the orchards main work horse and the one that does pretty much most of the work around there such as hauling brush, cultivating the orchard with the field cultivator, or whatever else happens to need doing. He is a 1953 John Deere AR (AR means A Regular) that was bought by my grandfather from a local farmer to help with construction of my grandmothers house, my grandfather was a master carpenter before he pasted away in 92'.

Aaron was used to plane long boards for the house on a large belt powered planer, of which we have photos of him doing so as well. At the time, when the house was completed, it had a wood furnace which needed a good supply of wood of which Aaron helped keep well stocked up. Being that he was the only tractor with a regular front end set up, unlike Alice and Johnny who are narrow fronts and was the fastest and strongest with a top speed of 20mph and 35hp. Aaron and my grandfather would drive up to my grandfathers hunting camp over in Hubbard Lake Consolidated with the log trailer and would haul large trailer loads of logs back home from the woods to be cut up by Alice into cord wood. They would do this until the furnace in the house was changed over to one that ran on diesel. Aaron also helped build the hunting camp by helping move logs and such around to clear out a good spot for it.

When my grandfather pasted Aaron was left to my aunt but being that she had no use for him she gave him to my uncle and of which Aaron has stayed at my grandmothers like Johnny and Alice. Currently Aaron is running good with no problems but form the sound of the miss he has, he might need valve work on his engine done in the future, but we'll cross that bridge once we get to it. But for now he enjoys sleeping the in the sun and being kept busy.


I'm hoping one day to own all three of them as so I may take good care of them and keep them up and running. I also would like to restore them all properly once I've gained enough experience in that field.

I own the copy right to this photo and the characters.