David Bradley

When I took the grandson to the steam/power show last weekend, I saw a bunch of David
Bradley tractors and accessories. Since yours truly, Shop Teacher Bob, is the proud owner of one, I took particular interest in a couple of the sulky carts that I saw.

The David Bradley two wheel tractors were very popular in the fifties and they had a huge variety of implements available for them. I've got a push blade, snowblower, planter, plow and cultivator for mine. They also made a couple of types of mowers, both sickle bar and rotary, you could get. I picked my stuff up from a guy I used to work with. He had bought it at an auction, but like me, he's always got so many irons in the fire he figured he'd never get around to making it work or do anything with it, even if he did get it running. Plus he owed me a couple of favors so he sold it to me for what he paid for it, which was a real bargain. He's a big fan of the small tractors, though. He said "If grandma had one of these, she never would have left the old country". Probably right about that.

Mine was stored in my old barn and I needed to get it out of there prior to the demolition. I decided it would be a lot easier to drive out than push out. I had a plastic gas tank from an old mower that was almost a direct bolt on to replace the rusty one, put some new points, plug and a condenser in, rebuilt the carb and it runs surprising well now. It's not one of the pretty Art -Deco sheet metal covered ones but it's a work horse, especially with the new belts. So I drove it to the other barn and there it sits but I have been fixing up the implements for it. But if I had a sulky cart, I could ride behind it down the lane to pick up the newspaper or the mail. Kind of like the mini-bike I made a few years back. It usually takes me about twenty minutes to get the thing running because it's been so long since I've started it and only five minutes to walk down to the mailbox, but that's the trouble with all the infernal combustion engines. If you don't run them on a regular basis, they won't run on a regular basis.

So maybe I'll add a sulky cart to the long list of projects for the school year. It will be a little more utilitarian than the one in the photo, though. Since I shortened up the list this summer a little, what's the harm? As long as I don't start on it, that is. I've still got to finish a few others.

If you're interested in David Bradley tractors, check them out here. If you look up the different models, mine's a Super 600.

The tractor picture is just because I dig old tractors and if you're going to have tractor porn, why not make it a Cockshutt.