My 1953 Ford Jubilee…

It looks like it needs a good tune-up, maybe an engine re-build, and a new coat of paint wouldn’t hurt, but I just love it. For some reason Ford named its tractor after the Coronation of a young Queen Elizabeth that year and its unlikely the Queen ever took one for a test ride, but it would have knocked her socks off.

I saw it advertised on-line and went to visit an old hippie who lived in a cool off-grid home. He was downsizing at this point in his life and was looking forward to traveling to warmer climes in his motor home. He was selling all sorts of cool stuff, like a wood lathe, harwood flooring that had been in an old PEI church, a Harley, greenhouses, the 1953 Ford Tractor, and a few other odds and ends. He offered me a coffee, we haggled, and in the end I decided to buy the ancient tractor. They have a great reputation and can be seen on farms all over PEI. There are even clubs where people get together on a monthly basis and talk tractors, parts, and how to maintain them. They’re  supposedly not too complicated to maintain and are known to be cheap to run. These are gas tractors with simple engines and can literally run forever with basic upkeep.

My tractor will go away for a while this winter and receive some much needed fixin’. It seems it needs some new rings, gaskets and valves, probably some brakes, two new tires and a splash of paint. With a bit of luck, it could look something like this…..