- Local time
- 5:08 PM
- User ID
- 15730
- Joined
- Feb 14, 2021
- Messages
- 762
- Reaction score
- 5,274
- Location
- Wisconsin
So, my wife wanted me to make a "Farm Stand" we could park up near the road, to sell produce during the summer and pumpkins/gourds during the fall. My original plan was to locate a decent haywagon, clean it up, paint our hobby farm name on a piece of milled lumber for a sign, and pull it up to the road on our 1940 Farmall H every morning with what we had for sale. I went and looked at a few wagons and running gear, but decided that none of them were worth the asking price and all would have been a major project between wheels, tires, and wood.
Then, this happened
I was driving to Menards in West Bend, and see this old International 1310 with a piece of cardboard in the windshield. My father had a near identical truck when I was a kid and it was the first vehicle I drove around the parent's homestead. My dad has been having health issues lately and the sight of that old truck stirred up many good childhood memories. I kept driving, telling myself that I didn't need another project and it wasn't worth stopping.
That weekend, I'm sitting on the couch drinking coffee, and the wife complains that she's bored and we should go do something. I jokingly asked her if she wanted to go look at an old truck and she says yes. Half an hour later, we are both walking around this '73 1310, which has a healthy 304 and a 4 speed. We called the number on the for sale sign, met up with the seller, and ended up making a deal.
It is extremely solid for something that existed in the rust belt it's whole life. I figured this has a flatbed on it; It can pull double-duty as a farmstand and firewood hauler. I found a tag from Racine County, WI inside the cab for asset disposal authorization, which leads me to believe this was a county-owned work vehicle. They scrapped it out at some point, and the fellow I bought the truck pulled it out of the junkyard close to a decade ago. His stepfather and a buddy worked to get the engine running, and they had it running and driving around their farm eventually. Time passed, his stepfather passed away, and he was left to help his mother start cleaning up the farm... and now it's in my driveway.
Then, this happened
I was driving to Menards in West Bend, and see this old International 1310 with a piece of cardboard in the windshield. My father had a near identical truck when I was a kid and it was the first vehicle I drove around the parent's homestead. My dad has been having health issues lately and the sight of that old truck stirred up many good childhood memories. I kept driving, telling myself that I didn't need another project and it wasn't worth stopping.
That weekend, I'm sitting on the couch drinking coffee, and the wife complains that she's bored and we should go do something. I jokingly asked her if she wanted to go look at an old truck and she says yes. Half an hour later, we are both walking around this '73 1310, which has a healthy 304 and a 4 speed. We called the number on the for sale sign, met up with the seller, and ended up making a deal.
It is extremely solid for something that existed in the rust belt it's whole life. I figured this has a flatbed on it; It can pull double-duty as a farmstand and firewood hauler. I found a tag from Racine County, WI inside the cab for asset disposal authorization, which leads me to believe this was a county-owned work vehicle. They scrapped it out at some point, and the fellow I bought the truck pulled it out of the junkyard close to a decade ago. His stepfather and a buddy worked to get the engine running, and they had it running and driving around their farm eventually. Time passed, his stepfather passed away, and he was left to help his mother start cleaning up the farm... and now it's in my driveway.
