Morgans ready for another old-time plow

For the 18th year, area vintage tractor enthusiasts will gather at the David Morgan ranch in the Palouse River Valley at Manning to work up the ground for another fall crop.

Morgan has his own collection of more than a dozen tractors, ranging from John Deere wheel tractors to Caterpillar crawlers to a brilliant red International T-D 6.

“My dad used to farm with an International just like that,” Morgan said in his shop Monday. “I remember harvesting with it when I was a kid.”

Morgan’s collection started with a 1939 John Deere Model H, which he has restored to near-new condition.

Advertised as the replacement for the horse on one and two-horse farms, the wheel tractor was not actually used much in the hilly Palouse. Instead, crawler tractors like the Caterpillars or that red International ruled the hills because they could better grip the slopes.

To stay busy in the slow winter months, Morgan has for years taken to his shop, where he restores the classic tractors and modifies some for modern farmwork.

“It keeps you out of pool halls, which makes for less domestic problems. It also keeps you out of the house, which I suppose you could say makes for even less domestic problems,” he laughed.

The antique tractors will fire up for the plow bee on the Morgan ranch three miles out the Manning Road Saturday at 10 a.m.