1937 John Deere A

[Yogie]

My dad found this tractor sitting in a swamp area around Canton, Ohio back in 1965.
The engine was stuck and the whole thing was in pretty bad shape, the owner sold it to him at that time for $35 cash.... I was about 5 at the time and I remember him draging it home where got it running while mom took the paint brush to the whole thing. We lived in a small town and he kept it there for a while riding us around until time to haul it south to our farm in WVa.
About 4 years later we moved south while he drove the distance back and forth every week until he retired about 1981. Every weekend my brothers and I would have to have things ready for him when he came home, one of those things was hauling water from the well to fill the A. Each Sunday after working all weekend he'd open the gate valve and drain it all out.
It woke me up from sleep many Sunday mornings and I'd hit the floor to catch a ride to keep from walking where ever on the farm we were working that day. Dad used it for everything from using the rear wheels to clean the farm ditches to running the square bailer, hammer mill and pulling the spreader. I remember my brother and I riding on the front bolster to add extra weight while dad was climbing steep hills. This is the tractor that the pto caught my pants and tore them off of me when I climbed on from the rear.... Boy was dad ever mad.
About 1987 he parked it in the shed, he had larger tractors and was tired of hand cranking the thing. At that time I picked it up and stripped the paint, added new tires and a paint job. I ran it in a local parade and put it back to work pulling a trailer type bush hog mowing 3 acres a few times a year. I've given it a nicer paint job since then and used it for many many tasks.
It's the most dependable tractor I have and will start at any time asked. I've started it several times the past year but never had it out of the barn....
I fell bad about that, and it'll get the workout this summer running around this neighborhood until Christmas parade time before going under covers again.
This tractor is what lead me to cubs, I remember the good and bad times with dad while using the A and I wanted to share a memory with Grayson that will out last me.
Yogie

[Joe Malinowski]

Very nice Dave.

[Cecil]

Nice unstyled A. We had a couple of styled A's a some B's when I was growing up on the farm. We also had a couple of 60's.

[Bigdog]

Yogie - it is a beautiful tractor!

[56cub]

Veyr nice tractor and also great story.

[Bob McCarty]

Great story and great looking tractor Yogie.

Bob

[Steve K. CALIF]

Thanks for the nice shots of the tractor and more importantly, for sharing a very nice set of personal memories. Steve

[Don McCombs]

Beautiful tractor, David.

[Stanton]

It's interesting what leads people to Cubs. When I started reading your story, I had no idea how it would be tied to a Cub, but there you have it.

Thanks for sharin' the photos and the story. It was worth reading.

My uncle has a styled A (not sure what year--maybe a '38-'40?) that I would like to have someday...

[OliverFarmall]

Nice work. Good story. Glad to know my cousins and I weren't the only ones used as balast for farmwork.

[Jim Reid]

It may be GREEN Yogie but that is a jewel plus a good story.

Jim

[redfin]

That is a beauty Yogie. Fantastic story as well.

[ricky racer]

Thanks for sharing Yogie. Great story and great looking tractor. I was raised on a '49 John Deere A and will never forget that tractor. It is obvious that you have a connection to that tractor and want to pass that Dad - Tractor - Son connection to Gray Cub with his Cub. Good job.
My '37 A will also start anytime even 20 below zero. Close the choke and roll it over a few times. When it pops, open the choke, roll it over again and away it goes!! I used to tie a long rope to a sled and pull my daughter around the field in the snow when she was younger. The skeleton wheels go through the deep snow better than my JD B with pneumatic tires. The steel wheels go right through the snow and bite into the frozen ground. Good times!!

[papermaker]

Love the Old "GP" Deeres

[Mr E]

Very nice, Yogie ! I love your story.