17-Year-Old Produced A Blue Ribbon Tractor Restoration
“I probably got my first tractor ride from my Grandpa when I was a year or two old, and from then on I always loved tractors,” says 17-year-old Iowa teenager Elijah McGohan. “When my grandpa passed away in 2017 he left four old tractors to my brother and me, so I restored the old Deere G as a 4-H project. It turned out so nice that I displayed it at the county fair where it won the outstanding exhibit, and at the Iowa State Fair, where it got a blue ribbon.”
McGohan says the year-long restoration was probably the hardest work he’s ever done, even though he lives on a farm and has chores and a lot of work to do there. “Getting that old G fixed up and running was really something,” says McGohan.
Since he’d never done a restoration before, McGohan enlisted the help of his grandpa’s first cousin Richard McGohan, a retired mechanic. Together they took every nut, bolt and piece of rusted metal from the frame, structure and engine of the old G.
“The tractor was really a mess because it probably sat 50 years without running,” McGohan says. “I spent a lot of time trying to get rusted nuts and bolts apart, and the ones that broke or twisted off, we had to drill out and set new ones. We got the head off the motor okay, and pushed the pistons out with a long pipe. The crankshaft had a little oil on it, so it wasn’t completely frozen.”
McGohan says the toughest part of the project was getting the rear wheels apart. “Even though they were split rims, it was like they were welded together, and we couldn’t break them loose even with 32 tons on a press.” Eventually one of the wheels broke loose when they accidentally dropped the point of the axle on a concrete floor. After that they took the wheels to a blacksmith shop that was able to get both wheels apart.
“Re-assembling everything and getting the motor to run and the transmission to shift was really fun,” McGohan says. “Every piece had to line up and fit together perfectly. Even though the project was a huge amount of work, it was also a lot of fun, especially when the motor fired up and we could drive it. I also really enjoyed painting it and got my own gun, which I’ve already used to paint my dad’s flatbed and put primer on a B tractor.”
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Elijah McGohan, 1771 150th St., Mt. Pleasant, Iowa 52641
17-Year-Old Produced A Blue Ribbon Tractor Restoration TRACTORS Antiques “I probably got my first tractor ride from my Grandpa when I was a year or two old and from then on I always loved tractors ” says 17-year-old Iowa teenager Elijah McGohan “When my grandpa passed away in 2017 he left four old tractors to my brother and me so I restored the old Deere G as a 4-H project It turned out so nice that I displayed it at the county fair where it won the outstanding exhibit and at the Iowa State Fair where it got a blue ribbon ” McGohan says the year-long restoration was probably the hardest work he’s ever done even though he lives on a farm and has chores and a lot of work to do there “Getting that old G fixed up and running was really something ” says McGohan Since he’d never done a restoration before McGohan enlisted the help of his grandpa’s first cousin Richard McGohan a retired mechanic Together they took every nut bolt and piece of rusted metal from the frame structure and engine of the old G “The tractor was really a mess because it probably sat 50 years without running ” McGohan says “I spent a lot of time trying to get rusted nuts and bolts apart and the ones that broke or twisted off we had to drill out and set new ones We got the head off the motor okay and pushed the pistons out with a long pipe The crankshaft had a little oil on it so it wasn’t completely frozen ” McGohan says the toughest part of the project was getting the rear wheels apart “Even though they were split rims it was like they were welded together and we couldn’t break them loose even with 32 tons on a press ” Eventually one of the wheels broke loose when they accidentally dropped the point of the axle on a concrete floor After that they took the wheels to a blacksmith shop that was able to get both wheels apart “Re-assembling everything and getting the motor to run and the transmission to shift was really fun ” McGohan says “Every piece had to line up and fit together perfectly Even though the project was a huge amount of work it was also a lot of fun especially when the motor fired up and we could drive it I also really enjoyed painting it and got my own gun which I’ve already used to paint my dad’s flatbed and put primer on a B tractor ” Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Elijah McGohan 1771 150th St Mt Pleasant Iowa 52641
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