His Rare Farmall Is A Show Stopper
Don Olson has restored a dozen different tractors in the past 30 years, but his favorite is a 1954 Farmall Super M-TA diesel. “It’s in meticulous condition, probably the nicest and most unique model like that you’ll ever see,” says Conrad Fiskness, a friend of Olsons and former president of the Minnesota International Harvester Collector’s Club.
Olson acquired the tractor about 20 years ago and spent countless hours doing a “frame-off” restoration. “I removed everything possible, cleaned and re-used what I could, and replaced what was unusable,” Olson says. He acquired parts at swap meets and from other IH collectors and found that one of the toughest items to locate was an Electrall generator and the gearbox that mounts on the tractor to drive it.
“A trailer-mounted Electrall was by far the most common generator sold, and many of the people I met at tractor shows owned one and wanted to mount it on their tractor, but they didn’t have the gearbox to make it work,” says Olson.
Using his inventive and engineering skills, along with help from a friend who was a gear cutter, they made 6 replica gearboxes. Olson had a foundry cast the housings and parts and harden the gears. “A machinist friend did the bore alignment and other machining,” Olson says.
He used one of the gearboxes to mount the Electrall generator on the right side of the M-TA tractor frame, just in front of the belt pulley. The Electrall is driven by belts from the gear box and a pulley that takes power from the tractor’s internal live pto gear set. The other 5 replica gearboxes he sold to other collectors.
Olson’s tractor is also unique because it starts on gas and then switches to diesel. To start the engine on gas, he pulls a lever that opens a starting valve in each of the four combustion chambers, changing the compression ratio to 6.48:1. The starting lever also activates the distributor and redirects air in the intake manifold to route through the carburetor. The fixed throttle carburetor starts the engine on gasoline and runs it to about 800 rpm. At that point Olson pulls the lever to open the diesel injection pump throttle, which switches the engine over to diesel.
In diesel mode the tractor has a 16.5:1 compression ratio with direct fuel injection through a cast iron IH Model B pump. It delivers about 69cc that activates the injectors at about 1,800 psi.
“The diesel engine starts just fine and has a smooth, deep rumble that really attracts attention at shows,” says Olson. “People also gather around the tractor to marvel at its detailing, including levers for the TA, the pto, the belt pulley, the starter, the dual acting hydraulics and the especially unique gas-to-diesel lever.”
Olson’s “factory-quality” restoration has an OEM seat, a toolbox mounted on the steering column, a spinner knob on the steering wheel, and OEM fenders protecting the new tires. His tractor has an after-market wide front end rather than the OEM row-crop front wheels.
Complementing his tractor is his fully-restored McCormick 55 baler, which also has an Electrall motor. Olson’s earlier restorations included a 1941 H, an Allis B, a Deere AW, a Ford 8N, an IH 350 and a 1946 Farmall M. “Early on I’d do a tractor every year or two, and when I was almost done, I’d find something else to work on, never making any money on any of them,” Olson says. “That’s when I decided I needed a permanent tractor and decided on the Super M-TA diesel.”
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Don Olson, Ham Lake, Minn. (electralldon@gmail.com).
His Rare Farmall Is A Show Stopper Don Olson has restored a dozen different tractors in the past 30 years but his favorite is a 1954 Farmall Super M-TA diesel “It’s in meticulous condition probably the nicest and most unique model like that you’ll ever see ” says Conrad Fiskness a friend of Olsons and former president of the Minnesota International Harvester Collector’s Club Olson acquired the tractor about 20 years ago and spent countless hours doing a “frame-off” restoration “I removed everything possible cleaned and re-used what I could and replaced what was unusable ” Olson says He acquired parts at swap meets and from other IH collectors and found that one of the toughest items to locate was an Electrall generator and the gearbox that mounts on the tractor to drive it “A trailer-mounted Electrall was by far the most common generator sold and many of the people I met at tractor shows owned one and wanted to mount it on their tractor but they didn’t have the gearbox to make it work ” says Olson Using his inventive and engineering skills along with help from a friend who was a gear cutter they made 6 replica gearboxes Olson had a foundry cast the housings and parts and harden the gears “A machinist friend did the bore alignment and other machining ” Olson says He used one of the gearboxes to mount the Electrall generator on the right side of the M-TA tractor frame just in front of the belt pulley The Electrall is driven by belts from the gear box and a pulley that takes power from the tractor’s internal live pto gear set The other 5 replica gearboxes he sold to other collectors Olson’s tractor is also unique because it starts on gas and then switches to diesel To start the engine on gas he pulls a lever that opens a starting valve in each of the four combustion chambers changing the compression ratio to 6 48:1 The starting lever also activates the distributor and redirects air in the intake manifold to route through the carburetor The fixed throttle carburetor starts the engine on gasoline and runs it to about 800 rpm At that point Olson pulls the lever to open the diesel injection pump throttle which switches the engine over to diesel In diesel mode the tractor has a 16 5:1 compression ratio with direct fuel injection through a cast iron IH Model B pump It delivers about 69cc that activates the injectors at about 1 800 psi “The diesel engine starts just fine and has a smooth deep rumble that really attracts attention at shows ” says Olson “People also gather around the tractor to marvel at its detailing including levers for the TA the pto the belt pulley the starter the dual acting hydraulics and the especially unique gas-to-diesel lever ” Olson’s “factory-quality” restoration has an OEM seat a toolbox mounted on the steering column a spinner knob on the steering wheel and OEM fenders protecting the new tires His tractor has an after-market wide front end rather than the OEM row-crop front wheels Complementing his tractor is his fully-restored McCormick 55 baler which also has an Electrall motor Olson’s earlier restorations included a 1941 H an Allis B a Deere AW a Ford 8N an IH 350 and a 1946 Farmall M “Early on I’d do a tractor every year or two and when I was almost done I’d find something else to work on never making any money on any of them ” Olson says “That’s when I decided I needed a permanent tractor and decided on the Super M-TA diesel ” Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Don Olson Ham Lake Minn electralldon@gmail com
