2021 - Volume #45, Issue #6, Page #38
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“One-Of-A-Kind” Tractor Has A Lift Ramp On Back
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When Boquist bought his Empire 88, it was “basically a standard tractor equipped with a front plow blade,” he says. “I removed the blade and did a frame-off restoration to refurbish the tractor.”
Boquist overhauled the engine on his Empire and repaired the transmission and brakes. He modified the operator platform to accept two individual seats, one for him as the driver and one for his wife. Around the platform, he built framing to support a re-built Tokheim cab. He says the rusted cab he found at a farm auction was originally made for a Farmall H or M tractor.
“Back in the 40’s those cabs were quite the deal,” says Boquist. “They were made by the same company that built the old-fashioned Tokheim gas pumps. IH dealers sold the cabs for $148, with optional cab lights and windshield adding about $5 more.”
Boquist rebuilt the old cab wider and taller, forming new metal doors, sides, a roof and the windshield surround. At the rear of the tractor, Boquist built a special platform to hold Wilma’s mobility vehicle when they drive in parades and attend shows. “She backs right onto the ramp; it raises up and she can get into her seat using grab rails. I made a battery-powered winch to raise and lower the ramp and even have a rack on the back to hold her walker.”
Topping off his re-build is a shiny red paint job on the body, cab and platform along with gleaming harvest gold wheels. “There’s not another one like it and we sure had a lot of fun touring parades and shows and seeing the crowd wave and smile as we drove by,” Boquist says.
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Harold Boquist, 602 O St. Apt. 500, Saint Paul, Neb. 68873.
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