T5 Bumgartz

 "A T5 Bumgartz 1-cylinder diesel air-cooled. *Mr. Charlie Arndt gave this to me a number of years ago. The front wheels will turn square to the right or to the left. You’ll see the geometry above the front tire. Real strange. I’ve had it a number of years. It’s a T5 1-cylinder diesel. That’s a wood seat on it. I keep meaning to put varnish on that seat. Just haven’t got around to it yet.



He had bought a tiller for it and put it on the rear from Sears Roebuck. And he said it worked great. He hit a root and broke the chain. I’ve repaired the chain; just haven’t put the motor on it yet. It has a separate motor. It’s got 8-speed transmission."

*This is a very small tractor.  Daddy told me that it came from Germany where the farming spaces are small and that many plant nurseries in the US used them.   

**Mr. Charlie Arndt was a Marine veteran of World War II who lived in Caledonia, Mississippi.  He always got Daddy to work on this tractor when it needed something, and he gave it to Daddy a few years before he passed away because he knew Daddy could keep it running. ~Missy

Gary Holtman
Columbus, Mississippi

1937 A Farmall


"This tractor’s serial number is FR138. The R stands for research. According to Frank Peacock, the late zone manager for International Harvestor, this tractor was put out on a farm in Calhoun County, Mississippi in 1937, two years before they came on the market. The serial number of all production models begins in 501. This tractor is real unique in that it has an outlet for a hydraulic pump on the motor that’s the same as the Super C. Of course, you’ve got to remember that these tractors didn't come out until ’39, so that’s the reason for the unusual things about it."

"The right blue lever you see is-I’m not sure what it goes to. I think it goes to a rear-mounted two-pan, pull-type breaking plow, semi-mounted. The tall right blue lever goes to a disc breaking plow that goes between the front and back wheels, and you set the right front wheel out so that it runs in the previous furrow and the right rear wheel runs in the new furrow. I bought this tractor in 1964 for $300 for it and all the equipment from Rev. Grover Perkins. He bought it from W.M. Hardin, better known as Jack Hardin up at Caledonia (Mississippi). Jack Hardin got it from up at Calhoun County, maybe from the original owner that got it when International Harvestor never came back and got it."

"I restored this tractor back in the winter of 2009 just like it---it’s probably done its last day’s work."

"So they put this on a farm and they never came and got it. "(Missy)

"There's also a B Farmall with a cotton picker on it that I’ve got pictures of –same deal---in Calhoun County. Who knows why."

Gary Holtman
Columbus, Mississippi

1939 F 14 Farmall "Grandpa's Tractor"


“This is my daddy’s F-14 Farmall. He bought it from John Schnicke Implement Company in Meadow Grove, Nebraska in 1939, September of ’39, 3 months before I was born. This tractor came out with dual tires on the rear. I believe they were 7 x 44, and we took those off and put 40 inch single tires on it in about 1947 after we moved to Missouri. One of my brothers borrowed the back tires off of it to put on his F-12 and put his F-12 steel wheels on it, and that’s the way it was when I got it, but thank goodness they sent the old wheels with it.

I rebuilt the engine on this tractor. Daddy rebuilt it in 1952, as best I recall, and it had been run just a few hours after that, so the bottom end was in good shape. The engine was stuck. I drove the piston sleeves out with a slegehammer and looked at them, and they looked just like C Farmall piston sleeves. I had a brand new set of those and I put those in and they fit perfect. In looking at an old parts book later on I found out that the piston sleeves, rod-bearings, and the main-bearings are the same as the C Farmall. Now, you’ll notice it has a rag joint on the steering. That’s a shock joint. The F 12, the steering shaft came straight back and it set a lot lower. It was unhandy. On the F 14 they raised it up and they put this rag-joint in it. I went to CarQuest and they had exactly what I needed for a late-model pickup. It fit perfect.

This tractor has a road gear. This arm on the front that you see there is called a “quick dodge.” This particular cultivator came out in 1932 and I have a manual for it. It’s called a “quick dodge” for dodging stuff in the field.

What does that mean “road gear?” (Missy)
"That means instead of running 3 miles an hour top speed, it runs 12. I’ve driven it many miles on the highway.

Another story on the F 14 is I got it in August of ’07. My oldest brother Bobby had terminal cancer so I had to get things rolling real quick if he was going to get to see a picture of it. And he did get to see a picture of it. I don’t know if he really realized what he was looking at or not, but…
Oh, and another thing about that. Daddy bought it from John Schnicke. I called my brother Paul. He couldn’t remember who Daddy bought it from. I called my brother David. He couldn’t remember. So I called Valjean King, our landlady up in Nebraska, who we go by and see every year. She is nearly 90 years old now, just a sweet lady. And she said, “Well, Gary, that was John Schnicke…Let me check the phone book and make sure I’ve got the spelling right.”

Bought new by Louis Holtman - Grandpa

Gary Holtman  (My daddy)
Columbus, Mississippi