To say Dave Morlock, Wadesville, Ind., owns a unique tractor would be an understatement. It’s the history that makes his Cockshutt Golden Arrow, restored and ready to go, unique.
Morlock sent recent pictures of the tractor, as well as documentation of its history and original owners. This Golden Arrow, the second one of this model ever built, was given away by Indiana Farm Bureau Co-op in a prize drawing in March 1957 at the annual stockholder meeting. The lucky winner was Hubert Goble. He, his wife, Naomi, and their three children farmed near Westport in Decatur County.
Indiana Farm Bureau Co-op was still in the implement business in 1957. According to Implement Bulletin No. 698, published by Indiana Farm Bureau Co-op, the tractor was delivered on April 2 by Noble Krum, implement department manager for the Decatur County Farm Bureau Co-op. Robert Martin, county co-op manager, presented the keys.
Morlock says Goble owned the tractor until around 1965, when John Rennekamp, Sunman, bought it and used it for roughly 50 years. Morlock bought it in 2015.
Being given away as a prize isn’t the only unique thing about this tractor. For a while, it was the only Golden Arrow in the U.S. It was built in Canada, and Cockshutt intended it to be an experimental demonstration tractor. According to tractordata.com, the Golden Arrow was a Model 550 built on a Model 35 frame to showcase the new draft-sensing three-point hitch. Only 135 Golden Arrows were made — all in 1957.
Reportedly, Cockshutt’s plan was to recall the Golden Arrows after serving as demonstrators and remake them as Model 550s. However, several were never recalled.
One sits in Dave Morlock’s barn in Wadesville, he reports. Thanks, Dave, for sharing a piece of Hoosier history with Indiana Prairie Farmer readers.
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