If it’s spraying season, you might find Danny Gill’s Farmall H hooked to the wagon hauling chemicals. The sprayer it supplies, a self-propelled John Deere, likely cost 100 times more new than the Farmall H did, and perhaps then some. The two make a good team today, however.

So why is there one old, red Farmall surrounded by green equipment and green signs almost everywhere you look on this farm? Danny Gill, Franklin, Ind., explains.

“My dad needed a tractor, and someone had traded it in at the local John Deere dealer, which was C&H Farm Supply in Franklin back in the day,” Gill says. “Herman Henry, part owner of the dealership, didn’t want to keep a red tractor on the John Deere lot very long. So he sold it to Dad.”

The tractor was repainted once. Gill repainted it many years ago, so it still has a good coat of paint — but it’s definitely not a restored, show tractor. Those machines are stored inside Gill’s sheds, each one restored over time by him, and each one green — from two cylinders to New Generation tractors.  

So why hasn’t Gill restored the Farmall H? Gill’s dad, David, died many years ago.

“One of the last things he told me was to keep using the Farmall H,” Gill says. “So I’ve honored his request, and we use it for chores like pulling the spray wagon and other things where it comes in handy around the farm.”

If you have a tractor with a neat story, share it with Indiana Prairie Farmer readers. Send a digital picture, preferably with you on or near the tractor, to: [email protected].