Central Mountain FFA restores ‘52 Deere M tractor, enters it in Farm Show
By Christopher Miller
MILL HALL, PA – When it comes to Central Mountain High School FFA, there have been a lot of green thumbs recently. John Deere green, to be precise.
“Going to the PA Farm Show this year we have a 1952 John Deere M tractor restored by Central Mountain FFA,” said Agricultural Mechanics teacher Paul Bohnert.
“When we got the John Deere M it was in pretty rough shape having sat outside for twenty years,” Paul explained. “The tractor did not run, the rear wheels did not turn and we had to do a complete restoration.”
Restoration work started by pulling off the rear wheel and the axle to see what exactly was wrong in the rear end.
“We found the breaks were set,” Paul said.
“Next we did a compression test and found we needed to do some valve work and install a new head gasket. After rebuilding the carburetor we were able to get the engine running and checked out the transmission and clutch.”
The next thing the team did was clean the entire chassis of old grease and paint. “We had to find a hood and grill and complete all of the bodywork to get it ready for paint and new tires,” said Paul.
In all, 12 students took part in the work and restoration of this once forgotten about piece of John Deere history.
“The students taking part in the restoration were Dylan Baker, Ethan Coakley, Aaron Geiling, John Green, Jake Leiter, Evan Hillyer, Caleb Mills, Wyatt Ripka, Chase Rishell, Lucas Rosamillia, Drew VanGorder, Limver Vilarreal Marin, and Wyatt Wilson.
Mr. Bohnert also shared a link to a YouTube video of the restoration process of the tractor.
“By watching this video, the public can vote for our tractor to win an award at the PA Farm Show,” said Paul. To see the video, please go to: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hm_kXpFYhL4&t=8s
To vote go to:
