A while back I stumbled on a 1953 Ford Golden Jubilee tractor for sale by the side of the road.

You can guess what happened next ....

Anyway - the tractor turns out to have a Sherman three speed auxiliary transmission, which was a dealer installed

aftermarket option. Pretty handy.

My brother has my grandfather's original Jubilee. It has been used and abused by all of us for most of our lives.

As kids we all learned to drive on it. Some of us did our level headed best to make it go much faster than it was ever meant to go.

Now it's getting tired. So, we have decided to bring the tractor into the shop over the winter for a major restoration.

The plan is to split the tractor, rebuild the engine, put in a new clutch, pressure plate & throw-out bearing, radiator, belts and hoses.

The tires are pretty new, but the brakes need help. And there is a lot of other work to do.

When it's all ready, we will prep it and paint it in original colors.

Using these two tractors, and an Oliver HG42 crawler that I have, in the woods for firewood has been a blast.

These are a real tribute to American ingenuity and engineering. The amount of work these little tractors will do is fantastic.

With the rebuild complete, the Jubilee should last for the rest of our lives.

Pretty amazing in a throw away world.