I&I refurbishes classic wheatland tractor

PENFIELD, Ill. — The annual Historic Farm Days may have been put on hold until next year, but chances remain for a Minneapolis-Moline G1000 wheatland tractor.

The I&I Antique Tractor and Gas Engine Club will draw the lucky winner at 2 p.m. July 12 at the Penfield show grounds. The tractor was refurbished and painted by club members.

Proceeds from this annual tractor drawing help support the club’s year-round activities.

Only 300 tickets will be sold for the classic tractor. The second prize is $200 and $100 for the third prize.

There are downloadable ticket forms on the event's website at www.historicfarmdays.com. Contact information also is available on the website.

“It’s from the mid-1960s, and it’s called a wheatland because it’s used in wheat areas. It runs on propane,” George McMannis said.

“Minneapolis-Moline was big into propane back in the day because propane was cheap. The propane worked well with their motors because they put higher compression heads on it as propane is 100 octane,” Dave Waters added.

“The difference between a wheatland and a row-crop tractor is you can’t adjust the front and the back wheels on the wheatland.”

The G1000 wheatland tractor was produced from April 1966 through 1969. During that timeframe, 821 LP and 2,050 diesel wheatland models were produced.

Wheatland models also differed from row-crop models with their large wrap over rear fenders and operator station front close out panels. The operator boarded the wheatland from the back of the tractor whereas the row-crop version was boarded from in front of the rear fender.

Minneapolis-Moline and B.F. Avery were to be the featured machinery for the 2020 Historic Farm Days. They will now join Massey-Ferguson as the featured machinery in the show July 8-11, 2021.