Knight brings classic M-M tractors to life

POTOMAC, Ill. — Minneapolis-Moline was the tractor of choice when Kenny Knight was a young lad on the family farm near Bismarck.

Fast-forward to the late 1980s, early 1990s when Knight attended one of the early Historic Farm Days at Middle Fork River Forest Preserve north of Penfield and noticed no Minneapolis-Molines at the show.

“Those tractors we farmed with were still in a sealed up shed over at Bismarck where I grew up. Daddy had three of them,” Knight reflected. “I have all three of them now. I have two in the museum here on the farm and the other in another building. That’s how I got started.”

Since those first efforts of refurbishing classic tractors, Knight’s interest rapidly grew.

“I knew some people who had some tractors like a friend, Dean Piatt (of Gifford). Dean had about 15 tractors and I painted about all of them but one. I painted for 50 years and after a while you get that knack. In fact, (Grandson) Dylan wants to do that for a living and he’s pretty good,” Knight said.

“Still nowadays you won’t see a lot of ‘M and M’ at shows, even Masseys. It’s John Deere and International.”

Knight had a sharp-looking 1970 Minneapolis-Moline M670 parked outside when AgriNews visited him June 7. Parked next to it was a Massey-Harris 44 from the late 1940s, early 1950s, a 1967 Minneapolis-Moline 108 lawnmower and a Massey miniature tractor made by Marvin Hari of Cissna Park.

“Dean Piatt passed away Dec. 27, 2020, and the Minneapolis-Moline M670 was his tractor. His uncle had previously owned it, and Dean always said that I would end up with it when he was gone. I had painted it originally probably 10 years ago. So, we brought it home and just refreshed the frame and stuff. We didn’t do any of the sheet metal,” Knight said.

“I also have some Twin Cities tractors which are forerunners to ‘M and M.’ Some of them will say ‘M and M’ Twin City on the tractors. Before that they would have been either straight Twin City or straight Minneapolis. I have a little bit of that, too.

“It’s an art to bring the tractors back to life. I probably have 15-plus tractors that I’ve restored.”

A triple-header of tractor brands will be featured at Historic Farm Days July 8-11 at Penfield. Massey Ferguson is the scheduled feature for 2021 and will be joined by B.F. Avery and Minneapolis-Moline, both of which were to have been highlighted at the 2020 show that was canceled.

Knight’s tractors will be among those displayed at Historic Farm Days.