Rural Missouri - April 2020 - 30

by Zach Smith | zsmith@ruralmissouri.coop

terraced ﬁelds and milled lumber for countless neighbors
and friends. He also was one of the few people in the area
who could provide employment for out-of-work farmhands
he International Harvester Co. stood by the quality
during the Great Depression.
of its products, but it's unlikely anyone expected
"The men would come begging him to let them work for
the 1930 McCormick-Deering 22-36 owned by the
a chicken a day to keep from starving," remembers Anton's
late Anton Schulte to still be running close to a
son, Louis. "Dad, when he'd tell the story, he'd get tears in
century later. Like many old tractors across the country,
his eyes. He felt bad he couldn't hire everybody."
once it was no longer needed it saw its share of fallow
Hard times aside, the tractor is the centerpiece of hapyears sitting by the shed.
pier memories in the countryside. In high summer,
That was until last fall. The tractor came out
the 7,000-pound machine trundling from farm to
of a 55-year retirement when owner Eric Schulfarm signaled threshing season and the immense
te and his cousin-in-law, Rod Rackers, brought
feasts that accompanied it. But beneath the tracthe tractor and its blade together again to terrace
tor's nostalgic presence lurks a harder truth of
a ﬁeld in Moniteau County. By all accounts, the
agriculture: Nothing comes easy. The original
old workhorse ran like a dream.
Centertown
steel wheels made the tractor uncomfortable
"When tractors ﬁrst came out, it was related to
to ride and more dangerous to load on a trailhow many horses they could work equal to," Eric
er. The crank used to start the engine can
says, noting the "22-36" designates the horsepower
break wrists like corn stalks, if held incorrectoutput at the vehicle's drawbar and belt, respectively. During harvest time it was always possible
ly. "This one was huge. As far as a gas-powered tracsomeone could fall into the thresher. Such an incident
tor, this was about as big as they got."
befell one of Anton's hired hands, but the vigilant farmer
To the Schulte family of Centertown, the tractor is
managed to shut off the feeder before any harm was done.
more than the reliable, powerful machine it proved to be
Louis and his uncle Joe escaped another sort of near miss
over the years. It's the source of countless memories and
in the early 1950s.
stories that together make up the Schulte family history.
"He cautioned me all the time that when the guys who
Rod, who has done much of the research on the tractor's
were pitching bundles up on the wagon came in from the
history, says it evokes fond memories for others wherever
ﬁeld they might be smoking or have matches in their pockit goes.
ets. If they did, then the straw pile would go up in blazes in
"It's kind of like antique cars or trucks - for a lot of
a great big hurry," Joe remembers.
people that goes back to their dad or their grandpa or their
As fate would have it, that's exactly what happened. Joe
great-grandpa," the Co-Mo Electric Cooperative member
and Louis managed to move the tractor and thresher while
says. "I grew up on a farm, and something like this takes
another farmer moved the pickup that was catching the
you back."
grain just in time. At the end of the season, Anton paid his
Using his trusty tractor, Anton Schulte threshed grain,

Below left: The tractor after Stephen purchased it in 1994. Below right: Anton and Catherine Schulte after the tractor was restored.

photos courtesy Stephen Schulte

RURAL MISSOURI | APRIL 2020

Rural Missouri - April 2020

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