My Favorite Ride: The 1957 Ford tractor that Richard Peden owned is still on the farm

When you own 34 tractors, it might be hard to select a favorite one. For Joe Peden, it's not so difficult. 

I suspect that if pressed, he would point to this orange-and-gray 1957 Ford 960 tricycle tractor. His dad, Richard Peden, bought it new 65 years ago at the Bloomington Ford Dealership that was in the old Graham Building downtown.

The 1957 advertisement for the tractor heralded its features, encouraging farmers to purchase "The Great New Ford Tricycle Tractors for easier, better, safer row crop farming."

The tractor has a 6-volt electrical system with one battery, and came standard with manual steering, but power-assist steering was available. 

The 3,200-pound tractor, manufactured in Highland Park, Michigan, sold for $2,561. Adjusted for inflation, that would be $27,184.05 in 2022 dollars, a steal given the cost of farm equipment today.

I saw one for sale online that the ad said was "in good mechanical shape. Everything is there, but the cosmetics are rusty and beat up." The owner wanted $2,700, about what it cost new.

The 1957 Ford 960 five-speed row-crop tractor had a four-cylinder, eight-valve engine. Peden's is still in great condition and runs well. There's a new battery strapped into the 44-horsepower engine. 

"We've rebuilt the motor two or three times, and we've kept using it to rake hay. It's good to keep a tractor running if you can," he said.

"It's the one my dad used to pick corn with," Peden recalled. The last time was in 1984, when Richard Peden was in his 80s, and harvested 105 wagon loads of corn while behind the wheel of his old tractor.

"He planted the corn that year, and we all helped," his son said. "Harvest time was always rewarding for him, bringing in the grain at the end of the season."

On Sept. 29 and 30, the old Ford tractor hauled a long wooden hay wagon loaded with children attending the Children's Farm Festival held at the Peden Farm on Maple Grove Road in Monroe County. There were 14 hayride wagons in use.

The passengers sat on bales of straw. Local farmer Richard Headdy drove Peden's 1957 Ford most of the day Thursday, taking groups of 3- and 4-year-olds on scenic rides around the farm fields. Clouds, fluffy like cotton balls, filled the vast blue autumn sky.

They children were smiling. So was Headdy, his mind chock full of memories of life on the farm. 

Have a story to tell about a car, truck - or tractor? Contact My Favorite Ride reporter Laura Lane at llane@heraldt.com or 812-318-5967.