My Cubs

Ellie-Mae

Ellie-Mae is my first ever Cub. I finally bought her from my Brother-in-Law, Georges Gautreau in September of 2002. My wife Emilie's uncle Clorice Surette has a Cub, one which I have been drooling over for almost 22 years now. I always wanted one, not sure why as the other family tractor is Dad's Massey Ferguson 2040. There was something about the Cub, still not sure what, but something that made me want to have one badly. I finally have one, and I do not think I shall ever tire of Cubs. My goal is to eventually restore Ellie to nearly original condition but she will still be a working tractor.

Working With Ellie-Mae

This is where I will try to document my feeble attempts at working with Ellie-Mae. So far the only thing I have asked her to do is to plow snow and haul a little wood. This year though things are going to change. Ellie has to earn her keep, so new jobs are in store for her.
This is the first summer that she will be taking on new tasks and I will be learning how to do them properly. Hope you enjoy some of these presentations as much as I had fun learning.

Ellie-Mae's First Plowing

Jethro on the other hand was an accidental purchase. My buddy Roger Landry has a Massey Harris Pony which he is sort of restoring. He was by the house to do some electrical work for me, when he saw Ellie and said that he had one at home just like her that they were trying to get rid of. Mmmmm, smelled a deal! Went to his place and saw this forlorn rustin to junk tractor that was missing just about everything. I said to myself - Self you really don't want this tractor even for parts! Then he showed me the tires that went with it. Never been on the tractor - brand spanking new. He said his mother-in-law wanted $100.00 for the whole shebang. Never saw a hundred bucks leave my wallet so fast! Now, Jethro is going to be my project tractor, the first one to restore. Basically Jethro is going to be my learning curve.

Jethro's Restoration

This is where I will try to document my attempt at restoring my little piece of Old Iron! I hope you enjoy the trip along with me. I am sure it will be interesting to say the least.

Jethro's Restoration

Pepere's Frost and Woods Hay Rake
A Restored Frost and Woods Hay Rake

The first pic is of my wife Emilie's grandfather Francis LeBlanc's old Frost and Woods Hay Rake which he bought new in the mid 40's. The rake has been in her uncle's possession and he allowed us to have it with the promise that it would never leave the family. This will be one project the whole family can get together on to restore the rake to like new condition.
Well, we thought it was a Frost and Woods Hay Rake! I was kind of surprised when my friend Gordon Trail brought back an advertising brochure that he had loaned me. Silly me, I did not recognize what was in the brochure and what was in my yard was one and the same thing. Turns out that this Frost and Woods Dump Rake is actually a McCormick Type M, 12 Foot Dump Hay Rake. Now that it's identity has been confirmed, I hope that I can find an Owner's Manual and a Parts Manual so I can carry on with the restoration.
Seems the reason for the confusion is that Francis had more than one hay rake. He had 3 or 4, some being IH?McCormick and some Frost and Woods. Hmmmm, now if I can only find the Frost and Woods!!!
The second pic is of a restored Frost and Snow Hay Rake that my Father-in-law and I saw at the Sussex Tractor Show this past May. It was the catalyst for rounding up the family rake and the idea to restore it.

Logging Wagon

Seeing as Ellie-Mae is a working tractor, I guess she needs some equipment so she can go to work. One of my needs was for a small trailer that could be pulled by Ellie-Mae or by my Craftsman in a pinch. The trailer was to be primarily used for hauling 4 foot logs from my woodlot down to the shop area where my saw table is. This necessitated a 4 wheel wagon design.
Now, not being able to weld (yet!), I was kind of limited to materials that I could afford/work with and had on hand. We had just finished building our new deck, so I had some pressure treated 4x4's left over. I started mulling things over, put a few pieces together much as in a match stick model and went from there. Primarily because I had no idea how to build this, there is no working drawings of the wagon as of yet. I hope to complete them over the course of the next few weeks/months. They will be posted to the Implement and Part Sketches section on the server.
The pictures below indicate what evolved eventually into my logging wagon. I have been using it now for almost a month, and aside from some slight modifications (non-structural) that need to be completed, the design works as envisioned.

Frost and Woods New 8 Mowing Machine

I acquired this mowing machine from my wife's uncle Clorice Surette. It has been sitting in behind his shed for about 25 years, alone, forlorn and unused. I hope to change this sad state of affairs. The job may be a little bigger than at first thought as the pitman arm and the related cast parts are completely missing. Soooo, I guess I need an Owner's Manual and a Parts Manual for this one as well.

My Trout Pond

The pictures of the pond are my shot at a panoramic view without taking the pics with a panoramic camera. I did not try for it, the pics just turned out that way. The overlap is real close, and gives a reasonable facsimile of the actual view. There is a fountain at the south end of the pond, but it was not running at the time of the pictures. We have done a considerable amount of work since these pics were taken last July.