26 replies to this topic

[mike1972chev]

I had one of these as a kid in red ,with the white top on it in the early 1970s. I played with it until it was gone !!!! (Along with the famous Tonka dump truck !)  lol  In the past years ,I have a BAD habit of buying these up in bad shape, redoing them, and then give them away to the nephews, and other kids who still like the old, steel REAL toys. (Something I have done in between the slot cars, and the 1/1 REAL cars I try to work on still...  :/ )

 

This is the latest one in safety yellow. This one took a bit of body work, as it had some bad rust pitting in the hood area after sand blasting. Something I NEVER understood is that tonka sent out these "Dune Buggy" Jeeps NOT EVEN close to being level????  The rear ends had about an inch of "rake" in it ,and was dragging it's butt around like a dog that had something stuck to it!   I add  my custom leveling kits to each one of them before I ship them out. I even was happy with the white letter resto on this particular one.. it will find a new home one of these days with a deserving kid  to play with for years to come.    I will post all of the Tonka stuff I have redone ,then sent them back out on the road/OFF road to be put back in service for years to come hopefully?   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Bill from NH]

Those old Tonkas were tough toys. I had the dump truck & my brother the pickup in the '50s. Both saw a lot of hard constant use outdoors playing in the dirt. We knocked the paint off but spray cans fixed that, When we grew up, we left them at my parent's for younger brothers & sisters to play with as well as their children & grandchildren. One of my brothers-in-law collects ols toys, not just Tonka but Structo & others too. I think our old Tonkas are in his collection. My own son had 6 or 7 pieces of the Tonka large steel yellow construction equipment. When he went in the Army, he left them at our house. Ten years later, our grandsons played with them when they visited from New York & Arizona. When they outgrew them, we donated them to a local childcare facility where they get daily use.

[mike1972chev]

OK, Here are a set that ended up with Nephew #1 and Nephew #2 . I went a little over board with these adding a roll bar and soft tops to them. ( My upholstery guy is UNMATCHED in his talents !   He even added the plastic rear windows !  )  They were probably not the best idea, because I am sure they were played with quite well. Here again, adding the rear leveling kits to them to get an even stance.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[mike1972chev]

These two ended up with Nephew#3 (Gray Jeep ) and Nephew #4 (Red Jeep.)  The Gray Jeep was painted to match my daily driver JL ,even though I am pretty sure these Tonkas were modeled after the old M38s ? (FLAT hoods on them. Because of the flat head engines. The M38A1s got the first domed hoods because of the new over head valve engines.      )  The Red Jeep is wearing an original set of my Tonka wrecker tires/wheels from when i was a kid. I "Monster Trucked" it for him.(Yea the rest is LONG gone ! lol) 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[mike1972chev]

This one I did as a Military Jeep. I added the spare tire. It also got a hitch added .This  will find a new home soon. (Did I tell you I got a new nephew a week ago??? Nephew #5    )   I might do a special one for him yet? 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[mike1972chev]

And these are my last two. The pick up was found at a yard sale for like $5 ,and in semi decent shape. The auto transporter IS my original toy as a kid. It was about the only Tonka to survive me ,as I didnt play with it very much! lol.  I have LONG lost the plastic Corvettes that went with it, but my Parma Womps fit on the deck pretty well I think.   I think the lime green is my favorite Tonka color out of all choices. I will hang onto my transporter for awhile,but like all thing,one day it will end up elsewhere. 

 

 

I STILL wish I had my dump truck,and my wrecker to pass on,but those made it to the scrap yard. I played with them to the death,but that is what they were made for. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Lone Wolf]

Sweet 

 

I have the red Jeep that says Dune Buggy on it.

 

If you haven't already seen them check out Chip Channel Restorations on You tube.

 

Great stuff

[mike1972chev]

Sweet 

 

I have the red Jeep that says Dune Buggy on it.

 

If you haven't already seen them check out Chip Channel Restorations on You tube.

 

Great stuff

Yes,his content is AMAZING...  Some of the resto work he has done goes beyond !    Just to reiterate, I get my Tonka stuff back into "User grade"  condition.....  Most of mine are in play ground use..... 

[Martin]

Hey Mike, I love where your passion for all things wheels takes you. 

 

Keep it up the great saves, 

Martin.

 

I am helping a friend clean their basement and came across a nice old U.S. made metal tractor. It is die cast with rubber tires and is about a 10'' long.

I would like to restore it for the family. 

I will take a pic if you think you can point me in the right direction?

 

 

[Bill from NH]

I compared this to the Hubley Ford I've had since age 12, but it's not the same. My guess is it's a tractor that tractor dealers sold or gave away with 1:1 tractor sales. I've seen plenty of John Deer diecast toy equipment, but not much Ford or other brands. I don't recall who made them. If you have a Ford tractor dealer in your area, inquiring of them might help. 

[Dave Crevie]

Here's what those Hubleys are selling for these days;

 

 

 

 

One Christmas, when I was about five or six, my father's whole family pitched in to get me and my brother one of these. 

 

 

 

Back to the jeeps, when I was working for the railroad museum, a farmer donated an old Willys military jeep. I got the motor running, but when I tried to drive it, I couldn't get the transfer case to engage. I drained the gear oil, and found little pieces of gear teeth in with it. So we just pushed it out on the back fourty. Later we ran across a military Dodge Powerwagon, and got it for pocket change. The intent was to see if we could adapt the transfer case from it onto the jeep. The project got out of hand, and we ended up pulling the entire  driveline from the Powerwagon, and with some good old back yard inginuity, stuffed it all under that jeep. With the wheels and tires from the Dodge, hanging well clear of the fenders, that jeep looked an awful lot like one of those dune buggy Jeeps. Eventually we added a boom to the front of it, using the winch on the front bar to lift small items too heavy for a man to handle. I'll have to check the museum photo archives to see if there is a picture of it in there.   

[Martin]

I did look the Hubley tractor up on ebay, trying to find one cheap enough to replace the missing steering wheel and engine cover.

 

May just wait on this project until I find the missing parts.

 

Sorry Mike for the drift.

[Bill from NH]

ERTL also made some Farm All & International Harvester tractors. Both were all red. The gray fenders on yours tells me it's a Ford.

[mike1972chev]

Hey Mike, I love where your passion for all things wheels takes you. 

 

Keep it up the great saves, 

Martin.

 

I am helping a friend clean their basement and came across a nice old U.S. made metal tractor. It is die cast with rubber tires and is about a 10'' long.

I would like to restore it for the family. 

I will take a pic if you think you can point me in the right direction?

 

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102_9168.JPG

That is a Ford 900 series Martin. Those were Ford's version of the " Row Crop" with the narrow front,and higher clearance to compete with the Farmall  ,and other manufacturer's row crow series. Model 700s being the smaller ford row crop, model 900 being the larger engine one,with bigger final drive.   Mine thay you have seen is a 600 UTILITY (The "SHORT" version of the 700 same engine. )   The 800 UTILITY being the SHORT version of the 900 series with the same size engine respectively. (Did I state all of that  in a clear fashion???  LOL)

 

You have seen my 1955 600 Utility before. (First thing I drove at about age 4... No joke...   ) 

 

 

The Die cast tractor you have there is a LATER 900 series  made after 1957 ( I can tell by the rear fenders.) From 1955 to 1957 they had the earlier sheet metal on them like my 1955 does. From 1958 0n they had the later grill styles. I will post BOTH photos.

 

 

Early 1955-57  

 

LATER 1958 -UP   THIS is what your die cast should look like complete. You are obviously missing the hood,and other parts. 

 

 

 

[Dave Crevie]

Beautiful resto! There is a farm festival every August in Sycamore, Il., and I never realized how popular tractor collecting was until I attended it for the first time some 20 years ago. 

 

As witness to my being half a bubble off plumb, I prefer these old steam traction engines;

 

 

 

 

 

https://youtu.be/2Zb...zelN75vfQYuPQLD

 

 

Wow! We really got way off topic!

[Martin]

"Wow! We really got way off topic!" 

 

Guilty as charged, but in my defence if we are talking about passion and restoration I believe we are right on topic. Just take a look at Mikes beautiful blue Ford tractor. Driven at 4, no wonder you are a gearhead Mike. 

 

Thanks for all the info too. I like the blue on yours. Would that be appropriate for my diecast resto? 

[Dave Crevie]

I would be in favor of a sub-forum, ( or sub-sub forum? ) here under the " Non-slot toys, etc." forum dedicated to restorations of old toys. I am always enamored by the restoration threads of vintage slot cars. Even those outlining the building of reproductions of vintage slot cars. I also love seeing how guys resurrect old toys. At least partly because, even if I didn't own any of the featured toys when I was a little kid, I at least knew of them, and most likely lusted after them. 

 

How 'bout it guys. Can we see more of this? Oh!  And just like math class, show your work!    

[mike1972chev]

"Wow! We really got way off topic!" 

 

Guilty as charged, but in my defence if we are talking about passion and restoration I believe we are right on topic. Just take a look at Mikes beautiful blue Ford tractor. Driven at 4, no wonder you are a gearhead Mike. 

 

Thanks for all the info too. I like the blue on yours. Would that be appropriate for my diecast resto? W@ell

Yea, it really does not bother me about the thread "run away"  Martin.     Its all good.    Well, if you wanted to get onto the 60s is when Ford starting using the blue and white like I did on mine.(Mine would have been that greyish color,and red like the photos i sent you IF it had been a standard tractor,but mine ACTUALLY came safety yellow from Ford  as it was a County highway DOT used tractor.( Talk about "off subject" lol)  Your die cast would be correct in the grey and red in Ford colors from the late 50s. 

[Martin]

O.K. I should repaint red and cream. Just not a fan of the grey. Thanks Mike

[mike1972chev]

O.K. I should repaint red and cream. Just not a fan of the grey. Thanks Mike

Yea, I DO NOT remember what the actual Ford colors are called ??? (I would have to look at my paint cans at the house..)  But mine has the later model REALLY light grey ,with the Ford blue.  I THINK the color that you are referring to as the "cream"  is the early  1950s grey that looks like a "cream/tan" color to me that was used on the 1955-1957. lol    Yea, these all have Ford names, and I CANNOT remember a one right now !   

[Bill from NH]

I was driving my cousin's '53 Ford as a 12-year-old. It was a light gray. That was about 1960 so it already had seven years weathering. The farm across the road from my parents bought at least two new Ford tractors during the '50s. Those were gray too. but maybe a bit darker.

[Dave Crevie]

The railroad museum I worked for had a 1940 Fordson like this. Except that the hood and gas tank had been painted yellow to match the Chicago and Northwestern railroad colors, the railroad that donated it. It was odd because the C&NW shops had rebuilt the engine to run on three cylinders, with the fourth used as a compressor. At the railroad's Green Bay shops, it was used to drive around in the yards, using the compressor to test the air brakes on the train cars. The big tires helped it get over the rails in the yard.

 

[mike1972chev]

The railroad museum I worked for had a 1940 Fordson like this. Except that the hood and gas tank had been painted yellow to match the Chicago and Northwestern railroad colors, the railroad that donated it. It was odd because the C&NW shops had rebuilt the engine to run on three cylinders, with the fourth used as a compressor. At the railroad's Green Bay shops, it was used to drive around in the yards, using the compressor to test the air brakes on the train cars. The big tires helped it get over the rails in the yard.

 

Screenshot 2025-03-17 092737.png

Just an interesting fact about the "Fordson" name. It was chosen to be used by Henry Ford,and his sons, Hence "Fordson" as someone had snached up the "FORD"  name,and stuck it on a cheaply built tractor and sent it out to market. That tractor quickly failed ,and the Ford family finally got that name back for their tractor line.  

[Dave Crevie]

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[Dave Crevie]

Nice bit of history. Thanks, Michael. Always interested in any history about, well, anything that had an engine in it.

 

 

My family history with tractors goes back to Chicago Metal Foundries, owned by my great-grandfather. They cast most of the large iron castings that went into Allis-Chalmers equipment. His back door into that association came with his marriage to Isabella, daughter of James and Agnes Chalmers.   

 

 

 

 

 

A solid brass model of the first crawler made by Allis-Chalmers was cast in the brass shop. They were mounted on a wood base and given out to the Allis-Chalmers dealers, and biggest customers. Somewhere in my house is one of those castings, without the wood base. It was given to James, the son of great-grandfather William, as a toy. It was passed down to my father, then to me when he passed.

 

 

Incidently, the headstock bearing casting on the coal mine exhibit at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago was cast by Chicago Metal Foundries.