Restoring a vintage farm truck

Dec 27, 2019

Students from Illinois are working on a 1924 Model T Ford

By Diego Flammini
Staff Writer
Farms.com

Students at a Kewanee, Ill., high school are bringing an old piece of farm equipment back to life.

Members of the Wethersfield FFA at Wethersfield High School started restoring a 1924 Model T Ford pickup truck in September. Bill Scott, a local Model T expert, donated the truck to the school.

The truck played an important role in rural America.

“The Model T was actually affordable and it became so popular at one point that a majority of Americans owned one, directly helping rural Americans become more connected with the rest of the country and leading to the numbered highway system,” History.com reports.

The restoration is expected to take about three years. In the first two years, the students will revive the truck’s engine, body, frame and wheels. In the third year, a woodworking class at the school will rebuild the truck’s wooden box and mount it onto the vehicle.

When finished, the truck will be painted in the school’s green and have the FFA chapter’s name and emblem on the doors. The truck will have white sidewall tires.

The school will use it for parades and other FFA activities.

Members of the local ag industry are getting involved with the restoration, too.

Bob Wyffels, owner of Wyffels Hybrids, a seed corn company from Atikinson, Ill., donated US$1,500 to the students to help cover costs associated with the project.

“I was a member of the FFA Chapter at Atkinson High School and our company has many farm customers and a number of employees in the Kewanee area,” he told the Star Courier Thursday.

Wyffels also has a connection to the 1924 Model T Ford.

His wife Vicky inherited one after her father passed away in February. While trying to learn about the truck, Wyffels contacted Scott to discuss it, which ultimately led to the donation.

A windshield and auto body shop has committed to donating the windshield and to showing the students how to do computer drafting to order the right parts.

Farms.com has reached out to Wyffels for comment.

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