Roger Mahan is the owner of a 1910 D Titan
By Diego Flammini
Staff Writer
Farms.com
An Easter weekend event in Wanaka, New Zealand will feature a very special attraction.
Roger Mahan, a local vintage vehicle and machinery collector, will display his 1910 International Harvester Titan Type D tractor at the Wheels at Wanaka event from April 19 to 22.
“It is the single oldest tractor in New Zealand,” he told the Otago Daily Times. “It looks the part, like a traction engine.”
International Harvester produced about 1,319 Type Ds between 1910 and 1914. The tractors started out with 20 hp but, in 1912, the manufacturer released a 25 hp version. Eventually, International Harvester offered a 45 hp version of the Type D before discontinuing the model.
Mahan’s had the tractor in his collection for about 50 years.
He traded a farmer with mailbox and a billiard table for ownership of the tractor. The previous owner used it to operate a gold stamp mill machine and for farm work, he said.
But the tractor’s parts were scattered in between a neighbour’s place and the old owner’s farm.
Restoring the tractor took about two years, and Mahan enjoyed driving it whenever he could.
“I had a lot of fun driving it and it snorts and bangs,” he said. “It had only got one gear and took quite a while to get anywhere, two to three miles an hour.”
Having a Titan Type D could fetch an antique tractor collector a high price.
Some 20- and 25 hp models could be worth anywhere between US$25,000 and US$175,000, the second edition of the Antique American Tractor and Crawler Value Guide says.
Mahan is also bringing other equipment to the show.
He hopes to display a 1935 Caterpillar No. 11 grader and an Auston Weston grader.
The collector also has plans to build a museum where he can store all his vintage equipment.
Farms.com has reached out to Mahan for more details about his tractor.
Manitoba Agricultural Museum photo