When men built their own tractors! The story of the Double Header! 

i was thinking the exact thing lmao

Guy who made a lot of the cars for the original movie also made a tracked mini for South pole expeditions amongst other vehicles

Thanks Sparky..I spent time interviewing Dad today.. While I kept asking everything I could.. It has occurred to me you just can't capture a whole persons life experiences on tape.. There is just so much they have spent a lifetime living.. Certainly treasuring recording what I can... We do learn so much from them.

i feek the same about my dad when he passed away, a very smart electrical engineer who was raised on the poor farms in north carolina foothills. he would build anything that he wanted and could not afford or did not like how it was.

Great post and something a lot of people can relate to

@@BrandonLayMusic Agreed Brandon..thanks for taking an interest in the video too..enjoyed having a look at your songs...very well done. That 'Startin' young' song has me thinking about the things I'm thankful for from Dad and his brothers...work ethic..doing things properly..not rushing a job...taking pride in your work...being resourceful..not just buying something off the shelf...Sparky's comment about fingerprints from their lives to ours is so true. Thanks.

@@MatthewPolack My co-worker turned 80 last year. I'm an electrical design engineer at a small company, and he was my predecessor. My job since 2017 has been to "absorb all the knowledge" from this guy. I learned more from him than I did in engineering school, by far. It's been four years and I feel I've barely scratched the surface.

Thanks Matt. I think that is definitely part of the story...as Clarrie says at one point in the first interview too...they were like a modern articulated of today...made by the farmers themselves of that time...not big business!

Thanks for that Lucas. Kept me busy at the time making it..(as a bit of a part time hobby)...so really appreciate the encouragment. Glad you enjoyed the story. Dad is still going...98 now...hoping he'll make it to 100 and beyond! Thanks for taking time to comment!

Cheers Matt, Good to hear that your dad is still going strong. Keep up the good work 👍

Thanks Ryan.. Yes they are taking very good care of it.. Was a great idea to donate it for history's sake. Thanks.

Thanks for sharing Rod.. That would be a great sight.. Would love to see the photo!Would have been an impressive sight that is for sure!! Thank you for all the info on it!

A lot to learn from them for sure!

Thanks Cole...appreciate the kind words! It certainly was a golden age....I actually have some other 16mm footage which shows a range of other farming work that they recorded at the time...so plan to share that in an upcoming video too. They did a great job capturing this at the time....the film itself was very expensive compared with today...so is great they did it. Thank you for the encouragement...is appreciated!

Thank you for sharing Centurion.. There is a great message for us there.. Make the most of the resources we have before us.. And this generation is certainly blessed with so much possibility and opportunity.. With the kids I teach I try to hammer that point home.. You have so many wonderful things you could do or learn or make or create with your time..make the most of it...thank you!

@@MatthewPolack My grandfather would pull nails out of a 12x12 timber. He would give us all the nails and hammers, at 4 or 6yrs old, we just learned to nail things right and then at 10, We Built a 24x 32ft garage as older kids. Some of my brothers friends helped as they could We all - 4 of us, would be up on a 45* angle ROOF. I did the left roofing, cause I was a lefty. I wish to ensure I could transfir info to the new general. As I am retiring, I was chatting with a dear guy - we had gone deer hunting 40 years ago. I hope we encourage others to just take things apart and use this to help teach - the never guys. I was taught by MEN. They were a tough lot, but all they never sugarcoated anything. Your worth - was you word. At least my grandfather listened to me about staying out of the danger zones. With INFO and vlogs - I hope the guys Who read this. If you want to know anything, just ask. Amongst all of us, we will have done it - or no where to go and get an expert who is not about making a living any more. We have some money from retirment. So I would do some of this just to pass my skills to another. I guess it is about mentoring. ON Friday - Time to rest and think Cheers- I'll have a rye with a ttwist little water. I hope we leave a legaey of simple to follow. Some children and you adult - I OWE A SINCERE Than YOU to you

Thanks Bob.. It would be interesting to look through the 'Power farming' magazine Vern mentions to find the original reference to a Double Header too. Thanks!

Thanks Rob. It's funny how the algorithm works.. the video went into hibernation with barely a view anywhere.. now they must be throwing it in front of people again as there are comments and views popping up all over again which is nice. Thanks!

Thanks so much for the comment..appreciate the encouragment...a lot of time went into making it..so appreciate that. Am hoping to follow up with some of the other original footage in another video soon we have from that era. Dad, Clarrie and Ivan did a great job filming back in an era when it was all 16mm footage..quite expensive and.tricky to setup and use compared with today. I actually look at some of their film work with admiration when in itself that was a unique thing at that time. Anyway thank you!

Thank you...certainly a great generation. Thank you!

Thanks Randall.. much appreciated! Didn't know the history of Lincoln.. so great to know. Thanks for the comment!

That's great to share. Thanks! Sounds incredible. Would be great to see what it looks like.. and all your creative work with it.Well done on 'reinventing' it and keeping it going!

Thanks for taking the time to comment Hardtopman... Appreciate it. They were certainly a generation that made use of every resource available... Even today, Dad at 94 is reluctant to throw things away because he explains what things could be used for! Thanks!

I think i might have that line of thinking, i keep all sorts of scrap steel and car/truck parts that might be useful for some repair in the future.

Thanks Bruce...a bit of spare scrap steel is a useful thing to have that is for sure! All sorts of possibilities:)

Hahah that’s a good one

Lincoln tombstones are the welders of welders. My dad and other farmers back in the 60’s and 70’s got so good they could stick weld mufflers back together with them. Truly legendary haha.

Thanks for the comment! Greetings from Australia! Have been to Poland.. Loved travels there and in Europe!

Thanks Colin.. Really appreciate that local connection.. Just up the road! I've actually played in a band at Goroke a couple times.. So know it reasonably well. Will mention this to Dad.. He may even know the family name.. Is amazing the people he knows.. Thanks for sharing!

Matthew Polack no worries😀 Dad's name is Ian Harris, he is 89 this year. They were at Lake Karnak between 1963 and 2007. On the property was the site where Thomas Jelbart had a Blacksmith workshop many years ago. We attended the opening of the Warracknabeal wheatlands museum in the 1970's (my 54 year old brain can't remember what my 10 year old brain saw!). So the double header tractor was probably there then! Dad was also a delegate of the VFF grain Growers so also met a lot of people through that over the years. He had the knack of starting a conversation with a stranger and within 10 minutes find out who they were related to, where they came from, and who he knew in common!

Thanks for the kind comment and write up . I amanaged to interview Dad before Christmas...so there is a lot more in the pipe line. Just had the old 16mm professionaly digitised too. Thanks for the interest..certainly a great generation with just a few left now. Thank you

Thanks Jeff..yeah I think you are right..realise I made some mistakes with song selection and audio mix..just wish there was a way to do it without losing all the views and comments.. Just figuring out what I'll do...as after 2 years I've suddenly got views flooding in! Thank you.

@@MatthewPolack Lol its amazing how the youtube algorithm works isnt it? farmers building there own stuff still continues, my dad built his own 20" 16 row planter and 8 row corn head about 10 years ago to go to 20" when it was nearly unavailable...

@@killorkubed That's great.. You should video it! I've been amazed how interested people are in these stories Yes the algorithm is fascinating..all of a sudden after 2 years of a fair few 'crickets' people all over are taking an interest.. Which is nice. Thanks for sharing!

@@hillamplification4855 Thanks Hill...actually appreciate that...as after watching it critically myself I've been a bt disappointed I stuffed the volume mix a bit...when it is such a simple thing to tweak compared to all the other work on it! Anyway glad to see people are enjoying it...it did take a lot of work to make...and for a couple of years not many people came to watch...so has been encouraging to suddenly have it get discovered. Thanks!

@@MatthewPolack if it were subtitled, it'd be a lot easier to understand what everyone is saying :-) and you can do that without losing the views :-)

Thanks Jim for the kind words. I reflect a lot on Dad and the things he taught me. Certainly miss him and his stories.

Thanks Matthew for taking the time to comment... And kind words. A fair bit of work went into video, so appreciate that. Greetings from Australia.. Was over your way last year with our family and really enjoyed trip. Thanks!

Thanks Darren... I'll ask Dad if he knew your Dad... He knew just about everyone in the Dimboola area!

Thanks so much for the comment...really encouraging to hear the story is inspiring and an encouragement. I actually just took Dad back this week to the farm where the footage was taken...was really interesting to see it all these years later. Much of the scrub has now re grown. Your comment re the women was great too..my Grandmother was a humble, quietly spoken lady who worked tirelessly supporting the boys before they were married in their farming endeavours..she milked cows early..then patched/ washed clothes...cooked all their meals..etc. etc...all without expecting any praise or reward. Was an inspiration too! Thanks.

Thanks so much for the post Kenny. Greetings to you over in Canada.. travelled there a few years ago.. lovely country. Great to hear about the two double tractors your uncle built. Sounds like a great tractor with the 830's.. would be awesome to see that running once your cousin gets it restored. Has been great hearing about the ingenuity of farmers across the world. Thanks for sharing!

Thanks Jeffrey. Certainly a creative and resourceful generation that passed on some great values to the next!

Thanks Michael...appreciate the comment! It's amazing to think they did this all at a time too without many of the resources available to people today...no Internet for research...no fancy modern welders...just their own creativity to rely on and making use of what was available. Thanks!

I mean, it's hard to do bush engineering, if you don't have a bush to engineer in, no?

Thanks.. Appreciate the encouraging words.. Thank you!

Thanks Harold. Appreciate the comment..can pass that onto Dad...he's still going...99 years old!!

Thanks for sharing! Certainly a winning combination. Desert truck experiences sound like a story in themselves! Thanks!

Very true.. Thank you for your interest!

Thanks so much John for the thoughtful comment.. Really glad to hear that the story is inspirational.. as. I look at Dad in his twilight years.. Now struggling to walk.. But still focused on getting things done..achieving what he can with a body that is all but worn out.. It inspires me too to want to make the most of each day.. With the time that we have been given. Bless you. Off to edit another video but also treasure the family/friends around us. Thanks!

Thanks Kelley....what my brothers and I did, I think anyone can do...out of necessity.

Thanks Todd...appreciate the kind words...glad you got to see it. Greetings from Australia. Reading the various comments here I can see that those qualities we admire were certainly common to that generation across the world. Thanks!

Thanks DG...Dad is still alive...just struggling with his walking...his mind is as sharp as ever...but just somewhat frustrated he can't do what he once did in a physical sense...but still being as resourceful as ever...he uses the Tractor mower to get himself around where he needs to go and creates pulley systems to lift things he can't lift anymore! Thanks for your interest.

Thanks so much for the comment...really appreciate that. I've actually just been looking through the rest of the 16mm footage they have...they really did a great job at capturing some pretty historic farming from that era...am working on the edit for that right now. Dad made some commentary over it back in around 2001. I'm hoping to also interview him again while I still can...if you or anyone else reading this has any particular questions from that era...let me know and I'll see what I can do. Thank you!

@@MatthewPolack looking forward to seeing more! Definitely get what you can from your dad!! I wish I would have started my channel before my dad passed... So much information about so many things.. some I know, some I don't 😪

Thanks Cory...great to hear what your Papa did! Thanks for sharing...and for the comment!

Amish may have something when you think about it, technology is gonna be our downfall

Thanks Nick!

Thanks Andrew.. appreciate the kind comment.. they certainly did a great job in an era when they had to be very resourceful. Great to hear from an agricultural engineer! Thanks.

Wow..what a kind comment. Thank you! Hope you have a wonderful Christmas! Thanks!

Thanks Kenny! Appreciate the comment..much appreciated:)

Thanks...yes I was hoping in that video to also acknowledge a lot of that generation..there were many like Dad and his brothers + Vern + others who were prepared to innovate and make the most of what they had. Thank you!

@@MatthewPolack We had trainees from West and south Australia on our farm in the 90s with a fellow on a neighbouring farm from Horsham Vic. that spent a lot of time with us . We visited Australia a couple times . Nice memories with them. Have you watched the Case 150 steam pulling a big plow? Awesome

Thanks so much for the kind words Oil Burner..I told Dad just today how impressed people have been with their story... He was very unassuming about it all and just reflected they just needed to get the job done.. Anyone could have done it.. But I am proud of him and Clarrie, Ivan and Vern. I wish Clarrie and Ivan could have lived to see how many people have taken an interest in their story. They were humble men ...to think thousands of people are now watching what they did... Would have amazed them. Thank you for taking such an interest.

@@MatthewPolack Tell your Dad he is an inspiration and a Legend to people whom can appreciate what they did and took for granted. Also tell him he is incorrect, NOT anyone could have done it and few if any these days would even think of it. I am glad to hear your Dad is still around and wish him all the very best from me and the many whom admire him.

@@glumpy10 Shall do.. He's about 98 now... Very alert.. Just not sprinting too quick anymore.. I'm treasuring the time I still have with him! Thanks!

I'm treasuring every day I have with Dad...we're off to do more interviews this week...let me know if you have any particular questions you want me to ask...he's born 1923...and I'm realising there isn't too many of that era that saw the transitions from Horse teams to Tractors...my next film I think I'm going to explore that journey. Thanks!

@@MatthewPolack The transition from heavy horses to tractors was real for me too as my late Grt Uncle George Harris over here in Southland NZ was right uo there with the best, his Brother Fred was a great horseman also, all he wanted when he died was to hold a horse with his hob nails on... His Brother Ed found him that exact way... ask your Dad about getting about in Trucks & Cars etc. Local Dances also fir a laugh... Cheers m8..

I thought of a great idea for a variably weighted flywheel the other day ..need a few machines to makes stuff with

I thought of a great idea for a variably weighted flywheel the other day ..need a few machines to makes stuff with

Thanks Ben... Yes very much self taught. . the farmers world have shared ideas too amongst themselves.. But an era before formal training or the Internet that's for sure. They just had to figure things out through trial and error. Thanks for commenting.

Thanks for sharing that story Sgt Rock...it was an golden age that is for sure...great to hear from you over in Oklahoma....Clarrie used to love CB radio...as kids we'd listen with wonder about how he talked with people on the other side of the planet...he'd be amazed now if he was still alive to hear how people have connected with their story from all over the world. Thanks!

Thanks David..they certainly did a great job capturing the footage back in the day when 16mm footage was very expensive...and also taking time out to setup the camera and film etc..was very worthwhile.Very happy to have this footage. Thanks for the comment!

Thanks so much for the reply.. great to hear from you over there and that the story resonated! Working away on other stories now.. quite the job.. so appreciate the encouragement! Thank you! Greetings from Australia!

Send us some sunshine, we are sick of rain 🤣 I'm in the process of researching for a video on Chamberlain tractors 🚜 😀

​@@AgrimotiveFarmMachineryI'm see what we can do about the sunshine! We had too much the other day when we hit the 40s C. All the best with the Chamberlain vid! Sounds great!

Thanks Paul..yes having that footage was certainly a key part..they did very well considering how expensive it was at the time...I've got more for another video or two I'll work on about that era in farming...I'm also getting the 16mm footage captured with a high end digitiser...so will release this film with the updated footage...and yes will give that pesky music a fair talking to! (Interestingly in my editing experiments I still need something there...but it just needs to be tamed in a few dialogue spots!) Thanks for your interest and comment!

Still watch the Prairie farm report. And in Alberta. Those guys were tougher than I'll ever be.

I had forgotten about that show. It was extremely well done.

Thoughts with you Alan... I'm sorry to hear that...I wanted this video to be a tribute to not just my family and Vern.. But all the farmers of that generation... Credit to your Father for being another example of those who have left us with a legacy. Condolences, thoughts, prayers with you Alan. -Matt

@@MatthewPolack - I do appreciate your thoughts. Thank you, my new friend!

Thanks for watching!

Thanks Steve...appreciate you taking the time to reply. Glad you enjoyed the video. Thank you!

Thanks Steve for your interest.

Thanks Rabelani!

Thanks Jam.. I've actually got some more too.. Going to use that in an upcoming film.. It shows a year in farming in that era.. They did a great job capturing it all. Especially when you consider it was such an expense and also they were probably wanting to get the job done. Thanks!

@@MatthewPolack absolutely. So rare to find people that valued filming what they were doing at that time, let alone finding people who filmed really interesting stuff. Can't wait to watch more

That's great... thanks for sharing the story! Is the tractor on display anywhere? Would be great to see a photo. Today we celebrated Dad's 100th birthday.. he nearly made it.. passing away back in March.. miss him and his stories a lot! Thanks for comment!

@@MatthewPolack The last time I was there I was 16 years old. Now I’m 77 . I doubt that Cousin John is still alive since his son John Jr. Was about 30 then. I spent the summer on his farm working and running that double tractor.

Thanks Dan for the kind words.. Really appreciate the comment. Thank you.

Thanks mate!

Thanks Gary.. Appreciate that!

Thanks for comment Kip... Appreciate that!

Sounds great Charles. Does he still have it?

@@MatthewPolack I kinda doubt it. I moved from that area in 1979, so really have no idea.

@@bluegrallis Thanks Charles..my guess is quite a few of these old treasures lie rusting in old scrap yards! Thanks!

Thanks Jim...appreciate the comment..and for you taking the time to take a look. thank you! They certainly were a creative generation of 'engineers!

Thanks so much for the kind words Turbo Diesel, really appreciate them and your interest...a lot of time went into making the film..so is great to know people appreciate it. Thank you. Yes was an amazing era...we certainly owe a lot to that generation...they certainly were creative and resourceful...it really was a team effort with Dad and his brothers...and then also credit to guys like Vern who were also engineering great solutions and very inventive. I'm sure Dad and the brothers and your Grandfather could have had a good old chat together if they'd known one another! Was he from Australia too? Thank you! :)

@@MatthewPolack : You're welcome. Naw, we're from the Eastern part of the USA. Seems many farms were in search of larger horsepower tractors that were more powerful & more capable during the 1950's and 1960's. Although many were in the works over the years, tractor manufacturers hadn't truly "caught up" to the growing demand until the 1970's, when farming was really booming here.

@@turbodiesel4709 Thank you for the kind words Turbo Diesel ....sorry to hear about your Father.