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Plain City OH | The tractor with the M on the grill is home made by a guy that lives just north of me. It's been a long time since I'v seen it. Here' an article form local paper with more info. By Fran Odyniec
Editor
Everybody stops and takes a long look whenever “Black Jack” rolls by.
It happened again during the Steam Threshers Grand Parade the other Friday evening. This monster tractor, standing 12 feet high from the ground to the top of the cab and stretching nearly 20 feet long, turns heads whether it’s cruising down Plain City’s Main Street or just standing proud on display during the Threshers Reunion out at Pastime Park.
“I needed to work a lot of ground,” said Jack McCabe who built “Black Jack” from scratch, from the ground up. “Nobody around here had the high horsepower I needed.”
So, Jack proceeded literally to take things into his own hands. That was back in 1967 when he was tending 1,000 acres on the Union County side of Plain City. Since then, “Black Jack” has logged 10,000 service hours.
His quest for a more powerful tractor actually led up to the winter of ’66, “when I put it together,” Jack said.
Up to that time, he had an idea of what he wanted and was looking around central Ohio for the right parts.
He found an aircraft tow tractor at an equipment sale in Archibald, Ohio; an eight-year-old Diamond T semi-tractor with a million miles on it in Columbus; Rockwell axles in Toledo; and he went from there tearing them apart and piecing them together with other parts into the “Black Jack.”
Long about 1974, those axles weren’t wearing well. So, Jack went shopping again. This time he came back with MRS axles.
“I haven’t touched those axles since,” he said. “I have never put a wrench to them.”
There’s also a 10-speed transmission that helps get the “Black Jack” headed in the right direction.
In the early going, Jack painted this monster tractor green. But when it was time for a paint job in 1983, Jack’s son Keith suggested that they paint it black with orange trim.
At the time Jack said he was bit hesitant, but went with Keith’s suggestion.
“I’m glad I did,” he now says.
And a legend was born.
Jack seemed to naturally come by his prowess with cars and trucks.
When he was a student at Dublin High School, class of 1960, he spent most of his time in ag class.
“In the ag department, we had a mechanical shop,” Jack recalls. “That’s where I started welding.”
He honed his abilities to the point where he was helping teach his fellow-students in ag class.
During those high school days, he also started working on cars after class at the Pure Oil gas station in Dublin. It got to the point where he became a highly sought after mechanic, which, Jack remembers with a wink, backed him into a situation with the high school principal. With the support of his teachers, Jack and the principal were able to come to an understanding about his after-school work and his class work.
When asked about the mechanical advances in ag technology such as GPS-guided tractors and computer-controlled tractors, Jack said, “It’s unimaginable. These are the biggest changes I’ve seen in my life.”
Jack, who is semi-retired from farming along with “Black Jack,” referring to the technological advances commented, “They’re an awful big expense. Yes, you can be profitable, but there’s that expense to get to it.”
“I would rather do it so I know what I’m doing,” he continued on the hands-on approach to farming that he used. “I’m old school.”
But he quickly added, “I can run a computer.”
Keeping “Black Jack” shiny is simple.
“It takes a lot of work,” said Jack. “We wash it and touch it up.”
The black in “Black Jack” will need a make-over in the not too distant future, says Jack.
“We’ll need to paint it black,” he laughed. “That’s how we named it: It’s black and my name is Jack.”
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- Half Century Pics, LOTS of pics - Omar : 8/26/2011 21:42
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- Re: Half Century Pics, LOTS of pics - kmk : 8/26/2011 22:04
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- RE: Half Century Pics, LOTS of pics - Illinois John : 8/27/2011 06:31
- RE: Half Century Pics, LOTS of pics - Oliver1 : 8/27/2011 08:11
- RE: Thanks, Omar!! - koskid : 8/27/2011 08:49
- Re: Half Century Pics, LOTS of pics - feelnrite : 8/27/2011 10:31
- RE: Half Century Pics, LOTS of pics - Chris : 8/27/2011 10:37
- RE: Half Century Pics, LOTS of pics - slowpoke2 : 8/28/2011 15:55
- RE: Half Century Pics, LOTS of pics - B58 Hustler : 8/28/2011 16:42
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Half Century Pics, LOTS of pics
