Macon Telegraph Posted on Sun, Oct. 02, 2005 88-year-old drives tractor he restored in Gordon parade By Chuck Thompson TELEGRAPH STAFF WRITER GORDON - By the time a man gets to be almost 89 years old, there aren't a lot of first-time experiences left that are worth trying. At least, not ones he has the energy for or that he gets to come back from. But Saturday morning, Byron McCook thoroughly enjoyed something he'd never done before: He drove in his first tractor parade. The parade through downtown Gordon was part of the sixth annual Fall Line Festival and the fifth annual Skippin' and Poppin' Antique Tractor Show. The 1949 Ford that McCook drove was one he restored pretty much by himself earlier this year. McCook is a house builder by trade and said he's not a trained mechanic. Still, "pretty much anything I can take apart, I can put back together," he said. "It took me three or four months," McCook said. "I ain't able to do much, so I'd work on it an hour or two at the time. My nephew and some of the other fellows helped me move the parts that were too heavy for me to lift alone." His nephew, Dennis Holder, begs to differ. McCook can do plenty. "For anybody who'll be 89 in December to be able to strip a tractor to its chassis, clean it, paint it and put it all back together, replacing the worn out parts, that's incredible," Holder said. "I went to see him after he got started, and he had all the parts scattered around on tables. I said, 'Uncle Byron, don't you die on me. I'd never get all this back together.' He acted like it wasn't nothing to it." Holder owns Hobo Junction, an antique store on the outskirts of Gordon, and the tractor show is held in the field behind it. There were 41 tractors entered this year, the oldest being a 1936 John Deere, said Danny Young, one of the organizers. "We had about 20 (tractors) the first year, and it keeps growing each year," Young said. "In addition to the parade, we also judge the tractors and have games." McCook bought his tractor in the early '60s to use around his home in Ivey. "I use it to farm, well garden, really, and to cut the grass," he said. "Mostly cut grass. We had 50 acres - we're down to 5 now - so I had a lot of grass to cut when I got it. It's always been a working tractor, and I've kept it in pretty good shape." Last year's show inspired him to restore the tractor, he said. He'd had the engine reworked already, but had to replace some old parts, clean it and paint it. The toughest thing to find, he said, were the two front wheels. "I had taken the original ones off years ago and replaced them with bigger tires so they wouldn't cut ruts in the yard like those narrow ones did when I was mowing the grass," McCook said. "I had put the original ones aside, but they had rusted out, so I had to find new ones." He found them in north Georgia when he saw an ad placed by a man in Baldwin. "He had junked another one like this to restore the one he was selling, and the only thing he had left were the two front wheels," McCook said. In addition to driving in the parade, McCook got a pleasant surprise Saturday when his great-nephew Curt Montgomery brought a 1952 8N Model Ford similar to McCook's from Jeffersonville and followed him in the parade. "My brother, P.A., was his grandfather," McCook said. "He restored that tractor before he died." McCook's wife, Marion, said the tractor show and parade are popular because young people are more interested in history now than they were a few years ago. "Everyone wants to know where they come from, their roots," she said. "This is a good place to find it. There's a lot of old folks here, but there's also a lot of young people with their children. These old tractors are part of our history. It's good to see people remembering it this way." McCook said his tractor isn't just for show now that he's restored it. "I'll keep using it around home," he said. "Not as much farming, though. I ain't able." McCook may "retire" from the restoration business now, but don't expect him to hang up his tools. "I still like to piddle around in my shop," he said. "I told my wife - we'll be married 65 years Oct. 14 - don't sell my tools if you ever carry me to the rest home. I may get well and come back and need them. Better wait 'til I die." -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- To contact Chuck Thompson, call 744-4489 or e-mail cthompson@macontel.com. -- No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Anti-Virus. Version: 7.0.344 / Virus Database: 267.11.9/118 - Release Date: 10/3/2005