Angels Camp Museum | fitchfourdrive

Angels Camp Museum's Fitch Model D 20-35 #1346

The Angels Camp Museum at Angels Camp, CA has a Model D 20-35 Fitch Four Drive Tractor that is currently owned by the city of Angels Camp. The tractor was donated to the museum around 1945.

The beautiful little foothill town of Angels Camp (home of about 3,000 people) is nestled in the Sierra Foothills between Yosemite and Lake Tahoe, about 45 miles east of Stockton and just three hours from the bay area. The town has a storied history has a gold rush town from 1850-1920 and now is the home of the Jumping Frog Jubilee held each May at the Calaveras County Fairgrounds, located just east of the city. The event commemorates Mark Twain's short story "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County", which was based upon a story that claimed he heard at the Angels Hotel. Because of this, Angels Camp is sometimes referred to as "Frogtown".

The tractor is fairly complete but is missing the belt pulley, counter shaft, sheet metal hood and air filter. It features a Climax 4-cylinder vertical engine but it has not started since at least 1983 as it has been located outside unprotected from the weather since then. The front gear housing has been taken apart to show the internal gears and show that it is a four-wheel drive tractor. There appears no effort by the city to restore the tractor or to part with it as they have received numerous offers from hopeful collectors over the years to sell the rusted tractor.

Jim Fairbanks riding a Fitch tractor at the Angels Camp Museum -
from page 3 of the May 13, 1966 issue of the Davis Enterprise, Davis, CA.