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Schuberg's 1929 Model F 15-30 serial #3064

  Keith Schuberg and his son Terry, purchased this tractor in August 1991 at the Earl Marhanka Estate auction in Dowagiac, MI and hauled it to their farm in Rodney, MI - which is about 10 miles east of the location where the tractor was built in Big Rapids.

  I had the opportunity to visit with Keith and play around with the tractor during a family trip to West Michigan during the summer of 1998. When I first saw the tractor, I made the comment that this tractor looked different than other Fitch Four Drive Tractors that I had seen in photographs. Two years later, I acquired two company brochures from 1929 on this specific type of Four Drive Tractor known as "The Cat" Model E and later the Model F.

"The Cat" 1929 Model E/F 15-30 was shorter but wider than the "Fitch" 1929 Improved Model D 20-35 and featured a Waukesha 4-cylinder engine vice the Climax 4-cylinder engine. Instead of the standard steel lugs that were used for farmer work, Keith's Model F is fitted with tamping grousers (or growsers). The grousers added an additional 4,000 pounds that made this machine the ideal equipment for packing and rolling streets and roads.

  Terry takes his Model F to the Northwest Michigan Engine & Thresher Club's Buckley Old Engine Show in Buckley, MI in mid-August and the Big Rapids Antique Farm & Power Club Engine & Tractor Shows at the end of July.

  Keith also owns a 1911 Case steam tractor and recently purchased a 1929 Austin Western roller. His son Randy owns a 1929 Ford truck.

  The manufacturer's plate identifies Keith's tractor as a Model F 15-30 with a serial #3064.

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  The Waukesha engine plate identifies it as a Model CR 19F serial number #198470 made in July 1929.

  The Big Rapids Antique Farm & Power Club has adopted Keith's tractor for use in the club's logos on jackets and ballcaps. One of the club members has a gas tank from one of the Fitch tractors that he pulled out of the local dump over 50 years ago.

  The club held its 1st annual Engine & Tractor Show on July 23-25, 1999 at the Paris Park Fish Hatchery on Northland Drive 8 miles north of Big Rapids. Keith's Fitch Four Pull was the subject of the club's first show button.

  The club moved to a permanent location in Big Rapids at the corner of East M-20 and Old Mill Pond Road, about a mile south of the former Four Drive Tractor Company building. The club held its 2nd annual Tractor & Old Engine Show on July 28-30, 2000 while the 3rd annual Tractor & Engine Show was held on July 27-29, 2001. The club held a swap meet on May 5-6, 2002 and the 4th annual Tractor & Engine Show on July 26-28. The club's schedule for 2003 included a swap meet in May and their 5th annual Tractor & Engine show held on 25-27 July.

 

BIG RAPIDS ANTIQUE FARM & POWER CLUB
15422 OLD MILLPOND RD.
BIG RAPIDS, MI 49307
(231) 832-9767

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