Faces of the Fair: Wayne Helderman favors keeping old tractors around

Wayne Helderman knows tractors.

His International Harvester 650 is one of about 100 tractors at the SEMO District Fair this year, presented by the Egypt Mills Antique Tractor Club.

Helderman said it was made in 1957, the same year he graduated from high school at Jackson. He bought the tractor at a sale in Illinois several years back.

Helderman said it isn’t the only tractor in his collection, but it’s the one he chose to display this year.

It’s a big tractor with no cab, which Helderman said was top of the line at the time. Still, it only has about 60 or 65 horsepower, he said.

Wayne Helderman climbs into the seat of his International Harvester 650 tractor Tuesday at the SEMO District Fair in Cape Girardeau.BEN MATTHEWS

“It was for plowing, discing ... heavy work, mostly,” Helderman said.

Helderman said he has spent his life farming, and his interest in tractors goes hand in hand with his life behind the wheel.

He said he never did go to college but learned from the school of hard knocks, and tractors have been part of his life right along.

Helderman said this tractor is one he bought mostly just because he wanted it, but he has bought others to restore and use.

Helderman kicked a small dirt clod off a tire.

“It’s muddy because it was pulling derby cars off the track other night,” he said. “They get in awful shape, those cars. Wheels fall off; bumpers, too.”

A tractor like his International 650 is ideal for that kind of work, he said.

Several other tractors in the show have been restored, with some looking better than they would have new, Helderman said, gesturing to a nearby Ford model shined to a high gloss.

“Tractors were built for a purpose,” Helderman said, and those purposes may not be the same as they were.

“Farms got bigger; you needed a tractor with more horsepower,” he said.

In 1957, small farmers were more common, and small farms used smaller tractors, such as his.

His 650 uses diesel fuel for the main engine, Helderman said, but it has a smaller “nurse engine” that uses gasoline.

Helderman said diesel fuel isn’t as easy to fire as gasoline, especially in winter.

So the manufacturer came up with a workaround in the starter engine, he said.

“This one has a hand clutch,” he added, pointing to a handle with grips on the driver’s right.

Shifting uphill can be a challenge, he said, as both hands are needed for the clutch and shifter.

“Gotta catch the steering wheel with your knee in that case,” he said, laughing.

There is power-assist steering on the tractor, Helderman said, and it has five forward gears, plus reverse.

On the front of the tractor, a pipe leads to a glass jar, like those used for preserving food.

“That’s an air cleaner,” he said, gesturing to the intake, which pulls in air to mix with fuel for combustion.

Particles fall into the jar, he said.

“It’ll pull your hand apart if you get too close while it’s running,” Helderman said.

The old tractor manufacturers didn’t have as strong an eye toward safety as they do now, he added.

“They didn’t much care about the operator,” Helderman said of the manufacturers.

Helderman said it was easier for him when he was younger to hop up onto a tractor that didn’t have built-in steps.

Climbing the rear bar or grabbing the seat to pull himself up isn’t as simple as it used to be, he added.

Some tractors don’t have fenders over the rear tires, which could be dangerous or fatal if a person fell or got tangled in the workings, he said.

“It’s much safer with a fender,” he added.

He said hydraulic systems don’t necessarily have guards over them on the older models, either.

“I lean to the older tractors a lot,” Helderman said. “Don’t have to fix the electronics, like with the newer models.

“They’re good as long as they’re working.”

mniederkorn@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3630

Pertinent address:

410 Kiwanis Drive, Cape Girardeau, Mo.