Case Traction King 1200 to be Featured at the Heritage Festival October 17
The annual Heritage Fest at the Texas Czech Heritage & Cultural Center will feature a tractor of a different time period compared to the tractors that were featured at past shows. Farmers across the state farm differently with the array of crops grown from one side of Texas to the other. The Czechs on the central coastal bend of Texas are predominantly rice farmers, along with other crops such as corn and milo. This year, the Heritage Fest will jump ahead in time as engineering advanced and feature a tractor that helped these farmers with large acreages along the Gulf Coast.
This 1966 Case Traction King 1200 is an El Campo 2010 FFA tractor restoration project. The tractor is owned by Will Chappell and was restored by Will and teammates Tyrel Bohrer and Cody Gangl all of El Campo.
Will and his Dad, Morgan Chappell, found the Case 1200 in Matagorda County hidden in a field of poison ivy so high it completely covered the tractor. The 1200 was owned by a rice farmer and then sold to another back in the early 1970’s. It was parked in a pasture several years later after needing repairs that were too costly. The tear down process began in mid-September 2010, the boy’s Senior year in high school.
When restoring a tractor for competition, complete tear down should take place. The 1200 had an aftermarket cab on it which wasn’t in too bad of shape, but Will wanted to restore it the way it was sold, without the cab. The engine was locked up, so it was torn down and rebuilt. After tearing the transmission down, they found it had very few work hours and in good shape. Gaskets and seals were replaced and it was ready to go.
Competition rules are that the tractor needs to look original, the way it came off the assembly line in 1966. While the boys worked on the tractor, Mr. Chappell and James Gerdes of Edna, our tractor expert, made a trip to a salvage yard in Kansas and brought home the fenders, fuel tank, seat assembly and a hood. To sum it up, mechanically it was not as bad as it was cosmetically, there it needed a lot of work!
After almost 800 hours, the tractor was completed on February 18, 2010 just in time to be loaded and delivered on February 19, 2010 to the San Antonio Livestock Show for competition. The tractor received 3rd place overall and 2nd in its class. At the Houston Livestock Show it received 4th in its class.
In 2009, the boys had entered their 1964 Case 830 Hi-Crop in the Chevron-Delo Tractor Restoration Competition and won Reserve Grand Champion, so they knew they wanted to enter the 1200 in the 2010 competition. This time they did it! The Case 1200 won the competition and is the 2010 Chevron TRC Grand Champion.
The boys had a year-long of displaying their tractor for Chevron-Delo at several venues throughout the country. The tractor, boys, parents and Ag teacher attended the 2011 World Ag Expo in Tulare, California; the Half Century Progress Show in Rantoul, Illinois; the Farm Progress Show in Decatur Illinois and finally the National FFA Convention in Indianapolis, Indiana.
There will be much more to see at the Fest at TCHCC on October 17 with the South Texas Wheel Spinners & Crank Twisters Antique Farm Equipment Club Show and the Antique and Classic Car Show from 10-4. The 1890s Sawmill will be running and the Newspaper Museum will also operate, along with hay pressing and corn grinding. In the evening, the Dujka Brothers will play on the front deck of TCHCC from 6-9:30 PM. For more info, visit www.czechtexas.org or call 888-785-4500. The Texas Czech Heritage & Cultural Center is located just north of La Grange next to the Fayette County Fairgrounds.