Two Teens Team Up to Tackle A Remarkable Farmall F-20 Complete Tractor Restoration
When Charlie Bortner and Wyatt Myers spotted a 1938 Farmall F-20, they knew it needed a lot of work. A 6-month FFA project turned into a two-year undertaking, and the finished project is polished perfection that is breathing new life.
Both Bortner and Myers wanted to enter into the FFA competition, and once they had their eyes set on the Farmall F-20, they jumped right in.
“Me and Wyatt stumbled upon the FFA tractor restoration competition, and we decided that it'd be kind of fun to enter. And so the restoration started,” explains Bortner, an 18-year-old with McCook FFA.
Watch Bortner and Myers highlight their Farmall F-20 restoration in Tractor Tales below.
The iron required a complete restoration, and the boys decided it was a challenge they’d try to tackle, as they took on the restoration project one step at a time.
“Anything that could come off, effectively came off,” says Bortner. “We had the transmission completely disassembled to the point that the rear axle housing was removed from the tractor, sealed and put back on. We had the whole entire tractor sandblasted, painted individual pieces. Just if a piece could come off, it came off.”
Related Story: Ultimate Gift: FFA Members Restore Their Adviser's Family's Farmall As A Surprise Retirement Gift
After two years of work, the boys can step back and admire just how far they’ve come in that time.
“Just looking at it makes me feel like wow, I can't believe what we actually accomplished,” says Myers, a 17-year-old McCook FFA member.
“It's unreal. It truly is,” adds Bortner.
What was intended to just be their project for FFA turned into a feat with meaning, as Bortner learned a love for Farmalls ran in the family.
“After we got done restoring it, I took it to my great grandpa. He didn't tell me this before, but he ran an F-20 on his family farm,” Bortner says. “And just hearing his stories over this tractor, and his stories about it, made this restoration so much better.”
At a young age, Bortner and Myers are learning the power of hard work with a classic red Farmall F-20 as a piece of iron the boys will cherish forever.
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