As so often happens with my writing, one thing led to another. I was researching a story in Cochise County this very morning with my excellent friend, meteorite hunter Sonny Clary. Some miles west of Benson, on a quiet little side street, we saw an older gentleman working on a tractor in his front yard. We stopped to ask him a question. Sonny commented on how interesting the tractor looked and we were quickly and enthusiastically asked if we’d like to see the rest of them. Let me own up now and state that I have always loved tractors and vintage machinery. I know tractors are not for everyone but please bear with me, this story is special.
Mr. James Hadden, master of machines and guardian of a piece of American history, alongside his latest project: A 1936 International about to be restored to its former glory
James F. Hadden is eighty years old and dressed in blue overalls, with a battered but still dapper cap, bright eyes, gentle smile, a lively sense of humor and more energy and enthusiasm than many men I know who are half his age. In 1972, James sold his large dairy farm in native Pennsylvania and moved the entire family to Tucson, because of his health. The move evidently worked out very well for him in the health department.
James and his wife, Betty, have been married for 62 years, and while Betty tends her gorgeous garden of marigolds (those orange flowers are evidently heaven for butterflies; there were about twenty in rapturous attendance) and grasshopper-proof vegetable operation, James finds, fixes, and restores vintage tractors.
When I asked him how he acquired this unusual skill, James replied that he had been born with it. While still working as a farmer in Pennsylvania he would: “Work in the shop until about 11 o’clock at night fixing the tractors, then I’d get up at 4:30 to feed the cows. I was the repair man for the whole neighborhood.”
The splendid and sporty 1940s Ford 2N is one of James' favorite restorations
James’ amazing collection of tractors fills one large barn and half of a second, which also houses his labyrinthine workshop. Additional vehicles are neatly parked in front of the Hadden’s home, under a crowded car port. One of his favorite machines is the Ford 2N, a feisty red and white survivor from the early 1940s, and a monument to good old-fashioned American engineering with just a hint of Deco thrown in (the gas tank cap was beautifully streamlined). “I had to take three coats of paint off of that one to get it down to the bare metal,” James commented. He removed each piece, cleaned it and then hung it in a corner of his workshop for repainting. James pointed out a red grille perfectly positioned on the front of the Ford. “That piece was missing, and they wanted $125 for a new one, so I went to my junk pile and made one myself.” Don’t you wish you could do that in your own home when you need something?
The current project is a rusty 1936 International. Its massive wheels look as if they were fashioned from a giant’s bicycle chain, and James demonstrated how he could easily remove the bolts—cemented in place by decades of rust—after heating them with a blow torch and then chilling them down with water.
I asked James how he managed to locate these remarkable veterans of cultivation. “I go to auctions and buy them if they go reasonable. I don’t put a lot of money into them ‘cos I do all my own work.” And when I asked about the International: “I’ve got a friend in Wilcox and one day he showed up with that on a trailer and asked if I wanted it. I said, ‘Sure, I’ll take it.’”
Plenty still to do: "All the parts are there," James told me. "She just needs to be put back together." I plan on stopping by next year to see if she is up and running.
Not only are these wonderful machines in beautiful condition, they actually work. All except for one which, James admitted, was temporarily out of action due to a bad radiator. “I need to fix that,” he noted. Once a year James fires up all of these grand old cultivators, and displays them on his property for visitors to see. I have no doubt that this year, or maybe next, the venerable International will be purring away, lined up, in immaculate condition, next to its descendants.
It was such an enjoyable visit, and I was so very charmed by Mr. and Mrs. Hadden and their labors of love, that I pretty much just forgot about the other story. So, would the city of Benson, or Cochise County please give this man a grant or a knighthood and help him continue his extraordinary work.
The finest gentleman I have met all year, and the secret of James’ health, vigor and longevity? “Keeping busy is the secret. Keeping busy and doing things.” I couldn’t agree more.
Photographs © by Geoffrey Notkin. All rights reserved. No reproduction without written permission.
