Once in a while we’d get a glimpse of a vintage orange tractor driving through the neighborhood. My husband knew I liked old tractors, so one day while walking our “loop” he asked if I’d like to meet the man with the orange tractor. Would I!
Larry Swanger was in his front yard that day, so that’s when I learned about his father’s 1954 Allis-Chalmers WD-45. Leland Swanger was a lifelong farmer near Creston, Iowa. Larry had the family heirloom restored in 2008 and has been enjoying it ever since.
Larry, a retired optometrist, is President-Elect of the Central Iowa Tractor Club. He participates in tractor rides, tractor shows, Tractor Day on the Grand Concourse of the Iowa State Fair, and giving autumn hayrack rides during the local Valley Junction Pumpkin Walk.
The story of Larry Swanger’s father teaching a young man to stack round bales of hay, reprinted from Shepherd Magazine, is in Iowa History Journal, the March/April 2023 issue.