Bantam 5000 tractor

The history of my Bantam 5000

This particular Bantam 5000 tractor was purchased second-hand from a local golf course back in the mid-70's.  At this time my father and his friends had rented a farmer's field to use as an airstrip.  It was located on the top of a flat mountain, and provided reasonably easy access from our respective homes.  We only had a phone booth, this Bantam tractor, and no indoor storage for the tractor.  Once the field was rolled flat and smooth enough for landing, it had to be maintained to a reasonable grass height.

The Bantam came outfitted with its standard 3 gang reel mower setup, then expanded to a 5 gang for the wide swath that would have to be maintained.  The airfield was just over 1000 feet, and the tractor would have to make quite a few trips to cover the entire width of the runway.

I being only 4 years old at the time, was given the exciting opportunity to perform the large share of mowing.  For me this was exciting.  I was told, "Go down to the end of the runway, turn the tractor around slowly, and come back to the parking area.  Don't hit any airplanes!"  Well, as you know slowly is one of the things a Bantam does best.  It is slow and strong.  It would be a few more years before I could rope start it myself, but I was always willing to get in the drivers seat and take command of my own pint-sized machine.  Unfortunately, I have not discovered any photographs from this time period.

The fuel shortages of the late 70's and general lack of flying interest ended our little airport.  One friend sold his airplane and got out of flying for many years.  The other friend was too busy to fly, and mothballed his plane.  My father did the same with his 1946 Cessna 140.  The wings were removed and tied to the ceiling of our garage sometime around 1981.  The plane was loaded backwards on a low-boy trailer and hauled to our home to be stowed away in the garage.  There it stayed until about 1995.

The Bantam however, was not stored away nicely.  It kept working, but the small yard in the forest with all its bumps and twigs did not lend itself well to a gang of reel mowers.  No, we had rotary mower for that and the gang of reels was stowed away in the shed until they were sold years later.  A wagon was constructed to haul two hot water heater tanks welded end to end.  A belt-driven pump was outfitted to the Bantam, and it became a source of irrigation for our massive gardens.  Several acres in total, the gardens raised everything from corn, tomatoes, onions, garlic, okra, beans, peas, sunflowers, to potatoes.  All of which appreciated adequate irrigation in the dry summer months.  I could get up early and take the rig down to the creek.  A line with a strainer was cast into the creek and the pump was run until the tank was full.  The weight of eighty gallons of water was not a challenge for the mighty Bantam to haul.  The valving could then be reversed and the water was pumped out through a nozzle like a fire hose.  This went on for a few summers until the differential couldn't take the strain any longer.  The brass ring gear failed on its inner bushing.  The wheels no longer turned, and we had to overhaul it.  Equipped with a lot of brazing rod and a oxy-acetylene torch my father skillfully mated the broken pieces.  The Bantam was back on the job, but never really was used as much as before.

Years went on and we outfitted it with a snow blade.  The blade was made from a section of hot water heater tank.  The smooth ceramic-coated surface was ideal for allowing snow to slide across it.  However, the uneven gravel driveway was not the ideal surface for a small tractor to push snow.  The blade also fell into disuse and the Bantam sat in the same spot for years, only being started occasionally.  Rust formed and mice took up lodging.  I took it upon myself to do some repairs, fixing the holes in the fuel tank and patching the fan shroud.  The final straw was a failed spark coil.  After that it never moved again under its own power, until I recovered it from the farm and brought it to my workshop.

The restoration process of begins Project Bantam begins here with the earliest post in this series.