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The Flaming "420"!
In early 2006, we were looking for a row-crop John Deere “420” LP-Gas Tractor to add to our collection; in other words, a Tricycle. How were we to know a classified ad in a tractor magazine for a “420” LP-Gas Spray Rig would lead to the discovery of some unique tractors? The owner of the “420” sent us some pictures. Our first reaction was “What is that thing, and who built it?" Of course, we couldn’t resist purchasing the unusual tractor. We then began to gather some history; and, with some research, we found the retired owner of Vick’s Manufacturing Company, Victor Ebeling, and his wonderful wife Patsy.
The draft for the Korean War required him to get a deferment in order to harvest his Texas cotton crop. After the harvest, he sold his farm and notified the selective service of his availability. He was surprised to receive a notice that he would not be drafted. Realizing farming was a hard life, Victor had always wanted to learn a trade. His opportunity arose when visiting another brother in Utah. He struck up a conversation with a man who worked at Hill Air Force Base. Victor mentioned his desire to learn a trade, specifically in becoming a machinist. Unexpectedly, the man invited Victor to join his crew on the base as a machinist helper. Here was an opportunity to work and learn in a machine shop, and, as a machinist helper, Victor quickly learned the skills of tool-and-die work.
During his second year of building castor bean harvesters, John Deere approached Victor to build castor bean harvester heads for their 55 Combine. At this time, he had not built his large production facility. After a friendly visit, the seven John Deere representatives told Victor he was too small to meet their demand. Instead they chose Hardwick-Etter of Dallas, Texas, as the subcontractor. After four years of castor bean production in Victor’s area, the USDA suddenly halted the program that allowed farmers to plant on “non-allotment” land. Plenty of castor beans were being grown in other parts of the country on allotted acreage. That ended Victor’s foray into the bean harvesting business.
Victor began exploring the requirements for the modified tractor. Obviously, the flame cultivators put out a lot of heat. Being too close to the flames on a low tractor had gotten some farmers really hot when they had a tail wind. The flames had also ruined some rear tires. Propane and the flame cultivators were heavy, and the rig would have to be high enough to get above the heat from the flames and clear corn, milo, and cotton. The rig would also have to be very strong and stable.
Bumpus agreed to acquire the chassis from International and Ford. The tractor chassis would come minus wheels, fenders, and front axles, while Victor would manufacture the Hi-Trac undercarriage. The Hi-Tracs were primarily sold through Bumpus, the propane dealer. However some farmers did bring Bumpus their tractor, and Victor made a custom frame for that tractor. Victor's greatest fear came true. Elanco™ came out with the pre-emergence Treflan, which was far cheaper to use than flame cultivators. Fortunately, Gene Bumpus was ethical. He took possession of and eventually sold all 300 of the Hi-Tracs. I As you can imagine we were very pleased to add this tractor to our collection. It is one of the 225 Model “420” LP-Gas Tricycles manufactured by John Deere. Mounted on a Vick’s Hi-Trac certainly makes it a unique piece of equipment, which will be on display at Two-Cylinder Expo XVII in June.
After doing his usual superb restoration, Wayne had to get the tractor and the frame back together. He was able to get his friends, Don Harper and Wayne Gantt, to come over with their forklifts to help. It was a touchy job to reassemble the tractor and not harm his excellent paint job. They managed to get it together with no problem. The finished tractor, with a swing on the back, is providing a lot of fun. The joy of getting to know Victor and Patsy Ebeling was unexpected, and has been icing on the cake.
The authors, Hyler Bracey and Cass Flagg, are among the growing numbers of married couples that enthusiastically collect and show vintage tractors. Living in Taylorsville, Georgia, they can be reached by phone at 1 678 721-0044.
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Victor’s story of how he came to build unique farm equipment demonstrates that life is not necessarily a straight line. While farming with his brother in 1950, Victor married Patsy, and their remarkable journey together began. 
After a year-and-a-half of training in Utah, Victor returned to Plainview, Texas, and established his own machine shop. As business grew, he was exposed to specialized agricultural equipment used in the region. Baker Castor Oil Company approached Victor to make a castor bean harvester. Due to a shortage of castor beans, farmers were being allowed to grow them on their “non-allotment” acreage lying fallow. The problem was how to harvest the beans!
Harvesting castor beans is much like mechanically harvesting bird eggs. By trial and error, Victor applied his talent. He modified a combine and its head to create a successful castor bean harvester. The modifications included twin-drum rubber rollers and adding heat to the thrashing area of the combine. Victor subsequently built a number of castor bean harvesters for regional farmers.
Meanwhile, a local propane dealer, Gene Bumpus, was looking for a way to sell more propane to the farmers. Bumpus began looking for somebody to build a modified tractor upon which he could mount flame cultivators. In the mid-1950s, propane flame cultivators in Texas were quite common because propane was so incredibly cheap. Bumpus wanted a better tractor than the three-wheel models currently being built. The three-wheel models were quite unstable, and unable to carry weight necessary for the flame cultivators. Bumpus talked to Victor about building some modified tractors for him.
Victor, being pretty good at designing things, decided that a four-wheel version would work best. After some careful thought, he aggressively began to design what became the Vick’s Hi-Trac. The key would be the undercarriage that the tractor would be mounted upon. A deal was struck. 
n addition to the Hi-Tracs using flame cultivators, Victor built about a hundred spray rigs. He also built some Hi-Tracs that were used as toppers for crops, and extra-high Hi-Tracs that had six- to seven-feet of clearance under the frame for tomatoes and vineyards. Most were built on either a Ford or an International tractor chassis. Farmers did bring other brands to him, so you might be able to find a Vick’s Manufacturing Hi-Trac using Minneapolis-Moline, Allis-Chalmers, or Ferguson. Ours is the only John Deere he converted! He believes this is because all the John Deeres in the area were too large and heavy to mount on one of his frames.
Restoring it was quite a challenge. We had a ten-foot tractor and an eight-foot shop. To solve this problem, Wayne Cates, who restored the tractor, separated the frame from the chassis. 
