Road Trip For Old Iron

[Ken Christopherson]

Hello all!

Well, weather has been interesting around these parts lately. Tornadoes one day and snow the next. Twister missed me by about 10 miles. In the mean time, I have been organizing a trip from where I am (M/SP, MN) to Muscle Shoals, AL to pick up some old iron for a friend. I'll be leaving the end of the month - The morning of March 30th, (route is in the link below). Plan on stopping on the way down at the John Deere Museum to check it out for a couple hours. From there it is a straight shot down to Muscle Shoals, AL.

Anyone feel like having a sandwich along the way I'd be more than willing to stop and kill an hour or so. Plan is to stay overnight Thursday in Muscle Shoals, and then head back up through Nashville (probably stay Friday in Nashville to see the sights), then head for home Saturday morning. I want to avoid tolls, so I am going to avoid as much of Illinois as I can. Never been to Mississippi, Alabama, Kentucky, or Tennessee so that will be good for me. Going to try to eat something in at least each one of the states.

If there is anyone along the way with H or M parts (or any good salvage yards), just a few things I am looking for during the trip for my own personal tractors: PTO shield for H and M, rear wheel weights, belly pump for H, (2) seat springs, light bar and possibly fenders for the H if the price is right.
Minneapolis to Muscle Shoals Route

 

[Jim in Ma.]

If you want to make a side trip - I'm just north of Boston and would gladly give you a nice shield for an H. It's time for me to start getting rid of some of my good stuff.

 

[Ken Christopherson]

That is a great offer, but I don't think my cousin (I am borrowing his NEW 2017 truck) will want me to put that many miles on. LOL. Maybe I could make it worth your while to ship it, though? My e-mail is always open for forum members! I would love to make it out to the east coast though as I would love to see some of the historical places of our early history that are out there!

Oh, I am also going to be looking for front hubs and rims for the H as well.

 

[JT]

Ken, I know you want to avoid Illinois like the plague, and I don't blame you, but I have a set of front hubs and rims off an H, also have a belly pump too. I am in central IL if interested, right off interstate 55

 

[JT]

I also have a set of rear weights, and I think a light bar also

 

[AlinMO]

If you stay about 75 miles away from Chicago, Illinois is not too bad. Of course you have the mysterious work zones without workers.

 

[grandpa Love]

We are 3 or so hours south of there. Not worth going through Birmingham. Lol but in Decatur AL there is an awesome salvage yard. Google Mid South Salvage in Decatur. Many many acres of old tractors. Happy pickin'! Kevin in AL

 

[Old weldor]

Ken, Alderson tractor at Sigourney Iowa has Farmall parts and parts tractors. It's in southeast Iowa, the have an add in Red Power magazine.

 

[Ken Christopherson]

JT, Sent you an e-mail... Thanks for the response. Maybe we can work something out?

 

[Ken Christopherson]

I would avoid Chicago if I could.. I don't have any objection to Illinois - I just want to avoid tolls if possible. Last time I drove through all the tolls it cost me about 20-30 dollars. Of course I was in a Super Duty with a triple axle trailer. Uff.

 

[Ken Christopherson]

Thanks for the heads up! Just pulled them up on Google. Not too far out of the way. I'll see what JT has to say - he mentioned having a ton of parts that may help me.

 

[Ken Christopherson]

Looks like an impressive place if you pull it up on Google Maps! Thanks for the heads up! I have about four days to do this, and the last day (Nashville to Minneapolis) will probably be the longest by far.

 

[Schoolman]

Stop by Campbell's tractor salvage in Lawrenceburg Tn. He has acres of junked farmalls and parts are reasonable.

 

[Crookedwrench]

You should check out J P Tractors in Eastern Missouri. Beautiful place. Friendly service. Lots of Farmalls already disassembled. Take some of your excess stuff. John will trade! Don

 

[Farmallhal]

A second to a visit to J P Tractor Salvage in Missouri which is on US 67 a few miles south of Fredericktown. US 67 is just a little west of what appears to be your I-55 route south of St. Louis to Memphis, Tennessee. JP's web address is jptractorsalvage dot com and considered one of the best in this area. GPS will determine best route between I-55 and US 67 as there are many choices. Good folks and I never leave disappointed, Hal.

 

[55 50 Ron]

What specifics are you planning for JD? Your route says tractor and engine museum. Are you thinking of the museum downtown Waterloo or the engine plant or the tractor assembly plant or all of these?

Must say your Nashville to Minneapolis in one day will be a "killer"! We do Owatonna area to a little east of St Louis in one day and we are beat.

 

[Ken Christopherson]

At JD I will just hit the museum for just a couple hours. I am a fast walker, and can take a lot of pictures swiftly. I am a pre-1960's guy anyhow. Any newer equipment than that doesn't really interest me much. I can appreciate it but it just doesn't get my mind wandering. If I am going to make it to Alabama by that night I will need to leave early, and move quickly through the museum.

I don't mind long road trips. In 2013 I rode from Minneapolis to Dallas, TX. May 20th 2013.. That date may be familiar. The day the Moore, OK F-5 tornado hit. I missed it by 20 minutes. Spent 22.5 hours on that motorcycle during that trip down, 14.5 hours the way back. About 8 hours were spent riding through some of the worst weather I had ever seen. I had no idea what I was in for when I got to Moore.

 

[Ken Christopherson]

Thanks for the heads up Hal! I'll have to check it out!

 

[PretendFarmer]

You cant appreciate Nashville in 1 day. I've been twice in the last 3 years. Places to see are the Johnny cash museum, George Jones complex, Tootsies and other bars. Take a ride up to Antique Archaeology just because. The best bar/club by far for those that appreciate classic country is the Nashville Palace up in Opryland. Nothing but the good old stuff. When they do events in the back room its something you wont be forgetting any time soon. Last time we were at the Nashville Palace, Darrell Worrley showed up and played good stuff along with the Time Jumpers.
The Grand Ole Opry is a must visit as well.
So in order I would visit:
1. Grand Ole Opry
2. Nashville palace on a Friday or Saturday night.
3. Johnny Cash and George Jones Complex
4. Downtown bars starting with Tootsies
5. Country music hall of fame.
Everything else pretty much comes afterwards.
Because I've been there twice, I know what I want to see and I could do all that in a 3 day weekend easily. But for a first timer, you'll want 5 days. But if you want to compress that into a couple days, I suggest what I already mentioned as a minimum.

 

[gene bender]

Nasville to IOWA CITY 8HRS thru ST.louis 8hrs leave Nashville early 5 or so to avoid rush hr traffic BTDT.

 

[S2710]

Ken I have the pump and springs and the light bar.

Bob

 

[Ken Christopherson]

Sounds great. I'll see what JT and I can work out - he seems to have most everything I am looking for. We'll keep in touch!

 

[Ken Christopherson]

I don't think any great town is possible to take in in just one day. I would love to stay more than one night, but unfortunately I only have about 4.5 days to make the venture down and back. My cousin is letting me borrow his brand new 2017 Dodge 2500, so I don't want to keep it any longer than allowed (and worry him, LOL). I mostly just wanted to spend the night in Nashville just to get a rough idea of the town. We are headed to Colorado in May for a good road trip, so I have to save most of my pennies for that one.

I'll definitely put those stops in my 'to do, Nashville' list. Thank you for the response!

 

[dgoodman2]

Ken
Someone there might tell you better. But from Muscle Shouls I would take one of the Hwy 72 East to the interstate. If I remember that is a long winding 2 lane road you have marked going Northeast. Especially if you pulling trailer. That would also get you closer to that salvage yard in Decator. Have a great trip