Camden Displays Sheppard Tractors Collection At Fair
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By Dan [email protected]
Camden, a retired farmer from Pierceton, remembers how his dad used to sell Sheppard tractors by displaying them on the farm and he’s tried to bring back that setting this year at the Kosciusko County Community Fair.
A member of the national Sheppard Tractor Club, Camden has assembled a display of seven tractors, five implements and a handful of generators in the antique area of the Kosciusko County Fairgrounds.
The display is surrounded by nearly 200 other tractors, but one can spot his collection by the tractor’s trademark bright orange color.
He even fashioned a sign promoting the tractors in hopes of recreating the sales atmosphere similar to one his father created.
Sheppard tractors were an obscure brand 70 years ago, but made their mark in agriculture history by manufacturing the first diesel tractors in the United States.
The tractors were manufactured in 1-, 2-, 3- and 4-cylinder engines with a range of 5 to 58 horsepower. The larger tractors featured full hydraulics, a spring-balanced seat and a full line of implements.
His father’s sales effort was cut short though when the company abruptly ended the tractor line, instead choosing to focus on the emerging power steering technology.
As a result, the company only made about 1,600 tractors.
Camden said he considered the brand to be a good one that offered versatility and included hydraulics.
The decision came as a disappointment to Camden’s father.
“He knew the value of a diesel engine so he thought they’d be good on the farm,” Camden said of his father, John T. Camden.
Camden’s collection includes reproductions that have been painted to closely match the original orange color. He uses a color known as Tangerine, which is the closest he can find without having to mix colors, he said.
Among the standouts in his collection, is a mining tractor, complete with oxygen tank, and an “experimental,” prototype 6-cylinder tractor that was in the design stages when the company ended its foray into the tractor business.
As a club member, he’s met the Sheppard family and has a lot of respect for the founder, R.H. Sheppard.
“He really had something going then. That was a nice tractor. For its day, it was top of the line, I’ll tell ya,” Camden said earlier this week while seated among his display.
As part of club activities, Camden normally loads a handful of tractors onto a flatbed trailer for shows around the Midwest and beyond.
He’s been a regular at the county fair and normally brought one tractor out to show.
He said he had been encouraging club members to participate in a large display, but ended up doing it himself.
“I been trying to get the club to do a show like this so I finally done it.”
Camden, 80, has been manning the display all week, sitting under a small tent. The last chance to see the display will be Saturday when the fair wraps up.
He hinted that he probably will not try to undergo a display next year by himself.
He’s hoping the club tries something similar next year.
“I hope they would continue this,” he said.
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Camden, a retired farmer from Pierceton, remembers how his dad used to sell Sheppard tractors by displaying them on the farm and he’s tried to bring back that setting this year at the Kosciusko County Community Fair.
A member of the national Sheppard Tractor Club, Camden has assembled a display of seven tractors, five implements and a handful of generators in the antique area of the Kosciusko County Fairgrounds.
The display is surrounded by nearly 200 other tractors, but one can spot his collection by the tractor’s trademark bright orange color.
He even fashioned a sign promoting the tractors in hopes of recreating the sales atmosphere similar to one his father created.
Sheppard tractors were an obscure brand 70 years ago, but made their mark in agriculture history by manufacturing the first diesel tractors in the United States.
The tractors were manufactured in 1-, 2-, 3- and 4-cylinder engines with a range of 5 to 58 horsepower. The larger tractors featured full hydraulics, a spring-balanced seat and a full line of implements.
His father’s sales effort was cut short though when the company abruptly ended the tractor line, instead choosing to focus on the emerging power steering technology.
As a result, the company only made about 1,600 tractors.
Camden said he considered the brand to be a good one that offered versatility and included hydraulics.
The decision came as a disappointment to Camden’s father.
“He knew the value of a diesel engine so he thought they’d be good on the farm,” Camden said of his father, John T. Camden.
Camden’s collection includes reproductions that have been painted to closely match the original orange color. He uses a color known as Tangerine, which is the closest he can find without having to mix colors, he said.
Among the standouts in his collection, is a mining tractor, complete with oxygen tank, and an “experimental,” prototype 6-cylinder tractor that was in the design stages when the company ended its foray into the tractor business.
As a club member, he’s met the Sheppard family and has a lot of respect for the founder, R.H. Sheppard.
“He really had something going then. That was a nice tractor. For its day, it was top of the line, I’ll tell ya,” Camden said earlier this week while seated among his display.
As part of club activities, Camden normally loads a handful of tractors onto a flatbed trailer for shows around the Midwest and beyond.
He’s been a regular at the county fair and normally brought one tractor out to show.
He said he had been encouraging club members to participate in a large display, but ended up doing it himself.
“I been trying to get the club to do a show like this so I finally done it.”
Camden, 80, has been manning the display all week, sitting under a small tent. The last chance to see the display will be Saturday when the fair wraps up.
He hinted that he probably will not try to undergo a display next year by himself.
He’s hoping the club tries something similar next year.
“I hope they would continue this,” he said.
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