Belt Pulley

Founded in 1986 by Kurt Aumann of Nokomis, Illinois, Belt Pulley magazine is the oldest magazine dedicated to antique farm tractors of all brands and makes.. Kurt Aumann was only sixteen years of age when he first started publishing the magazine. As early as 1987, Jane Waterman of Palmer, Illinois, came to work for the Belt Pulley magazine in the position of Assistant Editor. In 1989, Kurt and Jane were married and they continued to work together editing and publishing the Belt Pulley. In 1998, Jane took over primary responsibility for the editing of the magazine as Kurt sought to build his auctioneering business called Aumann Auctions. In January of 2003, Kurt and Jane sold their interests in Belt Pulley magazine to Chad and Katie Elmore of Jefferson, Wisconsin.

The Antique Tractor Restoration Hobby

Although there have been local neighborhood "threshing shows" throughout the midwestern United States for many years, the hobby of collecting and restoring old farm machinery began to boom in the 1980s. Organizations of collectors were formed and these organizations began to host annual shows for the public. As a result, public inerest in old farm tractors and farm machinery grew phenomenally. One such oranization that grew tremendously in the 1980s was the LeSueur County Pioneer Power Association of LeSueur, Minnesota. The interests of individual collectors naturally seemed to crystalize around particular makes of farm tractor (i.e. a person might be a Massey-Harris person and collect and restore mainly tractors made by the Massey-Harris Company.) Indeed, clubs were formed based on collectors the same major brands of tractor manufacturers. The Massey-Harris collectors had their own nationwide orgainization, John Deere collectors had their own orgainization, International Harvester had their own and etc. Not surprizingly, the early literature of antique farm equipment (newsletters and magazines) were dedicated to one brand or another of the major manufacturers of farm tractors. Accordingly, the magazine called Wild Harvest was dedicated to Massey-Harris tractors and farm machinery, Green magazine and Two Cylinder magazine were dedcaited to John Deere tractors and Red Power was dedicated to International Harvester farm machinery. Because of the need for sufficient members to sustain a viable organization, these antique farm equipment organizations and their respective magazines, were limited only to the products of those farm equipment companies which happened to make farm tractors and, indeed, were further limited to only the major farm tractor manufacturing companies. Overlooked in the literature of the antique farm equipment literature were all the machines made by the various "short line" companies like the New Holland Machine Company of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, the New Idea Spreader Company' of Coldwater, Ohio, and the David Bradley Company of Kankakee, Illinois. Furthermore, no regular, formal organizations existed even for those tractors manufactured by the many smaller companies. Into this environment was born the Belt Pulley magazine, with its professed goal, of being dedicated to "all brands of antique farm tractors."

The Reporters

In the first few issues of the Belt Pulley magazine, Kurt Aumann wrote nearly all the articles contained in each issue. If any inclination toward any one brand of tractor or any one antique farm collectors organization could be perceived in the new publication, it would be an inclination toward the products of the Oliver Farm Equipment Company. This was a mere reflection of the close relationship that Kurt Aumann had developed with individual members of the Hart-Parr/Oliver Collectors Association. Nonetheless, the magazine sought to cover the history and the technical data of all makes and brands of antique farm tractors and farm equipment. Toward this end, the magazine announced its intention of establishing a network of the reporters from around the nation to contribute articles. Originally, the writers or contributors to Belt Pulley magazine were called "Reporters." An early list of Reporters for the Belt Pulley magazine included Ed Westen of Kewaunee, Wisconsin, Jerry Engstrom of Fargo, North Dakota; Richard LaRusso of New Milford, Connecticut; Robert Oliphant of Waterford, Virginia; David Grube of Ringold, Pennsylvania; and Loran Ellingson of Northwood, North Dakota.. In 1989, Kevin Talley of Vermillion, South Dakota and Sam Meeker of North Henderson, Illinois were added as reporters. The reporters attended antique tractor shows across the nation and submitted "show reports" to the magazine on the shows they had attended.

Ed Westen

Ed Westen became a regular contributor of articles to the Belt Pulleymagazine, such as an article on Pioneer Village in Minden, Nebraska, a two-part series of articles on the restoration of his own Huber Model HK tractor, and an article on the Minneapolis-Moline Model D "Universal" tractor. In the May/June 1992 issue of Belt Pulley magazine, Ed Westen began the column called "The Good Ol' Days" with which Ed's name became most commonly identified.

Dr. Walter "Chick" Bishop

Dr. Walter "Chick" Bishop is a retired educator living near Litchfield, Illinois.[1] Dr. Bishop has contributed a regularly to the Belt Pulley magazine and was credited as the magazine's first and only "staff writer." In an article published in the November/December 1987 issue of Belt Pulley entitled "Why To Restore" Dr. Bishop attempted to answer the question posed in the title of the article. In the course of the article, he outlined a short history of the antique tractor collection and restoration hobby. This article lead Dr. Bishop to an article on the settlers of the Corn Belt breaking the sod with the first steel plow made by John Deere. This article, in turn, led Dr. Bishop into a series of articles on Deere and Company tractors and farm machinery, which included the "Waterloo Boy" tractor, the "John Deere" Model D tractor, the "John Deere" Model A tractor, the "John Deere" Model B tractor, the "John Deere" Model H and Model M tractors. Dr. Bishop closed out the series of articles on Deere and Company with an "Overview" of the company.