Madison farmer uses 70 year old equipment

By Joan Janzen

It’s seeding time in Saskatchewan, but one Madison area farmer chooses to put the seed in the ground using 60-70 year old equipment. 68-year-old Jim Code farms one mile east and six miles south of Madison. Jim’s goal is that “there’s no equipment out there that’s younger than 70 years, except me.”

Jim has a half section of land. “I only farm 80 acres every year, both seed time and harvest; a neighbour rents the remainder,” he said. “My equipment is in good enough shape. We didn’t have any trouble with the equipment during the four days of seeding.” This year he used a 1952 truck to fill the seeder.

The tractor used for seeding didn’t have a cab. “You eat a lot of dirt,” he said, stating the obvious. “It took about four days to do my 80 acres. My son helped me the last couple of days. He’ll be the fourth generation to farm that quarter. It’s quite a big deal for a young guy to work on something antique and persevere. I thought it was pretty good.”

Jim has been farming on his own since 1986. He said 1987 and 1988 were years of crop failure. Nevertheless Jim made a personal vow to farm his grandfather’s land as long as he is able.

“In 2009 I seeded 40 acres with a 1929 Case tractor to commemorate 100 years of our homestead,” he said. He sold that tractor a couple of years ago. “I sold about 15 tractors and bought about seven. There’s about 65 tractors in my yard; maybe 20 run. I have enough equipment to farm three sections. I started out doing this to make money; quite often I just break even.”

In addition to farming, Jim moved buildings for 40 years, and is also a mechanic. “I took one year of apprenticeship in the 70’s for mechanics, and then didn’t go back,” he explained. “But I put in enough time to take the test, so you could say I’m a journeyman mechanic.”

Jim likes fixing older equipment because it’s simple, and there aren’t any electrical wires. “If it doesn’t go, you can see why. I’m not an abstract guy; I want to look at things,” he explained. He said he doesn’t touch newer equipment unless it’s out of gas.

His newest piece of equipment is a 1972 three-ton truck, and his oldest equipment is a 1926 tractor that still runs. “There aren’t any parts for equipment. If you’re going to fix a tractor, you’re going to have to buy another one like it for parts. The odd time you might find stuff that will fit on something else.”

Jim also has a 1928 Hart-Parr tractor that he has up and running. Hart-Parr sold out to Oliver in the mid-1930’s, and was one of the first manufacturers of tractors.

Right now Jim is finishing up some projects in his shop, and is looking forward to the next tractor pull in Flaxcombe, where he entered three tractors last year. He also built his own sled, and entered thirteen tractors one year in Eston’s tractor pull. “I won quite a few of the events that year,” he said. “Most of the tractors have steel wheels, so it’s fun.”

Whether he’s seeding, harvesting or entered in a tractor pull, you can be sure the equipment Jim Code is using came into existence before Jim’s arrival back in 1954.

Madison farmer, Jim Code, has been farming on his own since 1986 and has been using equipment that predates 1954.