The Titan 10-20 tractor was manufactured by the McCormick Deering Company from 1915 to 1922. Ron Kunze has farmed in the central US his entire life and has developed a fondness for old tractors.

One of his favourites is his Farmall H, which his father purchased new when he returned from the war in Europe in 1946. His grandfather farmed his whole life with horses but owned one tractor which was used for belt work and it was a Titan 10-20. His dad spoke of it occasionally but no one knew where it went. He suspects it fell prey to the World War II scrap metal drives.

As Ron got older and collected a few more tractors, he occasionally thought how great it would be to own a Titan like his grandfather’s. However, he had only seen a couple and they were in museums.

The Ploughing Championships

In 2003, Ron had the opportunity to travel to Ireland. While driving around the Dingle Peninsula, he stopped at a supermarket in Ventry and noticed the Irish Farmers Journal for sale. Reading through it, he became aware of the yearly National Ploughing Championships.

Ron thought it sounded like an good idea and in 2005 attended the Ploughing at Mogeely, Co Cork, right from the opening to the closing ceremonies.

“The weather was great and the show was magnificent. On the second day, I stopped by one of the vendors who was selling farm toys and there was a model Titan for sale. It was clearly hand-crafted (I was told it was made in South Africa) and the first toy Titan I had ever seen. Because I always figured I would only have two chances to own a Titan – slim and none – this was my chance so I bought it and took it home with me to Nebraska”.

Fortuitous find

Fast forward to 2012. One of Ron’s irrigation wells was failing and needed to be replaced. So he contacted Leroy, the man who had drilled the well for his father in 1968. He was still in business with his son but was becoming elderly. “He asked me to come to his shop to discuss drilling another well.

“When I walked into his shop, there, parked at the far end, was a beautiful Titan 10-20 tractor. I was thrilled. He explained that his wife’s grandfather had purchased it new in 1920 in my home town of Palmer only four miles from where I live. It had been used to power a threshing machine and later to run an irrigation well. In the 1950s it had been retired and he had driven it in a few parades. I was so excited to see it that I told him if he would ever consider selling it I would certainly appreciate having a chance to buy it.

“A couple years later his wife passed away and his health was failing. He called me and asked if I was still interested. ‘Yes!’ He sold it to me at a very reasonable price and I named it Leroy after him”.

Leroy

“When I purchased the tractor, it had not run for eight to 10 years. With the help of a friend of mine, we discovered the problem was with the magneto and we managed to get it running. Just a few months before Leroy died I was exhibiting the Titan at our state fair. I asked one of Leroy’s sons to bring him out and we would start it for him. His whole family came and he was delighted to see and hear it running again. That was probably as much fun for me as it was for him.”

The Titan 10-20 is an unusual tractor in one way. It has a two-cylinder motor and both pistons travel horizontally while a large counterweight on the crankshaft fires them alternatively.

At “top dead centre” one fires, then the crankshaft makes a complete revolution and next time the other fires. Both connecting rods are attached to the crankshaft at the same angle and so the counterweight, attached at 180°, is required to balance the rotation.

Even though it is two-cylinder, it does not have the same sound as a two-cylinder John Deere, which was very popular at the time.

“Since both pistons move back and forth together (not side to side), the tractor rocks back and forth even when it sits at idle. Because of this movement, the instruction book advises keeping the wheel bearings properly greased even when doing belt work or they will wear out. This tractor has two forward gears and one reverse. Top speed is about 2.5mph. I run it on gasoline but it was originally run on kerosene. I am proof of a saying we have here that goes, “The only difference between men and boys is the size of their toys.”