Turning the IH 544 Project into a Family Affair!
by Jason Rhodes
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| IH 544 with wood splitter |
In last month's issue of the Toy Tractor Times, I wrote an article about the good old days of splitting wood with the IH 544 to prepare for the winter. I've had quite a bit of interest in the subject and model, so I have decided to follow it up with a little more information on the whole project.
Tina and I (T&J Tractors) have been planning to expand the business for a little over a year now. As a custom/scratch builder, I get more order requests than I could possibly fill. I end up referring most to other builders and forums like Toy Talk. The demand far outweighs the supply in my area of the hobby. My family has always enjoyed seeing the models that I create. I have been trying to talk them into trying it for the last few years. They have always declined because they didn't think they would be able to do it.
After explaining a lot more to them, and factoring in the appeal of a home business, we decided to put together a project, which could lead them into large-scale production down the road. I chose the 1/16th IH 544 with wood splitter for a few reasons, my fondness for the 544 and wood splitter as a child being one of them. Another reason is because it was a custom project with a lot of hands on fabrication as well as a small amount of resin casting. It is a great project for training my family because there is a little bit of every required skill involved.
The included pictures were taken when we first set up the shop. They built the benches and setup before I actually arrived. They did a pretty good job setting everything up and buying the required tools. I only had to make one trip to pick up the couple things we missed. Everything in the pictures was in a temporary position for a training weekend. I spent the weekend showing them how to make about 1/3 of the parts for the total project. I was very impressed at how quickly they picked everything up. They learned to make perfect shifting and hydraulic levers, grills, steel fenders with grab handle and trim, and turned aluminum exhausts. All this was within the period of a couple days of watching and learning. It was quite a training weekend. Along with looking over their shoulders and giving pointers, I also got to entertain my nieces. I don't think I have ever played so much hide and seek in my life. It was nice though, I treasure every minute I get to spend with them, as I don't see them too often.
There is a big parts cabinet where the different parts for the models are stored. Each of my working family members has their own-labeled row of drawers for parts. They spend their free time in the shop making whatever they feel like, and then stick it in the drawer. Soon, I will show them how to make the rest of the parts for the model, and then painting, assembly, and decaling. They will be handling most of the entire production side of the project. Each worker can build their own tractors with the parts they have stored up in their drawer. They can also trade, buy or sell parts between themselves to finish up the models if they are missing something.
I will be handling just a few parts of the project. The first part was of course making a prototype along with the molds to resin cast certain parts. Training my family to build parts has been my most recent contribution to the project. Again, I am amazed at how quickly they are picking everything up. Another aspect of the project that I handle is the buying of the Ertl IH 544 castings we use in this custom run. I buy most all of them off of Ebay. I just spend a couple hours a week surfing and book marking the upcoming auctions to watch. I have been able to pick them up for an average of about $14 each including shipping. I am always on the lookout for more of these castings if anybody has any of them.
I have had a lot of fun putting this project together so far. It has been great working with my family on something we all are passionate about. This project will lead to much bigger things for our business. We are working with one of the top names in resin casting for further expansion in spring or fall of next year. From that point on, that division of the business will deal primarily with high detail 1/32-scale models. I will write about this project again further down the road with an update of how everything is progressing. If anybody has any questions or comments feel free to drop me an email at jason@modeltractors.com. Next month I will finally submit my article and pictures of the Scratch Built 1/16th Red Addiction Pulling team project, along with their impressive results from this year's pulling season. Have a good one!
 IH 544 with splitter |
 Splitter on IH 544 |
Splitter
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| Pulling
Tractors and Customs
Custom built to order Pulling tractors and some models ready to ship. E-mail or Call for models available. Jeff Blackburn 683 Beech Wood CT #29 Ripon, WI 54971 E-Mail: Polarisjb@charter.net Phone: 920-410-4375
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