When tractors are mentioned, the visual of a tractor in a corn or wheat field comes to mind for many people, but there are many specialty tractors doing work with other agricultural crops. These tractors are interesting because of their design and functionality. Rick Rodland has just such a tractor with his 1970 Chisholm Ryder Grape Harvester.
Rick says the grape harvester is his favorite tractor. He is a third-generation farmer on the family farm in Pennsylvania. The tractor is powered by a Ford 3000 diesel Select-O-Speed transmission, which offers 10 forward speeds and 2 reverse speeds. The tractor gets a good workout because the farm produces about 300 tons of grapes annually.
The Chisholm Ryder Corporation was headquartered in Niagara Falls, New York, and manufactured several types of harvesting tractors in addition to the grape harvester. Chisholm Ryder was purchased by McConnell Tractors in 1986.
Today, Rick’s Chisholm Ryder Grape Harvester is more than 50 years old, but it’s still doing the job it was built to do. As a tribute to over a half century of good work, you might consider raising a toast of grape juice to this classic tractor that’s still harvesting the fruits of the land.
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