Joe Richardson, who will be 79 in July, would simply like to see his old tractor again.
The tractor, a 1931 John Deere GP wide track, "laid down" on him about 60 years ago.
"I'd just like to get on her one more time and take her down the road," he said.
First, he has to find it.
It's a tractor of some fame.
About six years ago, a photograph circulated through the nation's farm press and magazines of a tractor abandoned in a fence row with an oak tree, of considerable dimension, growing up through it, inside the drawbar and into the chassis.
Richardson lives in Newbern, Tenn., on his 85 acre farm.
"I can look right up there on the hill, where I parked it", he said.
That was in the 1940's as he recalls.
But when the photo appeared, the machine of course attracted the attention of classic tractor devotees and it wasn't long before Richardson was able to sell the tractor to Phillip Dillows of Dongloa, Ill.
Dillows, who told Richardson it took him three weeks to cut the stump of the oak tree out of the carcass of the tractor, "worked on it for about three months but gave up when he couldn't find the parts he needed," Richardson reported.
Dillows sold it to Charles "Red" Gaede of Limon, Colorado, who continued the restoration process before selling it to Paul Harrision of Woodbine, MD.
That's where the trail grows cold.
The Harrison family eventually dispersed the classic tractor collection but the records of those sales, which might indicate where the JD-GP wide tread, serial number 403627 went, are not readily available.
Grant Hill of Lisbon, MD., a member of a Maryland two-cylinder club, said the tractor was mentioned at a club meeting and he is "99% sure" that it ended up in southeastern Pennsylvania.
Initial attempts to trace it through other sources have been unsuccessful.
Richardson, however is not discouraged.
He appreciates any and all attempts to locate the tractor.
He reported last week that it hasn't rained in six weeks in his part of Tennessee "the crops are burning up" and he'd love an excuse to see this part of the country.
"If you find the tractor," he said, "that would get me north. I have always wanted to see the Shenandoah Valley."
Anyone with information as to the whereabouts or current owner of the JD-GP wide tread should contact Joe Richardson...........

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I would like to thank Jeff Rottkamp, Jr. for allowing us to share in this incredible story on the 1931 John Deere GP Wide Track. It is amazing what to the extent these people went through to find this tractor. The restoration that they performed on this tractor brought it from a tired piece of iron in a hedge row to a tractor that would be considered "showroom condition".
Thanks, Jeff