Misc Photos for later placement and text
The tractor is a 1945 Case VAIW-3 Army-Airforce airplane tug. 3957 of these were made only in 1945 some 70 years ago, this being 2015. The Myers family just happened to buy one through war surplus disposal about 1950. The tug had been painted with white and silver paint, eliminating the Army green. It was a highly modified version of the Case industrial tractors. It had less horsepower than today's riding lawn motors with only 13 hp at the pintle hitch at the rear. "13 HP!" This engine was an industrial engine produced for many applications and was considered bullet-proof. Bore 3.25, stroke 3.75, 6:1 compression, 6v, with a governor controlled max rpm of 1425. It was designed to run forever. Today there is a 100-page parts catalog with many of the parts still available. The Myers application was to prep vegetable truck gardens, mow weeds, plow and disc ground on our mini-farm. Then there was the fun of just running around the farm as fast it could go, which in 4th gear was pretty fast. And we had fun pushing down/over anything that needed pushing over. While we don't know the total weight of the tug, each solid cast iron rear fender weighed 875 pounds. This was not a tractor to drive over wet or soft ground. It was designed for asphalt and concrete at airports. To accomplish our farm needs, dad purchased some old worn-out farm implements. These consisted of a horse-drawn sickle mower, a plow and a disc. While the tractor was always ready to go, the implements always needed attention. We lived in the John McClary home in 1950, then made the move to the Morris home, about 6 miles away, in the winter. I drove that tractor to the new home when about 12 years old. When reaching the destination I was nearly frozen to the controls. It saw little use in the new location and remained in our garage. We boys often got home haircuts while sitting in the seat. Later, it was driven to our newly-purchased small 16-acre farm where it saw most of its use. For youngsters, this tug was a lot of fun. It also taught us a lot of driving skills. When the farm was sold, this little tractor was part of the sale. Kinda wish we still had it. -- Phil Myers
You had to be very careful when field plowing or discing to not let the tractor get stuck in the soft ground because you would have to manually dig it out with a shovel. And it used a Lot of Gasoline when farming in soft dirt. But it always started, including in the Winter. - - John Myers
You had to be very careful when field plowing or discing to not let the tractor get stuck in the soft ground because you would have to manually dig it out with a shovel. And it used a Lot of Gasoline when farming in soft dirt. But it always started, including in the Winter. - - John Myers