A nuclear engineer raised in the big city miles from the nearest farm, rebuilt and modified a superb corral of classic Cub Cadet tractors, and garnered 5.5 million views on YouTube

Cub Cadets were introduced in 1961 by International Harvester (IH) as heavy-duty, compact garden tractors for rural homeowners. Initially, suburbia was not the market. Basically, Cub Cadets were manufactured from parts already proven on American farms, i.e., they were originally scaled down Farmall Cub tractors made (1961-1981) in Louisville, Kentucky. Cub Cadets were extremely tough—vastly distinct from the distant lineage now queued on Home Depot lots.

“The components were rugged, and that’s why they’re still in use today,” Smith describes. “They have a differential transmission that’s equal to an automobile transmission in terms of its size and construction. They’re not built like a lawnmower. As opposed to lawn tractors, Cub Cadets were called garden tractors, and the name tells the true difference.”

“In about 2010, I started buying and restoring tractors. I got on the internet and saw a lot of modified Cub Cadets, and I got really interested in a guy who built a motor grader. By that point, the internet had reached the place where you could get all the DIY needed to learn. I kinda dove in. I’d taken wood and metal shop class in high school, but now I could watch videos of guys cutting metal and welding, and copy what I saw.”

Going full-throttle on a rural, East Coast property after retirement in 2017, Smith restored and modified a 15-vehicle fleet (almost all complete engine rebuilds and wear-component replacements) composed of Cub Cadets manufactured from 1967-1976.

https://www.agweb.com/news/machinery/diy-wizard-turns-miniature-tractors-equipment-fleet

The research vessel of the late Paul Allen, co-founder of Microsoft, was outfitted with of state-of-the-art sensors and remotely operated vehicles to aid in its underwater archeology mission.

The Navy purchased the vessel in 2022 for $12.5 million, and in 2025 rechristened the Sarah Lynn, the U.S. Naval Institute was first to report.

https://www.militarytimes.com/veterans/military-history/2026/06/30/vessel-that-aided-in-discovery-of-famous-wwii-shipwrecks-finds-new-life-in-us-navy/

spotted in a garage parking lot while it's engine is getting rebuilt at an engine shop

a scoreboard on your squadron's hanger? Damn cool. Nice to see the IH in front of it too.

https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=782234894938594&set=gm.10173873164415533&idorvanity=110663305532

I am sure not many of you are familiar with plowing snow, but for everyone that has spent years mowing lawns, it's very similar, and cathartic, relaxing, therapeutic. Or maybe that's just the way it feels to me, because I like the effect of the messy to perfect work, like sanding wood

https://www.tumblr.com/coolthingsguyslike

Scout II and a Quiet Flite Evinrude. From 1975 to 1976, the Scout served as the official vehicle of the U.S. Ski Team,

International Harvester saw an opportunity to showcase the Scout’s capabilities on the world stage. They sent 10 of the new long-wheelbase Travelers and seven Scout II Traveltops.

All 17 International Scout vehicles assigned to the U.S. Ski Team were outfitted with high-end options, typically mirroring the Patriot or Sno-Star packages. Ten of these Scouts were further equipped with Warn electric winches mounted on Warn bumpers. A bold “U.S. Ski Team” decal adorned the front fenders, and many featured additional driving lights.

Six of these vehicles were shipped to Europe for the Innsbruck Olympics and subsequent World Cup events, while the remainder supported training camps in Montana, Ontario, Washington, and Colorado.

https://wisconsinhistory.org/Records/Image/IM118248

https://offroadtripz.com/international-scout-olympic-suv/

https://www.tumblr.com/coolthingsguyslike

cool trucks in the swap meet area

 

Swanton Berry Farm's sign, a landmark on the Pacific Coast Highway above Santa Cruz, California

https://www.deere.com/en/publications/the-furrow/2025/april-2025/roadside-attraction

“The Heavy-Duty Truck Capital of the World” was the nickname for Truck Plant 1 at the Fort Wayne International Harvester Plant, now the plant is going to be home to the Harvester Homecoming Museum .

"Whether it was war vehicles, work vehicles, school busses, they didn't just build trucks here," Duvall said. "They changed transportation in the United States. This was built a few years after the Lincoln Highway opened, the first transcontinental highway, and they built a heavy duty truck plant right off of it like a stone's throw. And so basically, long haul trucking was perfected right here."

    

This year’s Harvester Homecoming Festival will take place Aug. 1-2, 2025

https://www.indystar.com/story/news/2025/03/27/the-heavy-duty-truck-capitol-of-the-world-is-reborn-in-fort-wayne/82594432007

This 4×4 1954 IH was specially ordered by the Army Corps of Engineers for the Chief Engineers of the Minuteman Missile System in South Dakota. Just five were made, and three are known to survive.

The Minuteman Missile Program required vehicles like the R140 for accessing remote silo sites during the Cold War. With its full bus-style “Woody” body, seating for six, and ample cargo space, this truck played a key role in supporting the construction and maintenance of the missile system.

 https://silodrome.com/international-harvester-r140-4x4/

the newest truck from Welderup is very low key for them, I almost missed that they made it

the Phoenix’s last ever run in 2003 at Bonneville, set the current record for the Unlimited Diesel Truck class at 272.685 mph! (With a junkyard find ’47 International K-7 semi !)

http://www.ugofadini.com/phoenixstory.html

R.B. Slagle, who thus became the first trucker to enter the prestigious 200 Club. 

For Speed Week 2003 the streamlining was extensively improved by adding a "wing" at the front and a new long tail to reduce the turbulence at the back, somewhat in the style of "long tail" versions of sports racing cars for Le Mans. The modifications must have been effective, because Carl Heap improved on his record again early in the week (272.685 mph)

 

Skip the first 8 minutes 

Or see this WAY too short video that cuts out the semi truck used as a pusher that was spinning tires like made to make speed 

The Phoenix made its debut pass at Bonneville in 1989, running 158 mph. Eventually, the truck went 188 mph, then 212 mph, then broke 250 mph -- and the streamliner record. 

Carl Heap proved just how far a determined team can come with some effort (and a lot of streamlining). 

The truck now resides in Hastings, Minnesota, at the Stagecoach Diesel Motorsports Museum.

First race above, and 13 years later, the evolved and streamlined last race

https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/slagle-heap-43-international-detroit-diesel-bonneville-race-truck-tribute-page.526065/

Blake with the help of his dad, pulled off the the coolest repair, by resurrecting his grandfather's once daily used '54 International Harvester truck (thank you Marc B!)

As a teenager, Richard Kincheloe bought the International Harvester with his mother for $50 and a hog!

It then sat neglected on his property for more than 45 years, eventually catching the eye of his grandson, Blake. 

The original brake lights were non-existent, so new ones were installed, and a bathroom door latch took the place of an unsalvageable door handle mechanism.

All the while, Blake kept his project a secret from his grandad, hoping to create a moment of pure surprise.

That moment arrived when Blake and his father decided to reveal the restored truck to Richard. Driving Cannonball down the driveway for the first time in 45 years, they recorded the emotional reveal on video.

When Blake was a toddler, he thought of Cannonball as "his truck" even though it spent much of the time broken and idle. When he grew up, he initially took the truck in for new brakes. However, his plans evolved into a full restoration. Meanwhile, Grandpa Richard was kept in the dark as Blake, with the help of C&J's Classic and Muscle Cars, brought the truck back to working order.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/humankind/2024/05/21/watch-a-grandsons-vintage-truck-restoration-surprise-his-grandpa/73786331007/

And HOW long has it been since I posted about an IH truck? A LONG time

Buses and trucks loading up at work call at Statehouse Lake Youth Conservation Corps camp on the White River of Wisconsin, 1962

https://search.library.wisc.edu/digital/AJQQCNMHC2LKQQ8G

Front and center, that's a International Harvester isn't it?

Camp Wandawega... you're probably not going to believe this 1960's summer camp time capsule.... was founded in 1925 as a speakeasy/brothel/weekend destination for Chicagoans, and now looks like Martha Stewart and Crate and Barrel were liberally spread throughout the camp

these are legit Girl Scout Cabins, saved from a scout camp that closed nearby

Tucked away on the shore of ‘a little lake that no one has ever heard of’ in southeastern Wisconsin, Camp Wandawega has seen it all: from bootleggers to bad cops, priests to prostitutes, hippies to hipsters, as well as flappers, fanatics, and families on vacation.

Though started at Hotel Wandewega in 1925 to make a speakeasy with trap doors, hidden rooms, etc, by 1961 it was bought by Latvian priests (I am not making that up) who escaped the Soviet Union. They made this their retirement home and Latvian Summer Church Camp

https://www.crateandbarrel.com/kids-blog/camp-wandawega-nod-behind-the-collaboration
https://www.wandawega.com/our-story/
https://www.wandawegahistory.org/index#/the-wandawega-hotel

https://www.wandawega.com/blog/

I bet the horse riding academies could afford some real nice station wagon woodies

https://i.pinimg.com/originals/93/7b/55/937b559dceeb15c31fc6dee5bf610dfe.jpg

https://www.wisconsinhistory.org/Records/Image/IM7660

facebook is a good source of hobbyist's photos for nearly every hobby there is, and has a lot of trains and railroad pages... just came across a new one today

bonus, there's in IH Travelall rail inspector! 

https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10225043738554248&set=gm.1051899519011571&idorvanity=280781616123369

I wonder, does Matt get stuck on purpose, just for video to post? Because he does not have a shovel, or anchor, or other useful thing to get himself or customers unstuck with

1938 International Ambulance Used During WWII, Banyon TV Series, & Who is The Black Dahlia TV Movie and sold for 18k in a 2021 auction

This ambulance was used behind the front-line as a non-combat ambulance during World War II before it got a new life being used in several television productions.

https://bid.gwsauctions.com/auction/71/item/1938-international-ambulance-used-during-wwii-banyon-13070/