McNames ‘restores things that probably shouldn’t be’

MILLSTADT, Ill. — Cliff McNames was a “city kid” who inexplicably found an interest in classic farm equipment and items from yesteryear.

“I always liked the old things as a kid. The funny story that I tell is I was raised in the St. Louis city-county border. There were eight kids in my family, and there’s nobody in my house can spell farm. I have absolutely no farm or agricultural background, but my dad always said he had seven kids and a Hoosier,” said McNames, of Millstadt.

“I became a machinist as a young man, and somebody handed me a gas engine magazine one day. That was over 35 years ago and it’s been non-stop ever since.

“I like to restore things that probably shouldn’t be restored — the bad.”

Many of the artifacts he has restored over the years are on display at McNames Yesteryear Museum at his home.

His collection includes a rare 1905 wood-framed tractor that he hopes to bring to the Half Century of Progress. It was displayed at Historic Farm Days in 2024.

“I found it in the woods and it took 20 years to restore it,” McNames said, noting the biggest challenge was finding an engine and other parts.

He had a David Bradley Tri-Trac tractor and a David Braley Tri-Cut mower on display at Historic Farm Days.

“I only collect odd stuff. The Tri-Trac and Tri-Cut are both real odd. Everything I collect is different and I build a lot of stuff,” he said.

McNames not only restores “odd stuff,” he also has constructed some “mini” classic tractors from scratch that are a big draw for show spectators.

The Oliver 77 he built for his grandson, Waylon McLean, was featured at Historic Farm Days, and Waylon drove the motor-operate mini tractor around the grounds.

Oliver was the featured brand during this year’s Penfield show and the 77 was on display with its larger versions.

“I built this Oliver 77 from scratch. I think I started building it in 2022 for my then-2-year-old grandson. It has an early wheel horse rear end. So, it has three forward speeds and reverse. There’s just one belt going back to it. When he presses the pedal, he goes. He lets off the pedal, he stops. I completely made the wheels, the fenders, all the sheet metal. I’ve never done any sheet metal work before. This was my first attempt,” McNames said.

“He started driving it at two and a half before the sheet metal was on. Now he’s five and a half and he tries real hard to wear it out.

“It has a six and a half horsepower Predator motor from Harbor Freight, and because I couldn’t fit the recoil on the other side, I had to machine and put in a rope start, but you’ve got to start backwards. So, I had to put arrows on to make sure I started the right direction.

“He’s got a choke and a throttle, and he knows what they do. The nose cones were made out of an early round top lawn and garden gas can. I just cut it in half, took a piece out and put it back together.”

This wasn’t the first mini tractor he’s constructed from scratch.

“I built a Farmall F12 for my daughter over 20 years ago. Then I built a Schwinn bicycle built for four,” he said.