Conversion Tractors and Doodlebugs coming to Half Century of Progress

Mark Dozier approached my husband Keith with the idea of trying to get a collection of conversion tractors to the August 21-25, 2025, Half Century of Progress. The Half Century of Progress is the largest vintage working farm show in the world held at Rantoul, Illinois at the former Chanute Airforce Base.

Conversion Tractors & Doodlebugs

Keith and Mark have collected Sears related tractors (Bradley, Graham Bradley, Sears Economy and Thrifty Farmers) for years. The Thrifty Farmer was a kit built by the Peru Plow Company. This is the same company that also built the Sears Economy Tractor. These tractors were advertised and sold through the Sears and Montgomery Wards Catalogs. Doodlebugs are homemade tractors. They were made during the Depression or World War II when tractors were scarce. They come in all shapes and sizes. Each one is different.

Each conversion tractor is different too. It depends on how the farmer built and modified the kits they purchased. The Thrifty Farmer Kit was among 100 or more kits sold during the Depression. Some companies that built these tractor conversion units were Pulford, Stoude, and many more like the Worthington, and Shaw.

These kits were mostly available during the Depression up to the War. They were used by farmers as a manner of conveyance, and as an agricultural tool. The kits were designed to be used on the Ford Model A and Ford Model T. They also made tractor conversion kits for Chevy and Plymouth. They used both cars and trucks.

The Display

This is the first time we know of that this type of display has been done. We would like to gather a variety of different conversion tractor kits, including Doodlebugs. The more variety, the more ways we can view the Depression era farmer ingenuity. At the Half Century of Progress, we would like to gather as many companies as we can to reflect that time when money was tight, and tractors were few.

We are not trying to create a club, or make this an annual event, just a fun gathering of historic tractors. For more information about this, call Mark Dozier at 217-827-0789 or Keith Ladage at 217-971-5917. Keep in mind that they both are farmers.