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Brenda
04-29-2003 18:13:05
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Re: Sheppard sd-3 in reply to Mike O., 04-28-2003 05:27:39
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R.H. Sheppard Co. of Hanover, PA built the first tractor in time for the PA Farm Show in Jan. 1949. They built tractors until 1956 or 1957. They were the first direct start diesel tractors built in the US. The SD-3 was a 3 cyl. tractor which pulled 3 14" plows, with a 32 hp engine. Cost new for the SD-3 was around $3,000. Our Sheppard is an orchard model #SDO3-2055, built in 1950, cost $3,016.48 new. They built 1, 2, 3, & 4 cylinder tractors. Total production of all models was thought to be 1943 tractors, 1441 being 3 cyl. But John Tichenor went through the company records and found there were less built, some were listed twice. Most serial numbers end in 0 or 5 as they were numbered in 5's. On the ledger sheet with ours are numbers anywhere from #2055 to #1515, so they apparently didn't go in order. So I would guess the one you're looking at would have been built in 1950. Hope you won't need motor bearings, they are not available, if you need them, you'll have use any 71 Detroit rod bearing and the block has to be line bored and rods bored about 90 thousandths for the SD-3. Nothing comes close to the SD-4. Today the RH Sheppard Co. is one of the world's largest manufacturers of power steering units for big trucks. If you drive a Sheppard tractor, you will see why they started building power steering units! If you get it, you can get a copy of the ledger page with the info on your tractor from John Tichenor or Lynn Klingaman. If you want their phone numbers, e-mail me, stant@threshermen.org and I will send them to you. They could probably tell you more about value. I would say they would be worth more than an IH or JD because there were so few built. I've heard of several Sheppard tractors in Minnesota. They went all over. There was even a Sheppard dealership in South America! The annual Sheppard Diesel Club had their show in MN in 2000. 2003 they will be at the Sandusky Co. Restorers of Antique Power show at Gibsonburg, Ohio on Labor Day weekend.
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