January/February 2022 Antique Power
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The January/February 2022 issue of Antique Power magazine is available in our gift shop and will be available in subscriber mailboxes and on newsstands soon. This issue features the Fred family’s 1941 CO-OP Model B-2 Junior. text by Eli Fred • photos by James Fred
“The Tractor That Started It All”
A 1941 CO-OP Model B-2 Junior tractor has become a treasure to the Fred family.
My grandfather Lavon Fred bought our 1941 CO-OP Model B-2 Junior tractor back in 1983 from a salvage yard near Delphi, Indiana. He restored it a year later. I remember the B-2 Junior always being around the farm in Grandpa’s antique tractor collection. It was one of his favorites and was a reliable, smooth-running tractor. This was one of Grandpa’s first antique tractor purchases and restorations, and it gave him the bug to continue collecting lesser-known tractors.
The CO-OP B-2 Junior was originally built in Shelbyville, Indiana, by the National Farm Machinery Cooperative Inc. and sold by 11 different state cooperatives. The original assembly plant at 513 E. Hendricks St. is still standing. The tractor went through several owners before Grandpa bought it, but, apparently, it was sold new in Winamac, Indiana.
Fate-Root-Heath Co. in Plymouth, Ohio, which manufactured Plymouth and Silver King tractors, built the powertrains for the CO-OP tractors. The assemblies, already fitted with Continental Motors Co. Model F-162 4-cylinder engines, were shipped five or six at a time, standing on end, from Plymouth to Shelbyville on straight trucks. There, they were finished with front ends, frame rails, hoods, and steering systems.
When I stripped off the layers of paint on the lower left side of the transmission, I found a Silver King serial number. Perhaps the units were pulled off the Silver King assembly line and sent to Shelbyville without making a special production run for CO-OPs.
The serial number and B-2 Junior designation were stamped on the tractor’s right frame rail. The serial number of my Junior is 178. The lowest numbered B-2 Junior known to exist is 109 and the highest, 197. Because of a discrepancy in records, the exact number of Juniors built is unknown—possibly just over 60. The serial number range of the Juniors is larger than the number produced because both the Juniors and the regular B-2s with their 6-cylinder Chrysler Corp. engines ran down the same assembly line and were stamped with sequential numbers. An old factory picture shows a regular B-2 following a B-2 Junior on the assembly line; and no duplicate serial numbers have been found on Junior and regular B-2s. CO-OP built the B-2 Junior in 1941 only and ceased production of the B models altogether in June 1942, when the factory began work on World War II military contracts.
To read more about the 1941 CO-OP Model B-2 Junior pick up a copy of the January/February 2022 issue of Antique Power magazine!
Other articles in this issue include:
Out of Africa
The 1959 John Deere 630 All-Fuel tractor is the rarest at Jerry and Linda Neal’s Linbrook Heritage Estate.
text by Tyler Buchheit • photos by Brad BowlingBuilt Like a Bulldog
Keith Kuhlengel’s 1952 Lanz Bulldog Model D 5506 is a rare and unusual model in the United States.
text by Robert Gabrick • photos by Brad Bowling“The Tractor That Started It All”
A 1941 CO-OP Model B-2 Junior tractor has become a treasure to the Fred family.
text by Eli Fred • photos by James FredHenry & Edsel’s Experimental Tractor
Duane Helman’s X-series tractor was a lucky swap meet discovery.
text by Candace Brown • photos by Brad BowlingFrom the Editor
Letters to the Editor
The Canada Connection When Tobacco Was King
Photos from the Attic
Plowing Up the Past Tractor Farming Over the Years
Tech Tips Pull Starting or Roll Starting an Old Tractor
Tractor Show Readers show off their favorites
Classifieds
Show Guide
The Book Shed
Of Grease & Chaff “They Have Their Limitations”
Gallery text and photo by Alan Harmon
If you can't find Antique Power on a newsstand near you, call 800-767-5828 or visit our Gift Shop to order current or back issues. To subscribe, call 888-760-8108 or click here.
