In 1990, finding such a component was difficult.
There was no online search.
No auction website.
No message board where somebody could post a photograph and reach thousands of collectors overnight.
You called dealerships.
You called repair shops.
You asked neighbors.
You checked farm publications.
You wrote letters.
Sometimes you simply gave up.
Ethan began writing letters.
International Harvester had become part of Case IH, but old literature departments sometimes still answered technical inquiries.
John Deere dealers helped identify several numbers.
Small manufacturers were harder.
Some companies had closed decades earlier.
Raymond would recognize a logo but not a number.
“You could call Arnie Peterson.”
“Who’s that?”
“Worked at Nelson Implement in ’72.”
“Do you have his number?”
“No.”
“Where is he?”
“Maybe Iowa.”
This was Raymond’s version of help.
Ethan learned to become persistent.
He called repair shops listed in regional directories.
Introduced himself.
Asked whether anyone remembered certain cast numbers.
Older mechanics sometimes became enthusiastic.
Others hung up.
One man in Nebraska spent forty minutes explaining differences between two nearly identical plates used in older Allis-Chalmers systems.
Another mailed Ethan photocopies of a planter chart with a handwritten note:
Kid, don’t trust cast number alone. Measure openings. Aftermarket plates sometimes copied numbers poorly.
Ethan pinned the note above the workbench.
By December, the card file contained more than four hundred identified numbers and variants.
The collection looked different now.
Still rusty in places.
Still old.
But organized.
That alone gave Ethan confidence.
Then came the first real test.
Harold Voss arrived on a Wednesday afternoon carrying a cast housing from an International planter.
Harold was sixty-eight.
He farmed a small operation about twenty miles west of town.
He had used the same four-row planter for years.
Not because it was technologically impressive.
Because it was paid for.
The frame was sound.
Bearings had been replaced.
Chains maintained.
The machine planted the acreage Harold needed.
His problem was a seed plate.
He had changed corn varieties and needed a different plate pattern.
One of his original plates had cracked the previous season.
The replacement type he wanted was no longer available through local dealerships.
Harold placed the housing on Raymond’s counter.
“You got anything?”
Raymond looked at the casting.
“What number you after?”
Harold unfolded a piece of paper.
“197B.”
Ethan heard it from across the shop.
His head came up.
He knew that number.
Not because it was especially rare.
Because it had been the first plate he cleaned.
Raymond looked toward him.
“Ethan.”
Ethan wiped his hands.
Harold looked confused.
Raymond said:
“Check inventory.”
Ethan walked to the wooden card file.
Technically, he did not need to.
He remembered.
Still, he forced himself to use the system.
International Harvester.
197B.
Corn.
Quantity: 6.
Location A2.
He pulled the card.
Walked to A2.
Six plates were stacked behind two smaller numbers.
He selected the best condition.
Brought it forward.
Harold took it.
Turned it over.
Read the number.
His expression changed.
“Where the hell did you find this?”
“Whitford auction.”
“You got more?”