I received word yesterday that John Ittel passed away yesterday. He was well known at the annual Willys Jeep Rally for his collection of PTOs, lifts, and farm equipment. While I missed a chance to meet him, I did work with him in 2013 to purchase and ship him a rare Farm Aide Lift (see all the before/after pics here) from a farmer near me to his place in Ohio.
Here’s the Farm Aide lift’s condition before restoration:
To make sure the lift arrived safely, I engineered a special crate for it. When John received it, he mentioned that he liked my crate and that I should go in to the crate building business. We both had a virtual laugh about that.
My warmest thoughts to his family.
This pic shows the Farm Aide lift in 2016, post restoration: