I love the seller’s description of this 1969 Sears Super 12 garden tractor. They say it can be used to pull things around, and it would be handy for hauling brush, mulch, or almost anything in a little trailer. But they also say it can be used to teach your kids how to drive. Genius idea! It’s posted here on Facebook Marketplace in Bethel, Minnesota, and they’re asking $400. Here is the original listing.
I know this isn’t a dusty 1970s muscle car, and not everyone is interested in vintage garden tractors or anything like this at all. Hopefully enough people are interested in seeing off-shoot vintage vehicles here so the torches and pitchforks don’t come out. Unless you’re using that pitchfork to load bales of hay to haul around on a little trailer behind this tractor.
There’s no mower included, but maybe one could be found. I’m assuming this tractor will either be used as the seller suggests, or will be a fun little restoration project for someone. A friend’s dad restores old garden tractors in his retirement, and I think that would be a fun way to spend time, rather than sitting around watching TV or playing golf. Sears offered the Super 12 from 1967 through 1972, and the first year they were made by David Bradley Company. After that, they were made by Roper.
Fancy! A woodgrain dash, with a lighter socket, very cool. We saw a somewhat similar tractor three months ago here on Barn Finds, and that one had a lighter. The seller of this SS12 mentions plugging in a charger, presumably for a phone. No texting and mowing! (crickets) Everything works, even the lights. The “8 Speed” (6 forward, 2 in reverse) transmission is right down where it should be, no column-shifted automatic here (just kidding). The 2-speed hi/low shifter is just to the left.
The engine should be a Tecumseh HH120, a 453-cc single-cylinder with 12 horsepower. With electric start, it should be easy and fun for both kids and adults to drive around the yard, not to mention taking care of some chores at the same time. It’s said to start, run, and drive great, and this would be a fun restoration project. Did any of you drive a little tractor like this as a kid?
No, the pitchforks and torches come out when another FireVette is posted. I’m not alone in saying what a relief it is to see these posts. I could look at these posts all day. The Super 12, was Sears most powerful tractor in 1969, “A Shortcut to Leisure”, they called it. Like all these, they came with a plethora of attachments, like 32 I counted in one photo, and all probably a PITA to change. As much as many might not like to admit, some got their truck driving experience with these. Hi/Lo gave you the basics, you could guess the rest,,,and we did. And as much as we gasp in horror, that “socket” did one thing, light the cigarette. Text was something in a book, and charging anything was years away. Speaking of charging, the generator is also the starter, my 12 hp Briggs had that, and the gear ratios, very handy ( there’s the crickets). Armor All a nice touch, but these weren’t meant to win any appearance awards, it was work, work, work. Great find.
Ha, thanks, Howard! Good point on the generator being the starter. I wonder what the best-selling cigarette was in 1969, if there could only be some way to find that out… (last sequoia being cut down to power the XJ-2000 AI generator…)
Marlboro, has consistently been the best selling cigarette through the ages. My grandparents all smoked Kent.
Winston (filtered) edged out Pall Malls (nonfilter) in that era but later got overtaken by Marlboro according to the local tribe, as they made a killing on untaxed cigarettes on the reservation here in that era.
Pall Mall choked us kids out of dads rambler
Winston
In the 60’s i rode to the corner store on my Schwinn Sting Ray with the one dollar bill my mom gave me for 2 Chesterfield Regular ,no filter and one Winston for my dad.
Well, things were going smoothly, and now I can rule out that it wasn’t my old laptop, my 2nd comment didn’t take. I just wanted to say not “pos”, I meant POSTS all day,,, and for whatever reason that mysteriously can’t be rectified, I guess that’s life, even the best things in life have their glitches. Sorry, SG,
Fun write-up SG. One reason I like Barn Finds is that it does NOT cater to muscle cars. Four door sedans, economy cars, rarely seen brands are all welcome, and are refreshing to see featured. Even non-automotive conveyances like garden tractors are welcome.
This is really neat to see. I really like the woodgrain trim and the speed-in-gear data table.
For someone who would be intimidated by a car restoration, restoring something simpler like this might be appealing.
Thanks, Bob! I hope we can keep showing a few unusual things here every now and then. But then again, I realize that this isn’t my business, and Jesse and Josh are pretty generous to allow these types of things on the site. These types of posts probably don’t go over as well as muscle cars.
If the guys did a poll of us BFers, I think they would be surprised at the results. Yes, muscle cars are probably the “bread and butter” of Barn Finds, but these quirky items are not too far behind in popularity.
This is great Scotty. I’m with all the above. I really like cars and trucks of course, but I really enjoy seeing stuff like this. Bob has a great point about restoring one of these. It would be less daunting for sure. And Howard is absolutely right. Driving something like this helped you get the basics down for driving either cars or larger truck later on in life. And that wood grain dash !! Wow, looka like it came straight out of an Oldsmobile !!!! Well.. Ok, maybe not. Please keep stuff like this coming!!!
Thanks, Dave! I’m hoping to be able to slip in an oddball every once in a while if I can.
I have probably a thousand hours behind the wheel of our mid-60s SS-12, which my youngest brother still has in his possession. Dad had about a half-dozen implements (including a one-bottom plow), and they weren’t that hard to change, Howard, many being attached with a Cat 0 three-point hitch.
If this were within a couple hours of me, I’d snap it up in a heartbeat, if only to use to pull the yard trailer around.
In my youth, it was a Case model # 110. Had a lawn mower deck, a hand operated 3 bottom plow for Granny to churn up her garden plot, and a hitch for moving the grain auger around the bins.
It is still parked beside the mechanic shop on the farm.
Being just old enough to well remember the tail end of the Smoking Everywhere Era, although I never did myself, I can’t imagine using the lighter on a moving yard tractor without a minimum of three hands.
No, it was there for the salesman (and Sears did have salesmen for big ticket items) to show off and impress prospects, and for them to impress the neighbors showing off their new riding mower, and maybe, just maybe it would be used once before the owner realized it was actually easier to stop and light a match.
Or maybe my family’s property when I was a kid was just that rough and lumpy.
Forgot to add, ours was a newer and smaller (mid ’80 s 8hp) Sears.
The next door neighbor had a Cub Cadet with a cigarette lighter. We kids thought that was really neat! Especially when we were out of matches!
Nice tractor and excellent write-up, Scotty, as usual.Love that “Olds” dashboard. And speaking of Kents, my mom and dad (an M.D.) switched from Chesterfields and Camels to Kents. Mom finally quit and lived to 88, but dad smoked up to 3 packs of Kents a day until the end which was at age 61. I read somewhere, maybe fake news, that the “Micronite” in Kent’s filters was really asbestos.
George Jones, your garden tractor’s waiting LMAO! Nice tractor though! Hey Scotty, how
bout finding an old guitar to sell up here! That way, I can be very
informational like Howard is. I collect guitars and have four of them. I have a 1955 Harmony
Hollywood archtop, a 1957 Framus 551 studio archtop, a 2001 Fender DG 11 flat top, and a
2004 Alvarez 12 string flat top.
The archtops are so called because their bodies look like
violins. Still looking for a 1973
Harmony Grand Master jumbo
archtop. Almost bought one new
in ’73, but opted for a Harmony
Sovereign acoustic/electric instead. I always liked the archtops because you don’t need
to plug them into an amp. They
pack enough punch to be heard
in the back of a room even though the rest of the band may
be wired for sound. I’ve played
Martin D 28s before and couldn’t
figure out what was so special about them. Hey! I could buy this tractor, drive it to work and light
myself a ceegar on the way there.
Now, if it only had a radio…
But enough about the tractor, Ken. Just jabbin’ you! LOL!
I sold my ‘48 Gibson L-7 arch top last year. It never crossed my mind to contact “Studio Finds!” :-)
Uuuf, that’s a classic, Stembridge! Wow. I sold my 1972 Gibson Flying V “Medallion Edition” #21 a few years ago to put a big chunk of money toward a new garage, but now I’m kicking myself.
Jokes aside I think a site for old guitars that need a little TLC would be cool Stembridge. A friend of mine in CA is a retired search and rescue officer and learned to be a luthier along with his vintage hand carved picture frame business and he can bring even the worst guitars back to life.
Recently rebuilt a twin pickup Hollywood for a client, Ken. Very cool Harmony. Neck reset including actually removing the fretboard to straighten that old poplar neck. Redid all the electrics too. Client loved it.
That was fun reading Ken, thanks! Maybe somebody will make a copy of Elvis’ pink El Dorado guitar car and it’ll show up here. I’m a guitar guy too btw and had an old Gibson archtop that the neck got broken on so I gave it away. I had a 60’s SG and a 60s Martin D-18 as well, both of which were stolen one day when somebody broke into my house. Later on a Norlin Era Les Paul and a couple of Guild jumbos came in.. all of which I wish I still had. But then again there’s always Reverb. I’m with you on Martins btw, they were good but a Yairi DYM95 or YW-1000 are both light years better sounding imo, and they’re a lot cheaper these days than a vintage Martin. Anyway, if I had this tractor it’d have to be a pipe like my grandpa had (but didn’t smoke on his John Deere as I recall) or more likely just a long piece of straw
A guitar featured here every now and then would be great!
Is this what “No-show” Jones drove to get more Vodka after Tammy took awy all the car keys?
Anyone if you remember the Kent
Cigarette song? Used to hear it all the time on the radio and TV too. Then Ray Connif came out
with That’s What Happiness Is in
1966. You can find it up on YouTube. You might even find the Kent Cigarette song up there too.
Conniff! Now you’re talking my language. Elgart, Kenton, Ellington, blah, blah, blah. Tunes that you could really recall and hum yourself into a smile.
Oh, yeah, tractors. I bought one in ’66, also a 12hp. Hauled it and cart, blade, etc., from Providence, RI, to Cornwall, CT, on a small trailer behind my FIAT 600D. Lots of gear changes– up and down– on the hilly country twixt start and finish.
Mine differed in the pot metal “dash” and “grille” assemblies and the fenders were folded, not drawn sheet metal. Hauled tons of firewood out of the deep woods of NWCT across the road from our place. Pushed bank-run gravel ’round to grade the drive and shoved tons of snow in the winter. Never mowed with it as we kept our 8.5 acres wooded and natural… well, save for the house and garage.
Had the attendant trailer, earth/snow blade, stand-by generator and sickle bar. Rolled it twice (‘n I’m STILL here!), once over backwards, once side-over with the sickle bar working! Had thousands of hours on that sucker and it just would NOT die!
When we moved to FL, sold the whole kit-n-kaboodle to an old tractor hobbiest.
Forgot to qualify the last sentence: When we moved to FL 30 YEARS LATER, … Oops… also had a snow caster for when the snowbanks were too big to bull back any more.
I, too, like to see all manner of stuff on BF. It’s a lot of fun to read about these things and let the memories run through your mind. My small town in N. Mn. had a tractor of this size to mow around town & blow the snow on the narrow side street sidewalks when it got too narrow for the jeep & plow. I think that one was an International Harvester.
Scotty, this one’s right in our northern suburbs, about 50 miles away for me. You might even be able to find some attachments at Northern Hydraulics for this thing. Like your write-ups and your flair for wording.
Thanks, Jon! I did notice that, and if I wasn’t cleaning house (house = storage units), I would have been all over this one for $400.
I started mowing in 1958 with a 1958 Wheel Horse tractor at age 5. It was great, I had a vehicle. Dad sat on the porch (drinking a beer) and watched to make sure I didn’t do anything stupid. I only mowed the 85% of the yard that was flat, Dad did the banks that could have been a problem.
It was good until the next year when (Dad and) I got a go cart. After that mowing was a chore, but still cool. I was spoiled because Dad was a car guy who liked toys. Now I have a barn full of stuff because of his influence.
Dadly, i left most of my Wheelhorses back in PA when we moved to Arizona 15 years ago. I brought my 1257 with me though and still have it!!
No harm in that DJ, most all of us
here were bitten by the love of all
things mechanical and then smitten with a ride you dream about to this very day. There was this kid I knew growing up that mated bicycle with an old fashioned rotary push mower. Dunno what he was thinking, but it was really entertaining to watch
him mow someone’s lawn!
Ken,
The whole thing tought me a lot. When I got to kinder garden I could count to one – by 1/16th’s. You weren’t any good as the tool gofer if you didn’t know that 9/16″ was on the tool board between 1/2″ and 5’8″.
I was also the beer gofer, so I was good at getting them a a cold one out of the fridge, but I usually opened it for them and took a hit off it to make sure that it was cold. Life was good.
Used this one in the early to mid 70’s in a RV dealership to move around campers. Had hitches welded on front and back. This tractor was very powerfull and command respect. Also had a good top end speed. Was a young teenager at the time, lots of fun after hours beating on it. No sweat popping wheelies with this thing.
That was a sweet playing guitar
Stembridge. Played one many years ago. The action on it was
marvelous! I could play a whole
show and my hands never cramped up or got sore. And the
sound? Absolutely to die for! As
I said earlier, these things didn’t
need to be amped. They had enough punch to be heard in the
back of a venue. That’s why rhythm guitar players like me loved ’em and early jazz guitarists
had one. Even today, when you
listen to records made from the
’30s to the ’50s, you still can hear
a guy playing rhythm chops on an
archtop– they were that good. I’m trying to get Scotty and the gang to post a few old guitars here so that I could tell people about them. Played everything
from $25 Checkmates to $1,000
Martins and to this day, the archtop is my favorite. That’s why I spent 50 years looking for
another one after the one I had was destroyed by a baggage handler at O’Hare airport in Chicago in ’73. I’ll say this, it
Wasn’t pretty. Their insurance bought me a Harmony Sovereign
acoustic/electric flat top but it wasn’t the same. The guitar that
was smashed by a steamer trunk
was a ’47 Kay archtop my Mom
bought used in 1960. Broke my
heart when I had to tell her what
happened at the airport. Those
were the days!
You guys are way too kind, thanks! I love this stuff; I hope we can keep showing these oddball things every once in a while.
It’s odd that you mention guitars, Ken. I’m going to sell my tiny “collection” of old electric guitars, and any amps left (I recently sold my Marshall), and get ready for the undertaker eventually so my wife doesn’t have to deal with all of my stuff. I only have three left: my original Univox Les Paul, my first electric guitar. Mint, of course, and in a perfect Anvil case. My favorite, a 1966 Gibson non-reverse Firebird II, and the only one I bought new, a 1982 Gibson Explorer II, also just like new. “Guitar Finds”… hmmm.. I like it! Jesse would probably take my name off the list, though.
You just mentioned the reason I most likely won’t buy another collector car after I sold my Cutlass 7 years ago. I don’t have anyone to leave it to. I somewhat miss it and have several cars saved on Facebook but we go to shows and come home.
Have you ever been to N. St. Paul on Friday nights? Must’ve been 300 cars there!
Shoot, I haven’t been to that show in years, Jon. It would be fun to hit that one again this summer, if it’s ever less hot and humid than on Gilligan’s Island.
i have a sears tractor very similar to this sitting in my shed for the last 40yrs. this makes me want to get out and fry to get it to run. has all he implements too. this is cool.
No better time than the present hairy!
Back in the early 1960s my dad bought a Cub Cadet 7 horsepower yard tractor. That was back when International Harvester called the shots and counted the beans. It was great having that tractor around ’cause it taught me the hang of steering, letting the combined brake/clutch pedal out just right and basic maneuverability that would come in handy in driver’s ed.
In fact, that Cub Cadet really did help with the driving skills ’cause I was the only student out of the three in the car that passed the course and got a permit.
I can’t imagine this taking more than a few hours to sell. Such a cool little tractor and priced to sell!
Edit: Aaand, it’s sold!
My father had two Craftsman Tractors, both bought at yard sales and one identical to the one listed here. Had me driving them at a young age and driving the car on the road at 12, country roads and nobody on them back then. Anyways, my buddies and I used to race the 2 Craftsman Tractors against each other, good times! Almost forgot about the cigarette lighter, it worked!!
The first vehicle I drove on my own was my grandpa’s tractor as an 8 year old when we visited in Ohio. It had a foot clutch and a shifter between your legs. This tractor had the big wheels in front and looked pretty strange, but it gave me a good driving start. I already knew how to shift from sitting next to my dad and had been lap starting since I was 4 or 5. So the transition to doing it all myself, albeit very slowly, was quite natural for me. I have still never owned an automatic, although my wife has had a couple. The suggestion of buying it to teach your kids (or grandkids) really resonates with me.
RexFox, I don’t think I’ve replied to a post as many times as this tractor one.
Anyway, when I was about 10, I started helping my uncle make baled hay on his farm. Standing on a trailer behind the baler and pulling bales from it. Driving an old dump truck pulling a trailer of bales down the road , stacking bales in a hot barn.
My uncle had a couple of John Deeres with the big wheel on the side you turned to start them. I was too small to turn it myself but for my big, burly Finlander uncle, no problem!
He always trusted me to work alone to rake the hay into rows for baling because I had neat rows and they were straight.
One day at another farm, the owner called us over for some pop in a container right out of his well which turned out to be home brew! A couple swigs of that and going into a hot barn sort of made the world spin! Lol!
The only drawback to this is the tecumseh engine, I’ve heard parts are obsolete.
I could never afford to do a car restoration so instead I took on my father in law’s ’69 John Deere 112. It was a very satisfying project which prompted me to do the Honda Z50 I’ve owned since ‘72.
Sears sold some solid stuff over the years. Ours was a little older Craftsman 6-horse. Cast iron front axle and 3-speed transaxle. The mower deck had a gear box for each blade so you were never out of time. Plus the deck had a long height adjustment and large discharge opening, before we had to be conscious of stuff like that. The single cylinder could really hog through tall grass and weeds. Our yard always looked great.
Yes, Sears/Craftsman DID sell great products. When we bought our house in ’98, we inherited a Kenmore side by side fridge, dishwasher, range, and range fan. In ’99 I bought a Craftsman mower.
The fridge is still with us, although I just replaced the ice maker, the mower had a valve stick last year (after nursing it for 3 years with a shot of Ether to still start on 1st pull!) and so I bought my first self propelled used Craftsman for a $135 from a neighbor who does small engine repair. Works great! They call him Sasquatch Lol! The dishwasher is still going strong. The inherited counter Kenmore microwave gave it up 3 years ago but we remodeled and went to over the range.
The original avocado range & fan went out probably 20 years because of the color and the replacement Kenmore is probably 20 years old.
Btw, our also inherited Maytag washer and dryer is also still going strong.
Ha, same here on Sears washers and dryers! When we bought our house in 2000, it came with an old coal-powered (not really, but they’re super old) Sears washer and dryer, and both still work perfectly. They have to be at least 50 years old. I rebuilt the dryer once (new drum wheels and felt), and changed the fill thing on the back of the washer once, but that’s it in 26 years, and that’s probably the only things ever wrong with them in decades.
As a teenager I had a Ahrens sit down that I used to mow lawns making a few bucks. It wasn’t until my 30’s when the missus & I found a property in northeast Pa that I needed to mow grass again, city slicker here.
What I found was a SS-12 by Sears. Looked just like this one, but without the wood dash! Don’t know what year it was but it ran great and had a belly mower that was easily removed if desired. Rigged up a hitch with a friend and hauled all kinds of stuff around the back 40, including firewood.
Loved that little Sears 12. Easy to maintain and it cut just about anything I pointed it at. Sold it back to the rebuilder I’d bought it from when we finally sold that place. Miss the tractor.
This one is sold at $400. A steal.
I’m still patiently waiting for the day we see a restorable amusement park train listed here…
Now yer talkin!
https://barnfinds.com/1960s-miniature-train-company-g-12-streamliner/
https://barnfinds.com/1946-miniature-train-and-railroad-company-g-16/
https://barnfinds.com/become-a-railroad-baron-1950-tom-thumb-park-train/
I know a guy here in the Twin Cities who has a double stall garage of a train set. Lots of the cars & other things he made himself. He still does wiring on cars at home. Very talented. Him & his brother owned a shop and over the 30+ years I knew them at the shop, I saw a couple million dollars of cars. Still in touch.
Robt, my Hollywood has the single pickup on it. I gotta adjust
the bridge after the friend I loaned it to screwed it up. That’s
been uh, 25 years now and I still
have it today. The “57 Framus 551 needs a completely new set
of tuning keys. I’d like to keep it
original, but the keys are toast and some of them won’t turn.
And Scotty, you should save some of your music stuff for when you guys open the Barn Finds Bar And Grill. I can just see
it now! Karaoke Monday through
Thursday and then all the guys here that play an instrument would jam out on Friday and Saturday nights. Sure, we’d need
to build a throne for Angel, but that’s no biggy as we have a lot of
talented folks here. Now I’d come out of retirement for that!
It’s been 35+years since I’ve played anywhere, but I think that it would come back to me. They
tell me that it’s like riding a bicycle, mattress dancing, or anything else you did a lot in your
younger days–do it once and you
never forget it. But no, don’t ask
me to get effed up when I play.
That’s something I’m leaving behind. I don’t wanna embarrass
myself in front of my friends. I see a giant building with actual
barn finds in it along with the bar
and grill. We could take that saw
thing and make a display out of it. A wall lined with guitars for folks to.jam out on while everyone has an awesome time.
Now that’s entertainment!
Great writeup Scotty, I think we all like the old equipment writeups as most of us have been around, used or just wanted to use one.
Built at a time when equipment was made to last a lifetime and then willed to the next generation. That is why there is a support system still for these work horses, mules.
Again this brings a smile to my face and so it will to the next owner, buy it now Scotty!
Cool reading all the great comments. My uncle Stanley (RIP), former WWII Bomber pilot and Braniff Pilot (‘member Braniff Airlines?) had one of these back in ’72. He let me drive it around. I was 11… my mom said the look in my eyes scared the heck out of her….and she was right. Blew and/or totalled my fair share of cars and trucks back in the day, but eventually got to where my vehicles consistently pass 200K mark.
Have I gotten wiser or are the cars better?
Great post! Thanks!
I have a mid 70’s Wheel Horse i used to skid logs out of the lower end of my property. The Original 12HP finally gave up so i put a 13hp Honda in, pull start open pipe low geared belt drivin beast! Still use it regularly.