Thank you very much for taking the time to post these pictures, seyser, i have always enjoyed looking at old photos.
With your permission I may copy a few for my files.

 

 
 

If it's a 20 Cat, how come it says RD4 on the radiator and has a starting engine?

I'm not great on this computer stuff. How come my comment did not post under the pic of the 20 that's an RD4? I do better with long old levers connected to big old gears and clutches.

When you click on the action tab you have to click "quote"

 Here's Aunt Betty! 
 
 

Re: Orchard 15 disking Sharpless citrus grove in Santa Ana, CA in 1930.

The Earl Sharpless grove was located about four miles from our family grove.  The Sharpless grove remained up until the early '70's, when inevitable urbanization of the area dozed it out.  During its final years I would often drive by, since the grove was along a main road into town.  The 15 was long gone by then, but an old D2 with orchard fenders remained in the shed next to the house and was used once a year in the spring to disk the weeds in the old grove.

Yesterday I called a 98-year-old friend, a former local citrus grower who had known the Sharpless family well. He told me Earl had a local reputation for doing things on the cheap..  Such as after cleaning parts with gasoline, he would always let the solids settle and then pour the clear gas back into a fuel tank. 

Thanks for posting, definitely a trip down memory lane for me.

- Richard

Cool, thanks for sharing that, Richard!