BRODHEAD - It's her tractor.

June Wendler, a retired school teacher and farm wife, ordered a new Oliver 77 tractor in 1953 from her father-in-law, Herbert Mohns, the local Oliver dealer at the time. She was just 23 years old.

"The only woman we knew who bought her own tractor. It was unheard of," said her husband, Elvan Wendler.

The purchase, June said, was one of necessity. She and her then-husband, Harold Mohns, had been married only a year and were just starting out, when one of Harold's tractor "went to pieces." The pistons blew out of the tractor.

"I had some money saved from teaching," she said.

And so, the bright and shiny Oliver tractor came to June, who had not driven a tractor before she was married, and she used it.

"I used this tractor to help Harold plow, disc, plant corn, cultivate, pull a hay bailer and haul in loads of corn," she said.

Everything went fine for June and her tractor - except cultivating. Even Harold grumbled about her poor cultivating skills.

"I was not very good at it," she said.

June smiled and shook her head, remembering when she thought she ruined too much corn and beans.

"Harold said I could keep doing it, if I wanted to cultivate out my half of the corn," she laughed.

Eventually, June got better at cultivating - especially after Harold left her alone to do it her way, she added.

As Harold bought larger tractors to farm their 400 acres of land, June's tractor was abandoned - retired really, because June never let go of her tractor. It just sat idle for about 20 years.

About eight years ago, June's second husband, Elvan, and his son restored June's tractor.

Elvan said the tractor was in "rough shape," and he estimated it had worked thousands of hours before it was set aside.

"The engine was shot; the tires, shot; basically junk," he said.

Elvan seemed the perfect person to undertake the project. Not only has he restored dozens of antique Oliver tractors and plows, but also he remembered when Harold Mohns' wife did the unthinkable and bought her own tractor.

"Elvan and his boys had always been close friends with Harold," June said.

And before that, Elvan's dad had been close friends with Herbert Mohns, as well as a neighbor and a customer.

Oliver tractors were bought for their reliability, Elvan said, and kept for their memories, June said.

June and Elvan Wendler will be sharing those memories as they display their antique Oliver tractors - including June's very own 1953 tractor - at the Green County Breakfast on the Farm today.