Oscar Will III, DIY Expert

       
Name: Oscar “Hank” Will III 
Occupation:  Editor of GRIT, America’s Rural Lifestyle Magazine
Place of Residence: Near Topeka, Kan.

DIY Background: 

Hank Will has an unending love of most things mechanical. He is the author of three books and hundreds of magazine articles on the birth, care and feeding of vintage machinery.

His books include Payline: International Harvester’s Construction Equipment Division, and the Farmall Regular and F-Series Collector’s Originality Guide.

Will overhauled his first small engine in early adolescence, and his many years of hands-on experience with a wide range of power equipment has given him an in-depth knowledge of the topic.

He is especially fond of 1970s vintage single-cylinder Kohler engines (because they were built to be used hard and then rebuilt), Cub Cadet garden tractors (because they were designed by IH and he always wanted one as a kid) and International Harvester equipment of all kinds (because the earthmovers he watched on a highway construction project as a kid were IH Payscrapers and Payhaulers). 

Personal History:

Will was born in Bismarck, N.D., where his family operated a seed company and nursery founded by his great-grandfather and namesake in the early 1880s.

He received a doctorate in plant molecular biology  from the University of Chicago and spent the first 16 years of his professional life in academia, while doing a little farming and writing on the side.

His commercial agricultural production experience on farms in South Dakota and Ohio includes alfalfa sprouts, hay, beef cattle, free-range poultry, native perennial plants, trees, cut flowers and truck crops. With rare exceptions, the operations relied on decent used equipment that he picked up cheap and kept alive. 

He is married and the father of four daughters, which he says prepares him for just about anything.

Current Projects and other Fun Facts: 

Will is eagerly waiting in line to become one of the first owners of a diesel-electric hybrid truck because of the locomotive-like torque that big DC motors deliver. 

He is also working on an 1954 Galion 303 motor grader, which is powered by an IH C-264 engine (see photo).

Additional Articles: 

Want to read more from Oscar H. Will? Click here to find his most recent articles for Mother Earth News.