Rod Swanson: Metal Hobbyist and Craftsman

Rod Swanson in his workroom.

When we stopped in Perham, Minnesota for lunch with our friend Jana, she took us out to see her father’s tractors.  When she first mentioned it, I thought she meant he collected and restored tractors.

Rod, a retired railroad employee, takes raw metal bars and makes models of tractors.  He has made roughly 160 tractors [and a few trucks and cars].

We are always grateful when we come upon unexpected and often unheralded craftsmanship.  I wonder how many other such craftsmen we pass as we wander down the road.

Click on photos to enlarge.

Metal bars waiting to be worked

A work in progress

Date of our visit: 11 September 2018