THE UPPER KEYA PAHA TRADING CO.
1310 East Old US 18 - P. O. Box 785
Antelope Community - Rosebud Sioux Indian Reservation
Mission, South Dakota, U.S.A.  57555-0785
THE UPPER KEYA PAHA
VIRTUAL TRADING POST

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Fred Einspahr
“1964 National Soil Conservation Farmer of the Year”

   My grandfather was a wheat farmer.  During the long winter months he was a designer, metal fabricator, machinest, welder, and mechanic.  His first priority was getting his equipment in shape for the coming season.  To bide his time he would do custom welding and fabrication work for other farmers and ranchers.  Every spring he was involved in tree planting through the Todd County Soil Conservation District.  He provided the county space to “heel” in all the trees the district planned to plant every year.  All of the evergreen trees would be stored in the coolness of his pump house.  His son, Lyle (everyone who knew him called him, “Slick”) worked as an agent for the Todd County Soil Conservation District.
   He received the award of “National Conservation Farmer of the Year” for his contributions to tree planting activities in Todd County, SD and for his soil conservation farming practices.  If you should have the desire to learn more about the man feel free to link to the full story within my site.

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1964 Einspahr Garden Tractor Pages

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How the 1964 Einspahr Came About!

   During his lifetime, my grandfather designed and built much of the equipment he used on his farm.  Many of the pieces of equipment he designed and built for himself and others over the years were prototypes that probably should have been patented.  The only time he was involved in the patent process didn’t turn out well.  After encouragement from many people he did pursue one patent.  He invested his hard earned dollars with the end result of a unscrupulous banker involved let a deadline pass and someone else ended up with the patent.  After that he never desired to try again.  For more details please refer to the full story of the man.
   Anyway about the time he decided to retire from active farming he designed and built his first prototype garden tractor I have called the 1964 Einspahr.  To my recollection my grandfather never worked from blueprints.  The only sketches I ever recall seeing of any of his creations were partial drawings in lead pencil on a board, on the back side of a piece of siding, or a piece of a cardboard box.  The master design was in his creative imagination and built with his creative hands.  The finished product was the plan.
   Another thing that he was good at was recycling iron to build a lot of his creations.  He always had extensive scrap piles of metal to work from, most purchased at little cost at farm sales or in trade for services rendered for other farmers and ranchers.  Seldom did he build anything for himself using new material.