David Bradley Suburban Tractor

Is this a David Bradley Suburban? The short answer is; kinda, sort of.  As the owner explained it to me, he had a frame of a Bradley that he wanted to restore, but no hood. Not being able to locate an original, he used a hood from a DB walk behind garden tractor instead. It might best be described as customized, or maybe as a concept garden tractor. I think it looks pretty neat. He also pointed out that there was an authentic suburban on a trailer, parked a short distance away so I headed that way to have a look.

I can’t say with any certainty what year this tractor is, but it looks to me like an illustration on the cover of a Sears publication called Service that has a date of January 1959. This appears to be an in-house publication for Sears and Roebuck service departments that also served as an owners manual for owners of the Bradley Suburban. This publication describes the Suburban as being “new” in 1959.

The copy reads: “ Here is the new David Bradley “Suburban” riding tractor. As the name suggest - this new tractor has been custom built for the “Suburbanite” and the estate owner.”

A generous selection of attachments were offered to enhance the utility of the Suburban. A 43 inch, three blade rotary mower, a front mount snow plow blade, an insect fogger, a general purpose sprayer attachment, a generator, a 32 inch lawn roller, a fertilizer spreader and a cart for hauling. 

For the weekend farmer, a plow, a disc harrow, a drag harrow, a planter and  a cultivator were available. A three point hitch provided a connection for them. 

This publication provides information that is sure to be of interest to anyone who owns or is considering restoring one of these Bradley machines. A downloadable PDF copy is available by visiting: www.stripmine.org/sears/manuals/db/_burb_/.pdf . 

If you would like to learn more about the history of the David Bradley Company I would recommend a visit to www.wellssouth.com/?p=134 where you will find a two part history by Brian Wayne Wells that was published in the Sept. / Oct. 1999 issue of Belt Pulley Magazine.  

The tractors shown here were exhibited at the 2019 WNC Fall Harvest Days Antique Engine and Tractor Show. For information about next year’s event visit: www.applecountry.org.