As people have diversified in occupations, they became less and less farmers. And today we're down to one and a half percent of the population actually farm. So somehow they have to get the work done. And that kind of revolution came along in 1930 with the beginning of the Farmall tractor. And there were more Farmall tractors built than any other model over the years. So I've been interested in agriculture and how it became production agriculture, and of course it fits right in with the business that we are in. It's the power unit for almost all of the farm implements out there.
What kind of excitement do you have when you find something that's one of a kind or maybe even something that's special to you?
Well, I think the classic there was when I found the tractor that I grew up on that had been gone for probably 30 years and I never knew what happened to it. It was the old A Farmall, and I was at a county fair right here in Iowa County and I saw a photo mount of an old rusty tractor sitting in the weeds. And I identified it by a few attachments on the tractor and I discovered that it was Dad's old A that had disappeared years and years before. We traded it off in 1956 and I found it in 1993 at the county fair. And that was a very interesting day to find that because I just happened to be there and just happened to see the photo, because it had rained at the county fair that day and so everybody was pushed inside. And because I was inside the building that evening, I was looking at those photo entries and some of the things that kids take to county fairs, and photos is one of the things that they did.
When my dad found this tractor, I remember that he had this block that he put in the pickup and we brought with us to the farm where he was going to look at it. And once he had it all the price all negotiated and all loaded up, he went up on the trailer and he stuck this block on, because he still had the pin and the block and this bracket was still on here. And so it went right in. And then he showed the family that he bought it from what this was for. He said that his dad made this wooden block and made it so he could flip it off to the side like this. His dad could use the clutch like normal, but then when my dad, as a little boy, learned to drive it, he could flip it back over here and pull this little lever back to lock it on it. And then it created this six-inch extension so his foot could reach when he was sitting on the seat, because that seat doesn't adjust—it's a fixed seat. So his leg wasn't quite long enough to engage the clutch. But with that block on there, he could do that. And of course, he pointed out too, this throttle up here that was handmade that his dad made.
When I was two years old, Dad bought it new. So I don't remember it coming to the farm, but I certainly remember it being around there. Your memories start when you're three, maybe four years old. I can in my mind, I can hear that tractor going between the shop and the corn crib on the way out to the field when I was a kid. And I had not heard it run for over 25 years when I found it. But to make that run like it sounded and did back at that time was fun to do.
It was like it was sitting there waiting for him and it was close to home. And to me the fact that he kept the wooden extension for the clutch pedal around for so many years shows that he always hung on to it as hope that he would find that tractor someday. You have a mix of excitement, you have a mix of nostalgia and memories, remembering back to the days when you were small and some of the things you did and some of the fond memories you had being outside with family working on the farm. So I'm sure it was very mixed emotion. Now, my dad is very good at doing what I call a poker face, so you don't sometimes always know what he's thinking or feeling. And during the moment when he was looking at it, of course, he didn't want to overplay the excitement of it being his boyhood tractor. But he told that story so many times over the years about finding it, and it's evident that he's got a lot of just pride and joy in it now being a part of his collection many years later.
I never tell how many tractors I have because if the word got out, my wife would find out and then I'd be in a lot of trouble. So I don't really tell that number, because if she found out I had over 600 tractors, it might not be good.
Almost every tractor on the place runs. There's very few except for a few parts tractors that don't run. So it's been quite an interesting project over the years. The first tractor in the collection was 1979, I believe it was. Bought it down at Sheridan, Iowa. And it was a B Farmall, and that's where it started. And Susie claims it as hers, and it has an extra seat on the left side and it became the driver's ed tractor. So everybody learned to drive it around here.
As far back as I can remember, my dad has had the hobby of collecting antique tractors and restoring them. Probably one of the first ones that I remember that was significant to me as a kid was the B Farmall tractor, and he modified that to have a seat that he could ride in because of the wide rear axle. And he put a clutch on it and a brake on it, so he could override if needed. But that was one of the first things that I learned how to drive as a very small child. And we called that the driver's ed tractor.
We took this to the parade in 1981, and that was the first year that we had the row units out, the little Kinze planter units. So I bolted one onto a bracket on the drawbar, and I put a tube—plastic PVC pipe, I had to saw it in half laying here as a trough, hooked to another PVC that ran down between the blades. We had a box of wrapped candy under the seat. Jonathan, who was about two years old at the time, he kept the trough supplied with wrapped candy. He dangled his legs down between the pedals over there. Susie was driving and I would rake that candy down that tube and we'd drop that candy on the street just like you were planting a row of corn. And on the side of the hoppers of that row unit back there, I put a sign on there in big black letters that had three words on it. Anybody want to guess what I wrote on that sign? One Sweet Planter.
The first Farmalls that I was interested in were what were popular when I was growing up. And so we've got H and M Farmalls, which were built from 1939 clear through 1954. And the M Farmalls the same way. So I have collected all of those year models and a few spares in some instances and have that as one of the beginning parts of the collection. Then we have quite a number of John Deere tractors throughout some of the collection. And then as one guy complained on the tour, he had not seen any Allis-Chalmers tractors. And I said, 'Well, you got to stay for the whole tour.' And I said, 'You just haven't seen them yet, but don't worry, they're here.' And I've told people, if your favorite tractor isn't here, you've not seen them all or you weren't paying attention. Well, I like to ask the question at this point: how many of you would like to see more green tractors?
Well, head out. Yeah. How many of you would like to see red tractors?
Kubota.
See a real tractor.
