By PAUL WALLEM

A lot of `farmers collect old tractors. Some tell me their goal is to acquire the same models their parents had when they were growing up. Others take it a step further. They search for the exact tractor and serial number their family had owned. Sometimes the search lasts for years. It’s a real victory when they find one and buy it.

Many of you listened to Orion Samuelson on WGN Chicago during his long career on the air. When I wrote my 2019 book, THE BREAKUP of IH, I asked him to write the Foreword. We both grew up on dairy farms and have been friends since 1960. Here’s what he wrote about brand loyalty:

“As a kid growing up on a Wisconsin farm, one of the most memorable days of my life was in 1939 when the International Harvester dealer’s truck pulled into our farmyard and unloaded a brand new Farmall F-20. I became a red tractor fan, and as I walked with friends one mile to and from school, I defended my choice in the near-daily arguments around what color tractor was best: red, green, blue, cream-colored or any of a myriad of others. The arguments seldom got beyond good-natured ribbing, but that wasn’t the case with other groups: the companies that made the tractors and the dealers that sold them.”

Here’s more about that F-20. In 2002, Max Armstrong, Orion’s co-host on WGN, asked him what had become of that family tractor. Orion only knew that it had been sold on their farm auction in 1964. He did not know who bought it. Max started searching and found it in pieces on a fence row. He convinced International Harvester Collectors Club Chapter 10 to buy and restore it. Now it looks brand new, as you can see in the photo (in contrast to its photo before restoration).

Brand loyalty often starts with a young kid, as it did with Orion. Many times that affection doesn’t change as the youngster becomes a farmer, and translates into a lifetime passion.

Thousands of older tractors have been completely restored, from the ground up. Every component from final drive to transmission, engine, and all other parts get rebuilt. New paint jobs are often higher quality than the manufacturers’ original paint.

The more precise restorations stand out in auctions and bring the highest price for that model. Scarce models, those that were produced in small quantities, often bring the highest prices. Here are two examples, one dating way back, and the other being a lot newer, both built in very small quantities:

1938   MM   UDLX         $135,450

1985   IH      7488            $120,250

The highest price on record for a vintage tractor goes to a 1913 Case model 30-60 that sold at an Aumann Auction in 2021. A total of 500 were built, and five are known to exist. Sale price was an amazing $1,470,000. This was a world record for farm tractors, and the first over $1 million. This was the first of this model gas tractor that Case built. The historical significance is reflected in this record-breaking price.

The Case 60 in 1913 would have cost about $2,500. Indexed for inflation, today’s cost would be nearly $72,000.

The previous record for the most expensive antique tractor sold was a 1910 Marshall Colonial Class C, also sold at an Aumann Auction in 2019. It brought $535,000.

While writing my IH book, THE BREAKUP of IH in 2019, I did phone interviews with 17 collectors around the country. I recall one North Carolina farmer who had accumulated more than 50 tractors of different models. His hobby was to restore each one after acquiring it. I asked if he was done collecting. He asked me to wait a moment, then came back on the line to say that he had walked outside, didn’t want his wife to hear his response. “No, I’m not done,” he said. “I’ve got my eye on a few more that I want.”

I’m convinced most collectors don’t look forward to ever stop acquiring. Vintage restoration does not stop with tractors. Collectors buy and restore implements as well. A Wisconsin farmer I interviewed has a collection of more than 40 moldboard plows. Hay and forage equipment are also popular. Dave Kleine, of Cedar Lake, Ind., has restored a 1948 International 50T engine-drive baler, and a 1970 International #15 chopper.

I have the opportunity to talk to young farmers during vintage shows. They attend to see the equipment from the past, that their fathers and grandfathers used. Many bring their school-age kids to expose them to the older equipment.

The interest in their heritage continues. This should be no surprise. Farming is not an industry, it is a way of life.

Paul Wallem was raised on a dairy farm. He spent 13 years with corporate IH in domestic and foreign assignments. He resigned to own and operate two IH dealerships. He is the author of THE BREAKUP of IH and SUCCESSES & INDUSTRY FIRSTS of IH. His email address is pwallem@aol.com.