By Cindy Ladage

 BELLEVILLE, Ill. – 100 Years of Horsepower was held in Belleville Aug. 25-27. This, the second event, was originally scheduled in 2020. The event had to be canceled due to restrictions from COVID-19.

The Renner Family owns Shiloh Valley Equipment Co. and Renner Stock Farms. They hosted this event along with a group of sponsors, but the proceeds are going to 4-H, FFA, or ag related charities.

Tom Renner, his son Jake and grandson Jonathon have an amazing collection of tractors as well as an amazing agricultural museum. This show was much like a mini-Half Century of Progress in the southern half of Illinois. At the show they featured plowing, a sawmill, steam threshing of wheat, combining, corn shucking, chain saw carving and much more. To see some of the amazing footage of this and other events, check out Johnathon Renner’s popular YouTube channel, Renner Stock Farms.

Joe Kehrer, from nearby New Memphis, Ill., had a beautiful display of his Keck Gonnerman tractors. “This is the first time the collection has been out. It’s never been in one place at one time,” Kehrer added.

Out front of the tent was a sign that said, “Memphis’ Keck Tractors.” When asked what that meant, I found out that the adorable young man on the front of the banner is Joe’s 2 ½-year-old grandson Memphis. That indeed said it all.

The reason that Joe Kehrer is into the Keck Gonnerman tractors is because it is a family thing. “My dad and grandpa had threshing runs. They used Keck Gonnerman steam engines, then the Keck Gonnerman tractors. They first tried the McCormick Deering tractors,” Kehrer said, “but they then switched to the Keck Gonnerman ZW that was made in Mt. Vernon, Indiana. They were 1930s tractors.”

At 100 Years of Horsepower, Kehrer had a beautiful red ZW, but he said they were not all that color. “They tell me the manufacturer wasn’t particular about what color they used. The used whatever they had on hand.”

He said sometimes that would be red, sometimes green, and other times grey.

As for history of the brand, Tractor Data shares, “Growing out of a blacksmith shop, Keck-Gonnerman began manufacturing kerosene tractors in 1917. Several standard-tread tractor designs followed, but Keck-Gonnerman tractor designs did not keep up with the rapid changes of the 1920s and tractor production ended by 1937. Production of other equipment, including combines, continued until 1955.”

Kehrer said most of the Keck Gonnerman’s found these days are in the Midwest. “Most of the ones I’ve found are from this area, Illinois, Kentucky and Indiana. Right now, I know where there are 10 more.”

While Kehrer does not have any of the family tractors, he wanted to collect the brand the family used. “I began collecting 20 years ago I guess and choose Keck Gonnerman because my family used them. The first tractor I collected was the ZW.”

The first tractor he collected is also his favorite. Besides Keck Gonnerman tractors, Joe said he has also collected Allis Chalmers tractors because the Kehrer family used them on the farm as well.

Out of his collection he said he is also partial to his Altman Taylor tractor. One of his tractors has a neat cover over the top. Kehrer said that was often common. “A lot of them set on sawmills so they put covers on them.”

At 100 Years of Horsepower, Kehrer had 19 tractors on display. This is quite a rarity because these tractors are hard to find. “If you see one of these, that’s normal, but seeing 19 is unreal,” he said. “At Rantoul I think there were only three.”

Joe’s 30-60 is the latest purchase. Once he made a double purchase from the Beckemeyer Brothers, Herb and Bob. “They had a set of Kecks and Hubers that I bought at an auction near Champaign.”

Three days after the sale, a gentleman from South Dakota contacted him with one for sale. “I told him I didn’t want to pay what I had just paid at the auction He said, ‘I met with my boys, and they said make me an offer’. I bought it sight unseen and they took the offer.”

Delivery came with the offer and Kehrer said they brought it to him on the coldest day of the year. “I came back with the check, and he had it off the trailer and unloaded. I was happy.”

When asked if he does the restoration, he said that he hires that out to the Jansen Brothers of Sigel, Ill. 

He said he’s not necessarily done collecting. “I am still looking for Kecks in general. This is all I do. I farm 6,000 acres and have a commercial roofing company and sell propane and collect. This is my hobby.”

Little Memphis is the one in the family that is interested in the old iron. When seeing the banner sign for the collection, little Memphis is posing with a hat on beside a tractor. He looks like he is practicing collecting already.