Old Men & Toy Tractors

Here are the 4 Model Tractors that I bought at the Ed Pollak auction Sunday. The first (top left) is a John Deere 1957 Model “720 Hi-Crop” Tractor. The second (top right) is a 1934 John Deere Model “A”, the third (lower left) is a 1937 John Deere Model “G”. The last is a 15-30 McCormick-Deering “straight tractor. The 15-30 was first produced by the International Harvester Company in 1921 and production at the Milwaukee factory topped off at 35,525 in 1929. These 1/16 size Models really have little value in and of themselves. However, we buy them for the memories they provoke. The first tractor we had was a used 10-20 McCormick-Deering in 1943. It was very similar to the 15-30 only smaller. The numbers represent the amount of horsepower on the drawbar and belt. We didn’t have a Model “G” JD but our neighbors did. Willard went along with us to an Auction during the war where one was sold to the lottery winner at the “Price Administration set price”. Elaine’s Dad had an “A” JD very similar to this one. His may have been a few years newer than ’34 but by the time we got our “A” in ’44 they were “stylized”. I bought a JD “720” Diesel at a Bee, NE Auction in 1981 when we came back to the farm. It was a row-crop with a “pony engine” and a real classic. It brought about $2,500. when we had our auction in 1989. There were a limited number of the 720 Diesels produced with the little 4 cylinder starting engine. The Director of the Nebraska Tractor Museum asked us to donate it to them but at the time,  we felt we needed the money. I have regretted that decision ever since I saw it leaving the farm after the Auction was over.