CLINTON, Ill. – While you can’t really call Kevin McMath a John Deere collector only, it is the primary brand that he collects. This central Illinois farmer inherited the collecting gene from his father, Robert McMath. Kevin’s dad passed in 2018, and Kevin said that Robert had enough collectibles, “I added this onto the shop.”

That was of an already very large shop, but this addition is a man cave/museum that also serves as Kevin’s farm office, and as a receptacle for his collectibles as well as his fathers. In the office he has some cool farm toys, and one rare four-legged Deere John Deere paper weight. McMath said his dad found most of his collectibles at shows, adding, “Dad had a lot of this stuff.”

The museum is filled with planter lids, seats and other collectibles. There are neat scales, planters and a beautiful Waterloo Boy picture as well. A very early John Deere calendar is framed and graces the wall. McMath blamed this purchase on Aumann Auctions Roger Johnson.  “Roger made me buy that,” McMath said.

One of the coolest items in the collection included an amazing John Deere wagon. “I was tearing down my landlords’ shed they didn’t even know it was there. I had the Amish redo it.”

At the back wall, McMath has a very architectural grouping of Emmerson Brantingham items with a Case Eagle on the world item centered in the display. Hanging from the ceiling is a John Deere combine that looks like it could go right into the field. The combination of old and new makes this setting interesting and captivates the visitor.

The farm toys are a mix of items that McMath has received for Christmas, NIB, new in-the-box items, and some from his childhood. He told a story. “I remember when I was a little kid and I wrote a letter to Santa asking for duals on a tractor, and Santa replied, ‘You can’t get duals on a tractor.’”

McMath took it upon himself to make it happen by gluing duals on a 1206 Farmall.  “I don’t know what I was doing with an International,” he joked.

So, he started customizing early on. While many of the memorabilia items relate to his father, McMath said the farm toys have been his collecting bug. “I thought I needed them,” he shared.

Most toys are 1/16th models and include wide front, narrow front and a variety of brands. While most toys are John Deere, there is a smattering of other brands like Allis Chalmers, and Farmall. There are wagons to accompany tractors and a thresher and even a Caterpillar grader. He has an amazing scratch-built picker that looks like an Ev Weber, but he is not sure.

John Deere wooden wheels of different sizes work as décor along with a very early John Deere corn planter. Then there are the fun items like the huge foam corn ear beside a very collectible John Deere straw hat. Everywhere you look there is something to see like the hay trolleys on the ceiling.

He also has a fun collection of acre counters used to keep track of acres and how much seed is planted. They were located on old drills. Beside the acre counters are wrenches even including an early Vanbrunt. On the fun side, there are a variety of John Deere marbles.

There is a neat John Deere seat, and any child would love the wooden barn made by Fred Wuncsh, his mom’s dad. It sits high in a place of honor. Besides the farm items, McMath has an extensive native American collection of arrow heads and a couple stone axes that he and his father found on the farm. Most were found while in the tractor seat. “Driving along you would see them, then you would have to stop.”

The ones that Robert found are written on. Kevin collects big items as well as small. In his even larger shed he stores his old trucks and tractors. Adding more fun on a Silver King, he has put a mannequin, Viola, that sits in the buddy seat behind the tractor driver. With a small movement, Viola is waving at the crowd during tractor drives.

McMath also has conversion tractors along with John Deere models. There is a Massey 22, with a hand sticking out of the hood that is a conversation starter. There is also a very cool John Deere Model 40 combine, and a Massey corn picker model. “I bought it from a guy at Penfield. He said, ‘I’ve got something you need.’”

After dickering with him, they settled on a prize, and he ended up with the Massey self-propelled corn picker, and a wagon that he retrieved from the other side of Indiana.

Creativity abounds in McMath’s neck of the woods. His neighbor’s wife created a fascinating man sitting atop a hay rake. It is a showstopper that I am sure has drivers rubber necking and stopping like we did to take pictures.

On top of all of this, McMath also purchased a one-of-a-kind Nieman conversion tractor at a farm sale that will be on display at Gathering of the Green this year. What a cool collection and a collector that enjoys what he collects and loves sharing his collection with others.