| Ford enthusiast puts his collection forth at July show |
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It was hot and steamy, but John Koerner was keeping cool under a tent next to his bevy of beautiful Fords at the 35th annual Olde Time Farm Show. It made sense it was a steamy day, since this show took place over the Fourth of July weekend.
The Old Time Farm Show was held in Bradley, Ill., which is named for David Bradley, who started the David Bradley line of tractors. In 1891, the town was named North Kankakee; when the David Bradley Plow Works was established, the city in 1895 changed its name to Bradley City – and later, just Bradley.
John is a local. “I live 25 miles west of here in Cabery, a town of 250 people,” he said. “I take care of the village park, and a guy across the street had an old 2N Ford that he was going to use as a bush hog. He never got it running and I bought it.”
Farming, John raised corn and soybeans and in the early years had a beef cow-calf operation. This retired farmer wanted to keep his hand in the tractor hobby and when he restored his tractor, tractor fever officially began.
It hit him hard and he amassed his collection quite quickly. “I have only been in this for three years; I have 21 tractors,” he shared.
The Fords at the show were a beautiful and rare line-up. But among the antiques John also had the latest version of the Ford tractor created by New Holland, a 2009 Boomer. This tractor is a throwback to the original Ford 8Ns, and the retro look has a lot of fans.
John, though, has decided to stick with older tractors and at last look was planning on selling this beautiful modern version of Ford’s mainstay. “The Boomer came from a dealer in Pennsylvania. I bought myself two of them for an investment a couple of years ago,” he explained.
Beside the Boomer tractor was the crown jewel of John’s collection, his beautiful 1959 871 Gold Demonstrator, serial number 58621, with an Elenco front. This rare tractor, according to a sign in front of it, “is the only four-wheel-drive 871 Gold Demonstrator known to be in existence.”
With Select-O-Speed, power steering and the Elenco front, only about 100 of these were made, John said. “The tractor came from Seattle, Washington, and they claimed it was the only one in existence.
Upon asking his good friend who does restoration about purchasing a tractor with a Funks conversion kit, the friend responded he was working on one but added that it was hard to find parts. “Two weeks later he called me and said he had found a guy that had one, but it was all in pieces and disassembled. I made a deal with him to build me the tractor.”
But, John added, that wasn’t all. “He told me he had the Gold Demonstrator. That is how I ended up buying them both. He delivered them to me.” Getting a tractor from point A to point B can be a challenge these days, he explained. “Freight anymore is outrageous.”
Next in the tractor line-up was an 841 diesel Power Master (“This one is also a 1959. It came from Pennsylvania,” John said). After the Power Master was an 8N Ford with the Funk conversion and a 1958 8N Ford with a 1939 Flathead V8 that came from Michigan.
“These were high-dollar tractors, but I like them,” he said. “I am retired, but I have to do something.” |
| 8/3/2011 |
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