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Emstrom’s Farm Antiques a veritable haven for Fords
 
Wrenching Tales by Cindy Ladage 
 
Any antique tractor collector into Fords should schedule a visit to Dwight Emstrom’s museum, Emstrom’s Farm Antiques. Dwight has filled the Galesburg, Ill., museum with everything dedicated to Ford – from tractors to signs, to toys and more.
Dwight, a retired farmer, converted a farm building to house his collection back in 2006. He has had visitors from all over the country and even a few from around the world. Last November he had 40 visitors from Amsterdam.
“They have been coming here for five years. They are all from different backgrounds. They had John Deere and Caterpillar stops and were going to Dyersville, to the National Farm Toy Show after that,” he explained.
Dwight said Fords are an Emstrom family brand. His father, Albert, bought his first tractor, a 9N, in 1939 and that was the beginning of many Fords. The Emstroms drove Ford tractors as their farming operations expanded into cattle and trucking.
“We had 12 trucks at one time,” Dwight said. “We were hauling from coast to coast, it was crazy.”
The farm has been turned over to his son, Dean, and although they no longer truck or deal with cattle, trucking from coast to coast is how Dwight ended up with so many rare and unusual Fords in his collection. “When trucking, we would come back with tractors. We have lots from California and the West Coast.”
Dwight is well known in the antique tractor collecting field, and his 1947 Ford Ferguson 2N tractor with special tires that help keep it from spinning has graced a DuPont calendar. The museum is a large space filled with tractors and implements with shelves that go all the way around filled with toys and clocks. The walls are lined with amazing Ford signs and more clocks. One sign has the lettering “FoMoCo,” for Ford Motor Co.
Emstrom’s Farm Antiques includes four aluminum hood Fords. Aluminum hoods were on a few early examples of the 9Ns. Approximately 600-700 were built with alloy parts. Most original hoods were destroyed under harsh working conditions, or replaced with steel hoods when the harder material was available. According to Mecum Auctions, “There are fewer than 35 known examples of original aluminum-hood 9N tractors remaining.”
Dwight said his favorite is one of those aluminum hood 9Ns, the 16th 9N made and the earliest known to exist: “This was the first to roll off the factory floor. It came from California. As far as documents, it is the earliest N series tractor still in existence.”
He has taken time to provide signs documenting the history of his rare and unusual Fords, such as the 1939 9N that belonged to Henry Ford and came from his farm. “This was an experimental tractor,” Dwight explained.
The collection also includes a 1959 Model 1871 with an Elanco Front Wheel Drive, a 1958 741 with a Sherman transmission and a 1964 400 hi-crop diesel that came out of New Orleans and was used for vegetable farming.
Dwight owns one 2N Ford that was a War Model. The tractor is outfitted with steel wheels, a magneto and a hand crank. “There are no lights, they only made six of these,” he said.
The War Model is not the only tractor with a military connection; there is also a 1942 Ferguson that was used to pull planes during World War II.
Dwight has a souvenir given out in Rochester, Minn., in 1989 at the National 50th Anniversary Celebration, which has a signature and plaque denoting the late Harold Brock, a project engineer who worked with Henry Ford. Brock wrote a book about his days with Ford and was a speaker at many Ford events before he died.
Besides tractors, Dwight’s collection also includes some unusual implements like a Lindeman 2-way plow that was part of the Ferguson system and was used for hillside and irrigation farming. There is also an Overland Scraper, and several Ford cultivators in the collection.
Along with the Ford tractors there are a few Fergusons. Dwight owns a Ferguson TE 20; another English tractor is Dwight’s Dexta Fordson. The Ford-Ferguson connection took place with a famous handshake deal in October 1938 between Henry Ford and Harry Ferguson. This deal resulted in what is generally regarded as the tractor of the century; the famous Ferguson three-point hitch allowed an operator to change to any of 18 implements in a matter of minutes.
This museum is an opportunity to revisit the glory days of Ford tractors and learn a bit of agricultural history from a man who is a fixture in the Ford community. Those wanting to visit can call to make an appointment; call either 309-342-7408 or 342-9075.

Readers with questions or comments for Cindy Ladage may write to her in care of this publication.
2/27/2015