Even though 44 years had passed since Floyd Johnson had seen the John Deere model GM he traded off in 1952, as he was driving through D&L Equipment of Kensett, Iowa Johnson said, "I spotted it right now."
Johnson, age 72 of Clear Lake, Iowa bought the tractor used and farmed a couple years with it trading it at Albert Lea. Johnson was able to identify the tractor by its seat. He had replaced the original cast seat with a seat that offered a softer ride and had special mounting brackets made to install it.
How was the old tractor after 44 years? Johnson said, "It was a pure piece of junk. It had a cracked block, cracked head, and the sheet metal was totally destroyed. All I had was the frame."
In spite of the condition Johnson said "I was pretty happy to find it. I'm glad I got it back. I'm tickled to death"
Johnson waited until the dealing was done before telling he was a previous owner and had been searching for the tractor for some time.
Since acquiring the tractor Johnson has the restoration about one-fourth completed and has purchased two whole model Gs for parts.
Floyd Johnson estimated the model GM new sold for about $1600 and he will probably spend 3 times that much to restore it. Johnson said, "I'll probably have $4000-5000 in it when I get done." When completed Johnson said, ""It will be like new when I get through with it."
Having sold the tractor once in 1952 Johnson won't sell it again saying, "It's home to stay." Eventually Johnson will give the tractor to his son Mark who farms and hopes Mark gives it to his son someday.
Floyd Johnson has been collecting tractors for about 20 years. He collects mainly 2 cylinder John Deeres as that is what he started farming with. Johnson described his loyalty to John Deere saying, "I cut myself the other day and I bled green."
Johnson started farming with a 1934 John Deere A that he has lost track of but owns a similar tractor to that one.
In twenty years many tractors have passed through Johnson's hands. His latest restoration is a John Deere 730 LP gas model.
He prefers original running tractors that need a minimum of mechanical work. Johnson said, "I usually buy tractors than don't need much work to restore. I buy nice original tractors and am always looking for them."
Once bought the tractors are given any attention needed mechanically, then sandblasted and painted. They also get new screens, guages, steering wheels, and tires. Johnson said, "Every tractor you restore you learn something. The more you restore, the fussier you get, and it takes longer." Johnson credits his son Mark for doing the majority of the restoration work.
Once restored the tractors are kept in sheds under cover and not put to work. Floyd Johnson started selling his restorations when storage space became in short supply. Another problem was the continuing maintenance. Johnson said, "It's hard to keep these tractors looking nice, you keep them inside and cover them up. You've always got dead batteries."
"Even if they are restored they run into work. We get the dust off and clean them up, and charge the batteries."
Floyd Johnson has been a regular attendeee of the John Deere Two Cylinder Expo and that has been an outlet to sell some of his tractors. Johnson was able to sell five restored tractors at one time to a collector from California at the Expo.
Another current tractor project is a John Deere B on steel with a stuck engine. Johnson plans to fix it up cosmetically, hitch a 2 row planter behind it, and and place it near the road in his farmyard.
Johnson's preference for original running tractors is getting harder to come by. He said, "There's a lot of pretty nice original tractors still around. But when approached to sell he hears, "Dad bought it new, but I don't want to sell it."
Floyd Johnson remembers a time when tractor collecting was unheard of.
He said, "I remember going to farm sales years ago and there would be an old A John Deere sitting there. You'd start it up, crank it up, it would run good. It would bring 30-40 bucks and they would go to the next one and before they got it going, a guy was there with a cutting torch cutting it up and throwing it on a truck. Any old tractor, they'd just cut them up."
Floyd Johnson's wife Norma is also a tractor fancier and attends the Expo with him. Norma Johnson said, "It keeps him out of the house but sometimes I think he works too hard at it. Every year he says 'This is the last year.' "
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