100 years of Farmall tractors to line the runways at show

RANTOUL, Ill. — A line of red tractors to highlight the 100th anniversary of Farmalls is planned for the 2023 Half Century of Progress Show.

“The tractors will be sitting at the intersection of the two big runways, which is a little bit different than where tractors have been displayed before,” said Rollie Moore, a member of the Central Illinois IH Collectors Chapter 10.

“2023 is designated as the anniversary of the use of the brand name Farmall, so we thought this is a really good chance to put together a special display,” said Moore about the “A Century of Farmalls — 100 Years, 100 Tractors” display during the show set for Aug. 24-27.

“Our ultimate goal is to put together a single lineup of one tractor for every year from 1924 to 2023,” he said. “1924 was the first year a regular was available to a customer.”

Tractors for the Farmall display at the Rantoul National Aviation Center are coming from several states in addition to Illinois, including Indiana and Missouri.

“I had a couple of calls from Kentucky and today I had calls from Kansas and Nebraska,” Moore said.

“We are very good with tractors from the ‘20s through the ‘70s, with almost 100% filled,” he said. “The newer tractors that folks are still farming with are bigger and harder to transport, so we’re counting on guys who farm close to the Rantoul area to drive them in.”

The all-red lineup of tractors will provide visitors the opportunity to see a range of technology in one spot.

“You can walk down the line and see the oldest technology to the newest technology sitting within a few hundred feet of each other,” Moore said. “That should create a lot of interest.”

Moore has been a tractor collector for about 20 years.

“I’m a farm boy and I live on the farm where I grew up,” he said. “It was red tractors here all along, so it was natural for me.”

Originally Moore started by collecting farm toys.

“I went to a couple of antique tractor shows, did some tractor drives and one thing leads to another,” he said. “Now I’m a restorer and collector.”

The collector’s favorite tractors are the ones he grew up with on the farm.

“The first tractor I restored was a 1957 IH 350 Utility,” he said. “There was one of those on the farm when I was a 9-year-old kid, so it fit just right.”

Moore has a lot of the 50 Series tractors.

“I made it my goal to get all the body styles of the 350 Utilities so I have the High-Utility and the Wheatland,” Moore said.

“I have a couple of 450s and a 656 Hydro, which is my favorite tractor drive tractor because it has the hydrostatic transmission,” he said. “I also have a 6588 2+2, which is technically a member of the collection because it is not used on the farm anymore.”

As a kid, Moore liked to tear stuff apart and figure out how to put it back together.

“I’ve been a mechanic nut all my life,” he said. “I do a lot of the mechanical work on my tractors.”

The collector also paints tractors during the restoration process.

“Painting is not my favorite, but I decided if I was going to be a restorer, I had to paint,” he said.

A special event is planned for the day following the close of the Half Century of Progress Show.

“We are having a red-only tractor drive on Monday, Aug. 28,” Moore said. “We will be driving from Farmer City to the Farm Progress Show exhibit field.”

These tractors will be displayed at the north end of the exhibit field to recognize the 100th anniversary of Farmall tractors.

“We have permission to display 70 tractors,” Moore said.

“This will be a neat thing that’s never been done before although we have taken stuff over for the antique row at the Farm Progress Show before,” he said. “We’re not quite at the goal of 70 tractors yet, but we’re close.”