More than 400 vintage tractors and 300 signs and farm relics will be offered for bidding when Mecum Auctions’ Gone Farmin’ division opens its 2017 sales calendar with its Spring Classic, scheduled for March 30-April 1 at the Mississippi Valley Fair Center in Davenport, Iowa.
Four tractors are being touted as the stars of the sale:
- A restored 1970 Allis-Chalmers 220 with front-wheel assist (a form of all-wheel drive).
- A 1968 International 1256, also with front-wheel assist and from the Steve Sickafoose collection, also restored and with only 20 hours of use — including a Shriners parade — since its rebuild.
- A 1938 John Deere BWH-40, one of only 12 produced and now having undergone restoration.
- A 1938 Minneapolis-Moline UDLX, one of the first Comfortractors with an enclosed cab so it could be used in the field or for trips to town; on the road, the UDLX could reach speeds as fast as 45 miles per hour. The UDLX also was an orchard-style tractor with fenders.
In addition to four International tractors from the Sickafoose collection, vehicles from a dozen other collections are on the docket, including nine tractors from the Chik-fil-A Corporation: Truett Cathy collection; four steel-wheeled, 1920s and ‘30s John Deeres from the Richard Nelson collection, 11 tractors from the George Ashbacher collection; half a dozen International and Farmall units from the King Collection; and five from the Don Russell Carlisle Iowa Museum collection.
The sign and relic offerings include a single-sided smalt (glass-infused)-paint John Deere sign, which Mecum’s Gone Farmin’ group says is the only one ever offered at one of its sales.