With a personal collection of more than 8,000 1/64 scale farm toys and accessories (not including customized pieces), Jason Dalton, owner of Dalton's Farm Toys, may have one of the largest farm toy collections.
"When I was 11, I won an award from Ertl for having the largest 1/64 scale collection in the world. A magazine Ertl used to publish sponsored this competition. My collection at that time was larger than any known adult's collection. To this day, I believe my collection is still the largest collection in the world," he shared.
Today, Jason's collection consists of almost all of the 1/64 scale farm toys ever made by all manufacturers, he said.
"I also have several thousand other farm toys in various scales, such as 1/16 IH toys as well as 1/32 four-wheel-drive toy tractors," he said.
He has more than 50 brand-specific display cases, including a showcase full of early John Deere tractor sets manufactured by Ertl. These represent some of the first 1/64 toys ever produced.
Jason's farm toy hobby has also expended into an expansive business. According to Jason, Dalton's Farm Toys "has the largest selection of 1/64 farm toys and models on the internet."
"We have over 3,500 farm toys in our online catalog with pictures of every one. We specialize in older and out-of-production items, but also carry a full line of new releases as well." he said.
Jason began collecting 30 years ago. Now, Jason proudly said, "I have all brands, from the common pieces to super rare. I also have everything new in the box/package if it came in one. I have a lot of one-of-a-kind pieces as well as prototypes that were never actually produced. I even have a lot of misprints and incorrectly packaged items. I have every gold Toy Farmer 1/64 scale tractor ever made. Only a few people have that set. I also have every 1/64 Big Bud tractor made, including a prototype, samples and one-of-a-kind model."

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Tucker Wichman, of Ridott, Ill., has a knack for making farm toy collectors feel old. He is just 11 years old, and he is already a grand champion at the Stephenson County Fair, something some collectors wait a lifetime to achieve.
The sixth-grader has been in the Country Cusins 4-H Club since he was 5, and plans to join FFA in high school. Tucker's 4-H projects related to tractors have won grand champion every year that he has entered at the Stphenson County Fair. Last year, Tucker won grand champion at the fiar when he showed a small portion of his Case IH farm models as a 4-H collection project.
When asked if farming was in his blood, Tucker grins and replies, "No, RED is in my blood–red as in Case, CaseIH, International Harvester and McCormick-Deering Farmall. I live and breathe red tractors."
Both of Tucker's parents (Adam and Ashley Wichman) were farm kids and, today, the family lives on a small farmette near Ridott.
"Dad grew up on a dairy farm in Lena, Ill," Tucker said. "Mom grew up on a small beef farm near Ridott. Mom'd dad, Grandpa DuWayne Olson–called Bumps by us grandkids, actually had more of a hobby farm then a working farm, but he always had lots of different animals, which made visiting him very exciting."
Although Tucker doesn't live on a working farm, both Adam and Ashley have tractors their dads once owned and used. Tucker, with some exaggeration, said, "I have been driving these tractors since I was born, and now I can drive all of them."
Like most farm kids, Tucker played with farm toys as a little boy. For his first Christmas, he received a Farmall Super H pedal tractor, which he still has in his collection. "I still 'play' with farm toys," he added. "Today, though, 'playing' means fiddling with my models and farm display, looking for ways to make it bigger and better."

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While some collectors don't have enough space to display all their modles, Ryan Mees, of Lincoln, Neb., solved that problem by loaning 25-30 of his customized models to the National Farm Toy Museum in Dyersville, Iowa.
"Awhile back," Ryan said, "the museum asked a couple members of Pirate Farm Toys to repair and customize some broken models the museum had, and then, if possible, to donate the repaired models back to the museum. I chose to repair and customize an Allis-Chalmers 210."
About a year later, Ryan was thinking about his collection–stored in boxes in his basement–so he contacted the museum about displaying some models on a loan-type basis.
The museum was putting together a display in celebration of John Deere's 100th anniversary of entering the tractor business, and Museum Curator Amanda Schwartz asked to display Ryan's collection of John Deere farm toys, along with his numerous customized pieces.
In August 2017, Ryan and Kerri, his wife, loaded their minivan and drove to Dyersville, Iowa, where his models are on display.
Ryan grew up on a farm founded by his grandfather, Arnold Mees, in southeastern Nebraska. Ryan's father, Dave Mees, eventually took over the farm, growing corn, milo and soybeans.
"I enjoyed my childhood," Ryan said. "Dad loved John Deere tractors, so I got the opportunity to drive several of them, including a John Deere 2510 wide front with a 46A loader that we used as our utility tractor, our cabbed 4020 with slotted duals, and our JD 6620 sidehill combine. My favorite tractor was our JD 4430, which I often drove pulling a grain cart. My fondest memories are driving the 4430 next to Dad on the 6620, working together to get our crops in."

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Amid the heavily populated city of St. Petersburg, Fla., Doug Krieg has a workshop stationed in a one-car garage, where he creates highly realistic replicas of farm buildings. Doug has built more than 25 buildings from scratch to date, with many more projects on the bench and in the works.
Professionally, Doug is a middle school teacher who has spent the majority of his career teaching physical education or health. He is passionate about healthy lifestyles and eating, which has been contrary to his recent streak of late nights working on his farm toy hobby. He doesn't like sitting idle for too long and enjoys getting outside and active. Doug and his wife, Greta, have tow children, son Kayden, 7, and daughter Lyla, 3.
Doug started in the farm toy hobby like many others, having played with the toys while growing up in his home state of Ohio.
"My cousin, Jamie, and I would play with farm toys for hours," Doug said. "Having three sisters, he was the closest thing to a brother I ever had. He still has many of those original toys in his basement back in Ohio. We've had a good time digging through them in recent years. It's given us a change to reminisce about our younger years."
"I got back into farm toys when my wife and I found out we were going to have our first child, Kayden," Doug said. "I knew I had to get him some farm toys. At first, I started buying whatever I could get my hands on and then decided to start seeking out pieces that matched my family's farm. Eventually, this evolved into my desire to build my son a replica of our family's barn." In pursuit of more information on constructing a barn, Doug found the "1/64 Farming Operations" Facebook page. Things escalated further as Doug started to create a full layout.

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Scratch building pedal tractors can be a daunting challenge. Don Turner accomplished the feat with his Allis-Chalmers D21. And, he completed the venture with superb craftsmanship.
Don is a welder by trade, with an affinity for farm tractor mechanics.
"I learned to weld during vocational training while in high school. With that schooling, I specialized in welding along with fabricating. I had a welding job for about 10 years before starting my own business. In 1978, I launched Turner Welding. Although farming is not my background, I started the business by purchasing used tractors and farm machinery. I bought the pre-owned equipment for restoration and then resale. In addition, I fabricate a lot of replacement parts for old tractors and equipment," Don related.
After operating his business for a period of time, Don began scratch building pedal tractors. He also constructed related equipment to the same scale. Don't primary focus has been Allis-Chalmers, but he has branched into other brands.
"I scratch built 25 of most every model early on, but now I make fewer of each one," he remarked. Following is the list of scale models that Don has fabricated to date:

Pedal tractors
A-C Model G
A-C Model D21
A-C Model 220
John Deere 101
1929 Ford doodlebug
1938 Star doodlebug

Related Equipment
A-C mounted bale pickup
A-C sickle mower
A-C roto baler
A-C seven-bottom plow
Double gang disc
Manure spreader

Don's accomplishments in building pedal tractor stirred an interest in fabricating fully operational half-scale versions.
He noted, "I enjoy going to farm machinery shows. Viewing those shows was a lot easier by driving a small tractor. Most people used golf carts to get around. But for me, I wanted to drive a scaled-down tractor. And so, I started making half-scale tractors. Driving the model tractor to see the show was really enjoyable. I also entered them in antique tractor parades. Trust me, those small tractors caught a lot of attention, along with many questions about them."
Don has built 14-half-scale Allis-Chalmers Model G tractors; nine are gas and two are electric-powered. He has also built five half-scale John Deere 101 experimental tractors, all powered by gas engines.

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You may have heard the adage, "Once a collector, always a collector." This is certainly true of my husband, Jeremy Welsh. WhenI first met him in 1982, at the ripe old age of 19, he already had some vintage Case tractors, and a few associated implements. I loved the thought of some of the old gear being preserved, and I learned he's always been a collector of one thing or another since he was very young.
Having been raised on a dairy farm and farming himself since 1981, vintage tractors and machinery were a great fit for him. My brother gave Jeremy several Ertl vintage Case tractor models for his birthday in 1987. As Franklin Roosevelt famously said, that is "a date which will live in infamy." Jeremy was hooked.
Back in the 1980s, farm models weren't that easy to come by in our region near Thames, New Zealand. Model shops didn't stock many farm-related items, so Jeremy would spend any time off the farm visiting tractor dealerships, looking for more model tractors to add to his small, but growing, collection.
In the beginning, he seemed to be only interested in Case tractor models and promised to stick to just Case tractors, which seemed logical, as he was generally only interested in acquiring vintage Case tractors. Back then, he also promised to stick  to only 1/16 scale models. I don't remember when both these promises were broken, but how do you stop yourself at just one brand or scale, right?

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International Harvester enjoyed a long and storied history in American industry, and was perhaps best known for its tractors.
Toy Farmer has chosen two of these tractors for its 2018 National Farm Toy Show. For the 41st National Farm Toy Show Nov. 2-4 in Dyersville, Iowa, Toy Farmer is issuing an International 886 in 1/16 scale and an International 4166 in 1:64 scale. For each model, red chrome chase units will be randomly inserted into the production run. Order forms with details are included in this month's Toy Farmer.
Sadly, the International Harvester story was well into its last chapter in the 1970s when the "66" Series of tractor entered the market. The equipment was still solid, with a loyal farmer following and a strong dealer network, but corporate mismanagement in a changing and challenging business climate was steering International toward failure. The "66" tractors and the upgraded "86" models that followed helped keep the company afloat until the slae of International Harvester to the Tenneco Corporation in 1985. Let's look at a couple of these red tractors.
The first offerings in the "66" Series were unveiled in September 1971, with delivery set for the 1972 growing season. The 4166 was the only four-wheel-drive tractor in the initial rollout. Unlike much of the competition, most notably Steiger and Versatile (and soon Big Bud), IH chose a rigid frame design for its four-wheeler.
Four-wheel or "crab" steering technology had been employed in the Hough industrial loaders, which were part of the IH conglomerate also. There was no need for new engineering of its own articulated drive. The Hough design was employed on the first International four-wheel-drives back in the 1960s, specifically the 4100 and 4300. These big tractors were actually built at the Hough Works in Indiana.

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When Chad Harris first stood in the shadow of the one-of-a-kind behemoth Big Bud 950/50, he had one thought.
"That's the next model I want to build," Chad remembers thinking. Four years later, he's completed six replicas of the second-largest tractor in the world, just behind the Big Bud 747.
Chad saw the real tractor at Big Equipment Co. of Havre, Mont., where Ron Harmon had refurbished the 950-horsepower tractor in 2014 before it was shipped to Levelland, Texas, for use by a cotton farmer. The upgraded tractor is about 21 feet wide, weighs about 90,000 pounds and holds 700 gallons of fuel. A video of the tractor in the field can be viewed on YouTube.
Chad's 1/16 scale Big Bud 950/50 replicates the real tractor, which he was able to measure while it was parked at Big Equipment. Ron Harmon's Big Bud company built the largest tractor in the world, the Big Bud 747, in the 1970s. Big Equipment Co. focused on rebuilding and upgrading tractors, with its main emphasis on the Big Bud tractors built in Havre, Mont., between 1969 and 1984.
From Rexburg, Idaho, Chad has a passion for the big tractors, which was solidified when he operated a Big Bud 525/50 following high school graduation.
"I opened one, so that's what sparked my interest," he says. Chad worked a two-year stint for an owner of a Big Bud tractor and Friggstad scrapers, doing land leveling and construction work.
"I I have a fascination with the Big Buds," he says. "I don't know why I have this Big Bud fever, but I guess it's kind of an addictive thing."

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The Palouse region of Washington state is approximately 4,000 square miles of rolling hills composed of a rich soil called loess. Loess is specifically defined as silt that has been deposited by the wind. A combination of factors, including the soil and climate, has made the region a global leader in the production of soft white winter wheat. Wheat, barley, peas and lentils are all staple crops in this region. More canola and garbanzo beans continue to be grown in the region as producers look for ways to diversify and work with the region's climate.
While the soil and climate are ideal for growing wheat, the terrain requires specifically modified equipment to harvest the grains. Self-leveling or hillside combines were developed to allow the combine to operate properly while running across uneven harvesting surfaces. If the separator inside the machine isn't kept relatively level, grain will run to one side of the machine and will not efficiently and effectively be separated.
Brian Wise of Spokane, Wash., is one of the world's leading experts on hillside combines. He is a third-generation John Deere mechanic, with more than 100 years of combined experience working on John Deere equipment in his family tree. Like so many involved in the farm toy hobby, Brian's interest started at a young age due to the influences of his father and grandfather and having been around farm mchinery his whole life.

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After he returned home from the 2016 National Farm Toy Show, Scott Galliart from Pella, Iowa, decided to build a display that illustrated a series of full-size tractors called the Barn Series Steigers.
"I always wanted to build a display, but I was not sure what direction to take," he said. But after talking to a friend at the show, who mentioned that 2017 would mark the 40th anniversary of the National Farm Toy Show, Scott decided the time was right to fashion a display in the 1/64 scale he prefers. The direction? Since 2017 was the 60th anniversary of the Steiger tractor, that seemed a natural focus - especially since Scott had been collecting information and photos of Steiger tractors for nearly eight years.
Not just any Steiger tractors - specifically, the Barn Series Steigers, the ones that kicked off the brand and were built in a dairy barn by brothers Douglass and Maurice Steiger and their father, John Steiger, on their farm near Red Lake Falls, Minn. They wanted a reliable four-wheel-drive tractor, so decided to make their own. That first one was completed in the winter of 1957-1958. Then they built another smaller model, although still a four-wheel-drive. A couple neighbors asked if they would build tractors for them and the brothers obliged. More orders arrived, the brothers doubled the size of their workshop, hired a salesman and a brand was born in chartreuse.
The Steiger brothers "didn't realize they would go into the tractor business," said Scott, adding that up until then, they had only repaired tractors for themselves and others.
Some years ago, Scott saw photos of Steiger tractors and "thought those were really neat," he said. "As a kid, my uncle lived next to a farm with bright green Steiger tractors. I like the simplicity of the lines on them even then."

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