Joe Trout Goes Green 6,000 Times

By Larry LeMasters
​Note: This feature is in the March TF 2022 issue.

According to Joe Trout's count, he has had more than 6,000 "children" so far, and he plans on getting more.
"My toys are my children," he said. "I have had two major John Deere model collections. My first collection had 4,000 models, and my second collection has over 2,000 models in it."

An early love fore tractors
Joe, of Gambrills, Md., grew up on a small, 108-acre farm in Westminster, Md. His parents, Clarence and Rheba Trout, had about 40 head of cattle and grew hay and other grains.
Clarence taught his son many lessons, but the love of John Deere tractors made the biggest impression on Joe.
"Dad owned a variety of different farm equipment, but he truly loved John Deere equipment. I learned early in life, though, that green is both the color of John Deere and the color of money, so Dad bought Farmalls, Fords and other machinery. He pretty much bought what he could afford, and that wasn't always John Deere," Joe said.
In 1967, Clarence purchased a new John Deere 3020 tractor. Later, he owned a John Deere 4010 and a John Deere 4020 diesel, but the 3020 remained his favorite tractor.

Want to read the story?  
It's available in the MARCH TF 2022 ​magazine!
​CLICK HERE to: SUBSCRIBE