Farmall Land: Where tractors, history, and passion collide.
Ryan Roossinck
September 15, 2020
Cutting to the chase…
First, let’s cut to the chase before we get into some of the stories. As of the time I publish this post, you’ll have about 10 days to get to Avoca to see Farmall Land. After 5PM on Sunday, September 27, Jerry & Joyce Mez are retiring, off to travel the world and spoil their grandkids! Subsequently, our friends at Girard Auctions will be sending everything off to new owners. Everything will be sold through a series of online auctions (the land and the buildings too) beginning later this fall. You’ll be able to find all of the details for the tractors and equipment on Tractor Zoom, so keep an eye on the site!
Is this Heaven? Nope…it’s Farmall Land.
Now…on to the stories.
In the event you’re a red fan, the long lines of flourescent lights probably give it away. Today, we’re celebrating one of the coolest collections of interesting red iron on the planet. Welcome to Farmall Land USA.
If you’ve ever wondered what true passion looks like, Farmall Land USA is where you’ll find the answer. From the moment you walk in the doors and sign the 3-ring binder guest book on the table, you’ll not only see the passion – you’ll feel it. Over the past 50 or so years, Jerry & Joyce Mez have built an utterly amazing collection of the red machinery that built this country. They genuinely appreciate the opportunity to show it to anybody who walks through their doors, too.
The Dealership Days
Jerry’s grown up around red tractors almost all of his life. The Mez family moved to Avoca, IA from Falls City, NE and Max (Jerry’s father) opened Avoca Implement in 1943 when Jerry was just a toddler. The dealership was quite successful, and eventually expanded to locations in Greenfield, IA and (for a short time) Atlantic, IA. Jerry & Joyce sold both dealerships to Titan Machinery in 2008. The museum has been their full-time focus since then.
“Since I was 3 years old, everything I have is attributable to farm equipment,” Jerry said in a 2010 INTERVIEW.
Jerry began collecting red tractors in the mid-70s when he got out of the Army. The first one in the collection? One of the first tractors his Dad ever sold, a Farmall F-20. It was all downhill from there! Jerry & Joyce have close to 220 tractors in the collection now (nearly all of them pre-merger tractors), give or take a few. You’ll usually find about 150 on display at any given time.
Favorite Tractors
The Farmall 1206
So what’s his favorite? A Farmall 1206 narrow-front that his father sold new out of the Avoca dealership to a local farmer in 1966. Jerry bought it back from the original owner in 1988. When I last talked with Jerry in late June, this 1206 was one of the few that he was planning on keeping after retiring from the museum.
Jerry’s favorite 1206. Photo provided courtesy of Octane Press – authors of the Red Tractors series of books. Click the photo to learn more about the series!
The ih 4300
In addition to his 1206, another favorite that Jerry really enjoys showing off is a 1962 IH 4300 – one of the rarest production tractors IH ever built! IH didn’t build many to start with (I think the number was in the low-mid 40s; they were essentially built-to-order by Hough). Many were used pretty hard by construction companies, and Jerry believes there are only about six of them known to still exist. Weighing in at 30,000 pounds and sporting an 817-cube turbocharged inline six mated to an Allison automatic transmission, this one is definitely a crowd favorite. He looked for it for about 15 years, too, and the restoration process was extensive (it was a basketcase when he got it). All in all, it took two full nights to clean it up enough to see what they were working with for the restoration!
Here’s the 4300 after Jerry’s restoration – and one of my favorite details on it. Picture courtesy of Girard Auctions. Click this photo to see more photos and information about how they’ll be handling Jerry’s auctions beginning later this fall!Here’s the punch line on the other fender. Kids, always eat your Wheaties, so you can grow from Cub Cadet-sized to big powerful yellow tractor-sized!
Worldwide Destination
The museum typically sees well over 5000 visitors per year, and Jerry figures that he’s had conversations with guests from every continent and every state in the union as well! One of the last times I visited, I actually had an international (no pun intended) encounter while drooling over a wide-fendered Wheatland 1256! I met a man who was here in the states from Australia. He really wasn’t involved with agriculture in his day job back home, but he’d heard about Farmall Land and wanted to stop. “Stuff like this, and the people who run this museum is what makes America so great!” he said. Indeed it does, my friend.
A pair of 68-series Binders. Note the M&W twin turbo kit on the 1568. Those kits alone can fetch $5K+ if they’re in good shape!
The farm and garden tractors themselves are one thing, but that’s not all that makes up this amazing exhibit. Additionally, the memorabilia and examples of other products that International Harvester (fridges, freezers, etc.) built is mind-blowing! Altogether, I’m sure there are well over a thousand die-cast toys ranging from 1/64th up to 1/8th scale, plus a load of nice pedal tractors too! Basically, according to Jerry, “If it’s red, we’ve probably got it.”
So, like I’d mentioned earlier…if you want to see this collection in all of its glory, you need to make some plans within the next week or so. After September 27, the doors will close permanently.
Additionally, here are some details if you decide to make the trip!
Address: 2101 N. Lavista Heights Rd., Avoca, IA 51521
(Basically, it’s at the intersection of I-80 and Iowa 59 off of exit 40; an hour or so west of Des Moines, or about 45 minutes east of Omaha.)
Phone: 712.307.6806
Web: http://www.farmall-land-usa.com/
Hours: Closed on Monday, Tuesday – Saturday 10AM-5PM, Sunday 12PM-5PM.
Admission: $10 for adults, $5 for 13-18, $3 for 5-12, and free under 5!
COVID-19 rules do apply as well, folks, so out of respect for Jerry & Joyce’s wishes you’ll want to have a mask with you, and wear it while in the museum.
All in all, there’s no community of people nicer than tractor people, and honestly, folks like Jerry & Joyce Mez and their small staff are the reason why. They absolutely love what they do, and love to share their passion for tractors with anybody who stops in to say hello. They’ve given very selflessly to the industry, farmers, and tractor collectors. In fact, I think I’m going to sneak away on Saturday the 26th and stop in one more time to say thank you. I hope I’ll see you there, too.
The Gallery!
Finally, here’s a gallery of photos from several of my visits, as well as a few shots from Girard Auctions! At the end of the day, though, neither my photos nor anybody else’s do Farmall Land proper justice. You really need to take it in for yourself.
Hard to find a better photo than staring down the nose of a 1456.
A few hit & miss engines and miscellaneous IH stuff in the entryway.
Pedal tractors for days…
For you toy collectors, here’s a complete set of the Ironman sleds!
A 1/8th scale Farmall M with a mounted picker.
This is a roughly 1/3 scale 1206 patterned after the one that Max Mez sold in 1966, and Jerry bought back in 1988. The motor is a mildly worked-over 16-horse Cub Cadet…with a turbo from a car bolted on. This would definitely make short work of mowing the lawn!
Believe it or not, Jerry *does* actually have a little bit of green in the museum; you just have to poke your head into his office to find it. (Shoutout to Boyd & Sons Machinery, one of our customers!)
When I saw these in Jerry’s office, I turned to him and said, “Well, if you’re going to have some green ones in the collection, these are a pretty good place to start!”
Here’s one you probably haven’t seen before…a Cub Cadet push mower! (I’m about 99% sure that this was built by Lawn Boy.)
Not too long ago, Joyce built the “Tractor Widow’s Lounge” with seating, and some of her extensive doll collection. Jerry says he’s caught a few men stretched out taking a nap in here…
Cub Cadets for days… (Photo courtesy of Girard Auctions.)
Another line of Cub Cadets. Additionally, a few of these sport some sweet custom paint jobs!
I spent a good many hours on a 1250 Hydrostatic mowing the yard as a kid.
From time to time, you’ll find a unique creation. In this case, it’s a narrow-front Cub Cadet conversion.
A fairly rare 782 Diesel. There weren’t many of these made! (Photo courtesy of Girard Auctions.)
A relatively early Cub Cadet. They sure don’t look this good anymore.
Ever seen a 2+2 Cub Cadet before? (This is a custom build.)
IH 966 Black Stripe. (Photo courtesy of Girard Auctions.)
1206 FWA – I believe that’s a Coleman front axle? (Photo courtesy of Girard Auctions.)
Aerial view of the IH pickup and Scout, as well as the firetruck. (Photo courtesy of Girard Auctions.)
More of an aerial view of the main room. (Photo courtesy of Girard Auctions.)
IH 706 Wheatland. (Photo courtesy of Girard Auctions.)
A little McCormick International built in Germany to be exported. Jerry bought this one from a gentleman in the Netherlands, as I understand it. Also somewhat interesting to see the Farmall brand featured so prominently, as most of the Euro-spec tractors tended to the McCormick name. (Photo courtesy of Girard Auctions.)
The big Kahuna in the IH lineup during the 70s. Good lookin’ 1566! (Photo courtesy of Girard Auctions.)
Over the years, Jerry has amassed a rather staggering collection of farm hats. Here’s a more recent one.
These little Honey Bee loader conversions are somewhat uncommon. They basically flipped the drivetrain around backwards to make these tractors function correctly. My family has a similar Farmall BN forklift back home in Michigan that was very popular amongst fruit and vegetable growers!
A 4-door long-box IH pickup. These are fairly sought-after by IH truck collectors!
A Farmall Super C Demonstrator.
1086 FWA (I believe that’s an Elwood front axle.)
Looking down the line of toys!
The pair of 68-series hot rods. The 1568 has an original M&W twin turbo kit on it!
This hat looks pretty familiar! (It’s still there, too!)
A pair of IH Industrial models. This one is a 2856 (an Industrial 856).
This one is a 2806 (Industrial 806).
All along the walls, you’ll find articles from magazines about specific pullers, IH advertising, and lots of beautiful IH/Farmall-themed artwork.
IH 460 Wheatland.
One of a few specialty crop tractors in Jerry’s collection – an O-12 Orchard tractor.
Once in a while, you’ve gotta have a mildly artsy-fartsy shot, right?
One of several tractors that served our nation’s Armed Forces. This one was in the US Navy!
Finally, this is one of my favorite photos of Jerry & Joyce, borrowed from their website. They’ll be there to greet you as you walk in the door!
Again, special thanks to my friend Lee Klancher and the team over at Octane Press for lending me the photo of that Jerry’s beautiful 1206. Lee wrote a great piece about one of his visits to Farmall Land. He’s got lots of photos that I didn’t get during my visits, too! Read that here.
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