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Rare Deere Tractor Is Last of Its Kind
Farmers on the way to the recent Ohio Farm Science Review got a chance to see a oneof-a-kind Deere tractor on display at a Deere dealership located five miles from the show.
The Deere 101 might be the world's rarest tractor. Only five 101's were ever built and the one in Ohio is the only one still known to exist.
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Rare Deere Tractor Is Last of Its Kind TRACTORS Antiques 17-6-19 Farmers on the way to the recent Ohio Farm Science Review got a chance to see a oneof-a-kind Deere tractor on display at a Deere dealership located five miles from the show.
The Deere 101 might be the world's rarest tractor. Only five 101's were ever built and the one in Ohio is the only one still known to exist.
"It was an experimental tractor that never went into full-scale production," says owner Ron Koogler, Yellow Springs, Ohio. "All castings and parts on the tractor have EX (experimental) numbers on them. Deere made the prototypes between 1940and 1945. The five tractors were tested by farmers across the U.S. However, the tractor was never manufactured because of war-time steel shortages. The company gave one of the models as a retirement present to an employee. He sold it to Harold Schieler, Kewanee, Ill., about 10 years ago. I bought Schieler's tractor at an auction last year and then tore it apart and completely restored and repainted it."
According to Koogler, the highly maneuverable small tractor was designed primarily for row crop cultivating. Its 14 hp, 2-cyl. upright gas engine is positioned behind the seat, giving the driver a better view of the cultivator which mounted behind the front wheels. "It was the only tractor Deere ever made with a rear-mounted engine," says Koogler. "Allis-Chalmers had a tractor, model G, in production at this time that also had the engine in back. A belly-mounted hydraulic pump was used to lift the cultivator.
"The tractor has an unusual steering system that consists of a steel post equipped with a cross arm with a steering knob at either end. It really steers easy - you have to move the knobs only about 1/4 of a revolution to turn. The tractor still has the original tires.
"It really turns a lot of heads. Schieler showed the tractor at Deere's 150th anniversary in Waterloo in 1987. I showed it at our Two-Cylinder Club's grand opening last May. At both places, no one with a camera went by without taking a photo-graph."
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