Hunter

That's not the only one-of-a-kind Massey in the collection. Larry also owns a 1942 Model 82 tractor specially made for the Royal Canadian Air Force. It has a four-cylinder Continental gasoline engine, and was built with specially cast front wheels and hubs that added extra strength for towing airplanes.

Larry's favorite Massey-built tractor is a sleek 1950 Model 44. It was built for vineyard use, and its front end is 5 inches narrower than other production models, to accommodate narrow vineyard rows. Only five are known to exist, and like other unusual tractors Larry owns, he has two, one of which is restored.

Even with all those fine Masseys in one place, Larry still wants to add a 1920 Model 3, a Model 44 High-Crop, an early 1950s Model 33 like the one Larry farmed with as a boy and a Model 102 Senior Row-Crop built in the early 1940s.

Something for everyone

Museum visitors can see everything from stagecoaches to farm trucks, mixed among the tractors and other farm equipment. To ensure there's something for everyone, Larry's also erected displays of pre-1940s kitchens complete with vintage stoves and cook-ware coupled with a gift shop that sells both Arizona and farm-related souvenirs. 'We get all kinds, not just tractor collectors,' Larry says.

Nearly 3,000 visitors walk through the doors each month during the five months the museum is open for business, Larry says. They can also see tractor seats, tractor toys, nearly 100 pedal tractor versions of everything from John Deere to Massey-Harris, metal dealership signs, walking plows, unusual garden tillers, wagons, horse powers, grain drills and examples of about anything ever associated with agriculture.

With a new building in the works and a near-constant stream of new tractors and equipment, the museum is bigger than Larry ever dreamt. He's understandably proud of his museum and the farm equipment he's amassed since he first started collecting in 1985, even though it's been difficult and expensive work. 'You don't get into this to make money,' Larry says.

The expense is an investment in his future, Larry jokes, better than stocks or bonds. More than that, Larry says the museum is a place where visitors can learn about America's agricultural history as well as see tractors and implements found few other places. FC

-To learn more about Larry Weber's Dome Valley Museum, write him at Weber Implement, 12700 Somerton Ave., Yuma, AZ 85365; or call the workshop at (928) 726-5053; or the museum at (928) 785-9081; or e-mail: domevalleymuse-um@yahoo.com; or visit the museum Web site at www.DomeValleyMuseum.com