Rare & Restored

Enlarge Image Image Gallery The IH Model 4300 was the firm's response to Deere & Co.'s own four-wheel-drive tractor line

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If Jerry Mez had known that spring day in 1988 that a semi-trailer loaded with an International Harvester Co. Model 4300 tractor would be whizzing by on Interstate 80 a mere mile from his implement dealership, he probably would've tried to stop it - which would have been quite a feat since the tractor itself weighed more than 40,000 pounds.

'I had been looking for an IH 4300 to add to my tractor collection for 15 years,' the 64-year-old Avoca, Iowa, tractor collector says, 'ever since we had one here as a demonstration model in the early 1960s. It always hung in the back of my mind that I wanted to get hold of one. It's a tractor not a lot of people know about.'

In fact, IH Model 4300 tractors are extremely rare for several reasons. First, the massive machines were built-to-order at a cost of about $12,000 each in the early 1960s.

As a result, only 44 Model 4300 tractors were manufactured - fewer than any other IH production tractor, except several that were stopped in mid-production when IH was bought out in 1984, such as models 7588 and 7788.

Secondly, it's nearly impossible to buy a tractor when only about six of the big, collectible beasts survive, Jerry says.

Tractor collecting

Jerry's interest in collecting big red tractors began 35 years ago when his father, Max Mez, owned the Avoca Implement Co., an IH dealership. One day, Max received a call from a farmer west of town who wanted to sell his fleet of five IH Model F-20 tractors.

Oddly, each F-20 was dedicated to a single piece of machinery, which the farmer never removed once it was attached. When the farmer wanted to plow, he used the tractor with the plow attached. To pick corn, he drove the F-20 hooked to the corn picker, and used the F-20 hooked to the cultivator when it was time to cultivate.

Max bought all five tractors and the equipment for about $250, and Jerry helped get them into the shop. There, he worked with old tractors for the first time, and saw them up close. That's all it took to pique Jerry's interest and convert him into a dedicated IH fan. 'I kept my eye on them over the years,' Jerry says about those old F-20s. They made such a mark on Jerry that he still owns two of them.

Today, Jerry's tractor collection has expanded to more than 130 different red tractors - about 100 are restored, some are in perfect shape, while others still need work.

'My dream is to start a museum for red machinery,' Jerry explains.

He's already gathered three crucial components for the museum: His tractor collection, promises from other collectors to help fill the museum and 4 acres of land on the outskirts of town near Interstate 80. Like most big dreams, it's going to be a while before Jerry opens the museum's doors. 'The space and money are hard to come by,' Jerry says.

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