Making a Case for Antique Farm Equipment and Implements

Enlarge Image Image Gallery Herb Wessel's barns are full of vintage treasures, including a thresher dating to 1926, and two Case horse-drawn plows of equal age.

Herb Wessel believes in the preservation of antique farm equipment that tells the story of farming over the last 100 years. At his farm in northern Maryland, he has barns full of implements to prove it. 

"A row of tractors doesn't tell anybody anything," he says. "'I specifically collect the implements the tractors would have pulled or powered. We're losing the equipment faster than the tractors. People are more interested in tractors; I'd like to see more people interested in equipment. Some tractors are so over-restored they look better than brand new, and then there are ropes around them so no one can touch them. I like for stuff to be in working order and ready to go."

Herb's collection does include a selection of tractors, but the emphasis is on antique farm equipment, some dating to the 19th century. There are also automobiles, pickup trucks, steam engines, dairy equipment, old license plates, vintage tools and farm toys. There are even some model airplanes suspended from the rafters.

"I used to build them as a kid," he says. "I still build them once in a while just to see if I can keep my hand in it."

But despite the amazing variety, there is a theme to Herb's collection. That theme is symbolized by an eagle, which represents Case, a name known throughout the farming industry for more than a century. It's part of Herb's farming heritage. The 1948 Case D tractor previously owned by his father and the 1954 Case 400 he bought new are proudly displayed and still used around the farm.

"My hobby is genealogy," he says. "Three of my grandparents were German. My grandfather bought a farm in Howard County (Maryland) in 1898. I moved here (to Carroll County, Maryland) in 1958. We've always been in dairy farming, but I got interested in the mechanics. I learned by experience how to fix the tractors."

Herb tells the story of how he came to own and restore a rare 1918 9-19 Case tractor.

"They came out in 1915," he says. "It was the first small tractor Case came out with and it was made in Racine, Wisconsin. This one came from Massachusetts. It's had all new sheet metal and a complete overhaul. I've had it quite a while. A guy called me about it because he'd seen it advertised in a local newspaper. I wasn't interested until I saw it had round spoke wheels, as opposed to flat. Then I knew it was rare. I called the owner (in Massachusetts) and he quoted a price. You couldn't tell by the picture, but it sounded like it was worthwhile and I went up with my trailer. Well, the engine was stuck, the differential was stuck and the rear wheels were stuck, so I said 'no thanks'. The guy said 'make me an offer' so I made a ridiculous one and he accepted. We loaded it on the trailer and brought it home. My son Philip and I worked on it for a year. There are a few around, but it's probably the most rare tractor I have."