97-Year-Old Tractor Collector Still Looking For "Treasures"

97-Year-Old Tractor Collector Still Looking For "Treasures" TRACTORS Collectors 33-3-21 At age 97 Ed Swanson of Winnebago, Ill., may be the oldest active collector of antique tractors in the U.S. His most recent "find" is a 1958 Deere 520. Ed says when he first saw the tractor sitting in the snow, he knew right away he wanted it. "Once I climbed on the seat I was hooked and had to buy it." He also recently bought a No. 18 Deere corn picker, one of the last models that Deere ever made, and a Deere No. 15 mounted corn picker. A photo taken last fall shows Ed with the Deere 520 tractor pulling the No. 18 Deere corn picker just after he had harvested an acre of ear corn. Later in the winter the corn was shelled by a neighbor who's also an antique collector. Ed started collecting stationary engines back in 1970 and has 10 that are in good working order. But tractors aren't the only thing Ed is curious about. He's also a competent typist who taught himself to use an electric Smith-Corona when his handwriting started going bad. He corresponds by typewriter with friends and is also writing down memories and old stories of local lore. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Ed Swanson, 11976 Montague Road, Winnebago, Ill. 61088 (ph 815 335-2509).

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