1987 - Volume #11, Issue #6, Page #05
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One-Of-A-Kind 4020 Sells For Record Price
What's a one-of-a-kind used 4020 Deere tractor, one of the most popular ever built, worth nowadays?If you guessed under $17,000, guess again. That's the record price paid at a farm auction held within a stone's throw of our FARM SHOW office here in Lakeville, Minn. The bidding opened at $8,000 and was all over in 9 seconds. Only two bidders were in the running and they ran up the bid $1,000 at a crack.
Submitting the top bid of $17,000, believed to be an all-time record for used 4020's, was Roy Fehler, an area farmer who reportedly bought it as a working tractor to take to the field.
He bought a dandy in mint condition, and with only 2,294 actual operating hours. It carries serial number 213946 and boasts original paint, side console, differential lock, dual hydraulics, wide front end, 3 pt., front weights and roll guard with canopy.
When the bidding was all over, no one was more surprised than Auctioneer Earl Schlegel, of nearby Farmington. "I'd hoped the tractor might bring $12,500. Most people I talked to before the sale thought it might fetch $7,000 to $8,000," Schlegel told FARM SHOW. The tractor, which sold for right at $8,000 when purchased new 20 years ago, was owned by a widow and hadn't been out of the shed for the past 8 years.
According to Deere officials, the previously known highest price paid for a 4020 is $11,000.
Six years ago, FARM SHOW conducted a survey in which we asked readers to nominate "The Best Farm Tractor Ever Built." Deere's 4020 was far and away the top choice, followed by International's Farmall M and the Allis Chalmers "WD".
The popular 4020 was manufactured from 1963 to 1972 before being replaced by the "30" series. Right at 105,000 gas, diesel and LP 2-wheel drive models were built, according to Deere officials.
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