“Red Power” Museum Looks Like A Vintage IH Dealership
 ✖  |
Stew Paquette has grown his love for everything Farmall and International Harvester to an unbelievable level since he purchased his first red collector tractors in 2004. Today Paquette’s Historical Farmall Museum site has 5 buildings housing 100,000 square feet of vintage “red” items. Built new from the ground up, his showcase building replicates an IH dealership from the early 1950’s, complete with signage, memorabilia, parts, manuals, equipment and point-of-purchase materials found in that era.
“When I started collecting and restoring tractors I saw pictures of those beautiful old dealerships and decided to build one just like it,” says Paquette. “I found building plans for the typical IH dealership, and put together a collection of photos to work from. People who visit it now are taken back to that era because everything inside is authentic, including the parts counter, manuals, stools, display placards, signage, toys and literature racks. I’ve had farmers see parts on the shelf they’d like to buy, but none of them are for sale.”
Paquette takes authenticity a step further because many of his 15 volunteer tour guides are retired farmers who’ve owned “red” equipment or are mechanics who’ve worked on it. “They all have first-hand knowledge and can share quite the stories with our visitors, many who are farmers themselves or who love the IH brand.”
Paquette says visitors to his Leesburg, Florida museum tell him he’s got the largest and most unique collection of IH and Farmall branded items in the world. And amazing as it seems, the collection grows every year. Paquette says he learns something new about IH and Farmall every day and finds something new for his collection throughout the summer as he travels to IH collector events around the country.
“It’s a true passion, and it’s fueled by the people I meet more than anything,” Paquette says. “These folks grew up with Farmall and IH and love to reminisce about their experiences, their tractors, trips to a dealership, and enjoyable memories from their time around the brand.”
Paquette’s Museum houses more than 180 tractors, several combines, a cotton picker, a corn picker, balers, International pickup trucks, Scout 4-WD vehicles, a semi tractor, lawn mowers, refrigerators, freezers and of course, an old cream separator.
His tractor collection includes many rare red power units, including two IH “mules” that were used to tie down the Goodyear blimp for many years. Those have 549 gas V-8 engines. He has all the International “gold” series tractors, a 1026 hi-crop, a 1026 rice tractor and the famous Farmall Garrett 4-wheel drive, built by a farmer in Illinois. He just finished restoring a 1206 Wheatland and a 1256 row crop. His winter project this year is to refurbish a 1972 International Travelall, a 4-door van-type vehicle with 42,000 one-owner miles. Paquette says he purchased that gem from a 95-year-old Pearl Harbor vet who wanted it to go to a museum rather than be torched and refitted into a hot rod.
Paquette’s museum has a steady stream of visitors throughout the year, including several thousand who attend his annual tractor show weekend. That 3-day event, on February 15-17, 2018, will feature two great music shows, tractor pulls, a tractor and antique parade plus displays that include the 5th Annual Vintage Trucks of Florida gathering. “People from all over the country come for that event and it keeps getting bigger every year,” says Paquette.
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Paquettes Historical Farmall Museum, 615 So. Whitney Rd., Leesburg, Florida 34748 (ph 352 728-3588; www.stewsihstuff.com)
Click here to download page story appeared in.
Click here to read entire issue
“Red Power” Museum Looks Like A Vintage IH Dealership AG WORLD Stew Paquette has grown his love for everything Farmall and International Harvester to an unbelievable level since he purchased his first red collector tractors in 2004 Today Paquette’s Historical Farmall Museum site has 5 buildings housing 100 000 square feet of vintage “red” items Built new from the ground up his showcase building replicates an IH dealership from the early 1950’s complete with signage memorabilia parts manuals equipment and point-of-purchase materials found in that era “When I started collecting and restoring tractors I saw pictures of those beautiful old dealerships and decided to build one just like it ” says Paquette “I found building plans for the typical IH dealership and put together a collection of photos to work from People who visit it now are taken back to that era because everything inside is authentic including the parts counter manuals stools display placards signage toys and literature racks I’ve had farmers see parts on the shelf they’d like to buy but none of them are for sale ” Paquette takes authenticity a step further because many of his 15 volunteer tour guides are retired farmers who’ve owned “red” equipment or are mechanics who’ve worked on it “They all have first-hand knowledge and can share quite the stories with our visitors many who are farmers themselves or who love the IH brand ” Paquette says visitors to his Leesburg Florida museum tell him he’s got the largest and most unique collection of IH and Farmall branded items in the world And amazing as it seems the collection grows every year Paquette says he learns something new about IH and Farmall every day and finds something new for his collection throughout the summer as he travels to IH collector events around the country “It’s a true passion and it’s fueled by the people I meet more than anything ” Paquette says “These folks grew up with Farmall and IH and love to reminisce about their experiences their tractors trips to a dealership and enjoyable memories from their time around the brand ” Paquette’s Museum houses more than 180 tractors several combines a cotton picker a corn picker balers International pickup trucks Scout 4-WD vehicles a semi tractor lawn mowers refrigerators freezers and of course an old cream separator His tractor collection includes many rare red power units including two IH “mules” that were used to tie down the Goodyear blimp for many years Those have 549 gas V-8 engines He has all the International “gold” series tractors a 1026 hi-crop a 1026 rice tractor and the famous Farmall Garrett 4-wheel drive built by a farmer in Illinois He just finished restoring a 1206 Wheatland and a 1256 row crop His winter project this year is to refurbish a 1972 International Travelall a 4-door van-type vehicle with 42 000 one-owner miles Paquette says he purchased that gem from a 95-year-old Pearl Harbor vet who wanted it to go to a museum rather than be torched and refitted into a hot rod Paquette’s museum has a steady stream of visitors throughout the year including several thousand who attend his annual tractor show weekend That 3-day event on February 15-17 2018 will feature two great music shows tractor pulls a tractor and antique parade plus displays that include the 5th Annual Vintage Trucks of Florida gathering “People from all over the country come for that event and it keeps getting bigger every year ” says Paquette Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Paquettes Historical Farmall Museum 615 So Whitney Rd Leesburg Florida 34748 ph 352 728-3588; www stewsihstuff com
To read the rest of this story, download this issue below or click
here to register with your account number.
