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Minnesota Man Collects Jacks
Jim Checkel has amassed a collection of all sorts of lift jacks. He displays them in his 1913 barn in rural Kasson, Minn., on the farm his grandfather purchased in 1947.
Checkel grew up on the farm and, as a child, played with jacks. “When I tell people that, they think I mean the children’s toy,” he said. But
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Minnesota Man Collects Jacks TRUCKS Miscellaneous Jim Checkel has amassed a collection of all sorts of lift jacks He displays them in his 1913 barn in rural Kasson Minn on the farm his grandfather purchased in 1947 Checkel grew up on the farm and as a child played with jacks “When I tell people that they think I mean the children’s toy ” he said But he meant the heavy metal mechanical devices He learned early on how useful they could be In the 1980’s he won a heavy-duty Handyman farm jack at a hardware store Then his uncle gave him a jack Neighbors and friends learned of his interest in jacks and more came his way It wasn’t long before he was a collector He now has 349 of them and says that might just be enough The jacks in Checkel’s collection are made of different kinds of iron aluminum and plastic along with handles of wood most likely oak hickory ash and maybe ironwood His favorite is a 100th-anniversary limited edition Hi-Lift made in 2005 “I called the company to see if they still had some ” he said He had missed the initial celebration but they still had some of the 200 green metal and chrome treasures He sent the company a photo of his collection and they sent him a jack His oldest jack is from an 1849 Conestoga wagon and he has a slightly newer 1853 wooden buggy jack He usually pays about $25 for jacks but many have been gifts Jim recently retired from the Mayo Clinic’s neurology research facility He is a world traveler having visited 34 countries and most U S states He’s always looking for interesting jacks at auctions both live and online Contact: FARM SHOW Followup: Jim Checkel 64265 220th Ave Kasson Minn 55944 ph 507-696-0933; jimcheckel@gmail com
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