[AT] Fw: Rare Tractor Brings Big Bucks

Thu Sep 23 04:03:12 PDT 2004

>From a Sioux Falls, SD TV station.

Stuart

Sent: Wednesday, September 22, 2004 8:38 PM
Subject: Rare Tractor Brings Big Bucks

Rare Tractor Brings Big Bucks

The threat of rain didn't stop a huge crowd of people from showing up to one
of the most anticipated auction sales ever in Hutchinson County.

Orville and Audrey Waltner have moved into nearby Freeman and decided to
downsize the property on their farm. No small task when you've been
accumulating stuff for all of their 48 years together.

Audrey says, "But it was something we had planned to do a long time ago."

Orville Waltner was born and raised on the place, homesteaded by his dad and
it's one of the items purchased by his father back in 1917 that had the
crowd buzzing.

It's a vintage 1917 Russell 30-60 gas and kerosene powered tractor. 22
thousand pounds, 11 tons, of iron.

Waltner remembers well driving this behemoth in the fields and for powering
threshing machines.

It was parked in 1948 when newer better tractors arrived on the scene and
sat rusting in the trees for 40 years. Finally Waltner decided he'd fix it
up.

Waltner says, "I always liked it and wanted to do it just for the sake of
doing it."

He'd heard about how this particular tractor was getting to be real popular
with collectors. So when he restored it, he left it original including the
rust..which might now be considered "patina".

Now, the big old tractor is headlining the auction.

Just how much money could the old Russell bring?  One like it, ten years
ago, sold for 55 thousand dollars.

Would Orville be surprised if it sold for that much?

"On dollar figures, I won't make any comment, Orville laughs.

But what if bidders really get into the spirit of the sale?

Still laughing, Orville says, "We'll stop them if they go to high."

Now, one might think if collectors are going to spend big bucks on a 11 ton
hunk of 90 year old iron, they'd insist that it run.

Well, they did try, and try, to get the Russell to fire with no luck. The
magneto was wet.

Because it's been sitting out in the rain. They did have it running three
days ago and it did run out extremely well.

But any concerns about that disappeared in a hurry as bids jumped from 25 to
100 thousand dollars so fast the crowd couldn't see who had their hands
raised.

Then the bids kept going higher....

And higher...

And still higher while Waltners listened on in amazement.

Finally it ended with a bid from a North Carolina man on the other end of a
cell phone.

262 thousand 500 dollars.

Everybody, especially the Waltners, were stunned that people were willing to
spend over a quarter of a million dollars for this rare old tractor.

They're too stunned yet to know what they'll do with the money.