70 collectible Farmall tractors highlight the sale of local Hostetler collection

70 collectible Farmall tractors highlight the sale of local Hostetler collection
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Loren and Mary Hostetler stand in front of a few of Loren’s prized Farmall tractors. His museum of tractors brought people in from far and wide to visit and talk tractors. The complete collection of 70 tractors will be hitting the auction block on June 21.

                        

For decades Loren Hostetler’s collection of Farmall/International tractors have been a mainstay on the family’s Winesburg farm. His passion for purchasing old Farmalls and transforming them into collectibles is legendary among the tractor-collecting community.

That slice of Americana is being sold off piece by piece to the highest bidders as part of a tractor auction that should pique the interest of anyone who has a passion for tractors.

The Farmall Tractor Auction will take place at the Hostetler family farm, 7040 state Route 515, south of Winesburg, on Friday, June 21, beginning at 9:30 a.m. There will be a time to preview the tractors on Thursday, June 20 from noon to 6 p.m.

With Hostetler’s passing seven years ago, none of the family had the passion to continue the makeshift museum, and as per Hostetler’s wishes, all of the money from the sale will be divvied up among five grandchildren.

The auction is being headed up by Cliff Sprang of Kaufman Auctions, and he said this historic auction should see people coming in from many states throughout the Midwest.

“We’ve had exposure for this auction all throughout the Midwest,” Sprang said. “Tractor auctions of this magnitude don’t come along all that often, and these tractors are all in incredible shape, especially considering how old many of them are.”

This collection of tractors represents the Farmall line of tractors from nearly a century ago to more modern times. It is such an impressive collection that Hostetler made it into a museum and had people stop to view the many tractors.

“There’s a lot of people in our area who collect tractors, but this auction goes far beyond the local people,” Sprang said. “These tractors are highly collectible, and we should see a lot of people from out of state pay a visit.”

What began as a hobby for Hostetler soon grew into a passion. A longtime teacher and principal in the area, he and his wife Mary decided to travel to see the world in 1977, and together they explored 37 different countries.

Upon returning from the 10-year journey, Hostetler needed something to pass the time. That turned out to be a passion for tractors, namely Farmall tractors.

“Dad’s first tractor he ever bought was a local tractor, and he said he wanted to try to take on the challenge of tearing one down and rebuilding it,” Tim Hostetler said. “That was the start of a great passion.”

A longtime farmer, Loren Hostetler knew a lot about tractors, but the way he knew his collectibles was nothing short of amazing. According to Tim Hostetler, he knew each by name, knew where they came from and knew a real deal about each one.

“Dad was a walking encyclopedia when it came to tractors,” Tim Hostetler said.

While the collection is immense, there is one oddity in that none of the 70 tractors are green, meaning John Deere tractors were not invited to the Hostetler party.

“He had a sign in the barn that read, ‘If it isn’t red, keep it in the shed,’” said his wife Mary, now 92 years old.

Loren Hostetler’s collection was so immense he had a model from just about every single year Farmall made tractors. He had a two-seat tractor made so he and Mary could ride it together in parades.

While Loren Hostetler worked on his tractors, Mary took up a pastime of her own, assembling puzzles. Each puzzle was put together, lacquered and placed on the barn wall around the tractors. Many of the puzzles depicted places the couple had visited during their tour of the world.

As for his penchant for locating a tractor to purchase, Loren Hostetler made a habit of sitting down at the breakfast table armed with his Farm and Dairy magazine and The Bargain Hunter, where he would scout out Farmall tractors for sale.

“Dad could find a Farmall for sale like nobody’s business,” Tim Hostetler said. “Some days he would go one direction and I’d go the other, or we would sometimes go together to buy tractors. And no matter what kind of shape they were in, Dad restored them and made them look like new.”

Tim Hostetler said there was no reason to collect these tractors if they weren’t going to be restored. Loren Hostetler quickly became an expert at the restoration process, tearing them down, cleaning them up, reassembling them and applying that coat of red to bring each tractor back to life.

That expertise is why his collection was so revered from far and wide, and he restored tractors into his 80s.

Over the years many people have stopped in to view this makeshift museum of tractors on Farmall Drive, and Loren Hostetler loved to share his expertise and passion for Farmall tractors with anyone who wanted to know more about the collection. He would show them around the museum, take them down into the sandblasting room and show them some of the tractors that were stripped down to the bare bone, ready to be retooled into the tractor they were intended to be.

Tim Hostetler has already spoken to a number of people who are intending to bring in trailers to the auction, expecting to drive away with multiple tractors from this collection.

Part of the fun of the auction will be for Tim Hostetler and his family members sharing stories about their dad and grandfather, his passion for Farmall, and his incredible ability to restore these pieces of machinery.

Highlights of the auction will include an International Mogul 8-16, a Titan 10-20, Farmall Super H, Farmall 350, Farmall 450, Farmall 656, Farmall 856D and a Farmall Super MTA.

Descriptions, photos and video of the tractors can be found on the Kaufman Auctions website at www.kaufman-auctions.com and typing “Loren Hostetler” into the search bar.


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