There are few things as American as a John Deere tractor, and their slogan, ‘Nothing runs like a Deere,’ and their signature green and yellow colors make them one of the most widely recognizable brands today. A local family has made this brand their own, making it their mission to preserve antique John Deere tractors and other items from a by-gone era.

 

Twenty-one years ago when Scott Gottschalk’s sons Trevor and Travis were young and showing in 4H, they hated showing the dairy animals their family was tied to and decided they wanted to restore antique tractors instead. Not being mechanical himself, Gottschalk was skeptical, but he believed in letting people follow their passions so he agreed to let them try.

 

The boys, aged 10 and 12, restored a 1939 and a 1944 B John Deere tractor. Their efforts awarded each grand champion status, and they were named the youngest 4H Supreme Champions Overall of the Minnesota State Fair. 

 

For the next 10 years Trevor and Travis continued their endeavors, restoring over 60 antique tractors, all John Deere. They earned such a good reputation they started selling some of them, and today their collection consists of 30 rare John Deere tractors. Two of them are the considered some of the most rare tractors in the world, a 1924 Waterloo Boy “Last Year,” and a 1924 “First Year” D.

 

The boys’ skill became so well known that when they were teenagers the John Deere Company hired them to lead a two-hour seminar on tractor restoration at their annual convention at corporate headquarters in Moline, IL. 

 

Gottschalk and his wife, Astrid, realized early on the boys had a gift. They weren’t enthusiastic collectors at the time, but as they watched their sons turn a bucket of bolts into a beautiful labor of love they decided if we can’t beat them, let’s join them.

 

To start, 10 years ago Gottschalk purchased a John Deere bicycle. It wasn’t just any bicycle however; it was one of two known 1894 first John Deere wooden wheel bicycles in the world, and featured pneumatic rubber wheels, footrests, a kerosene lantern on the front and no brakes. The second known of these bikes resides at the John Deere museum.

 

Three more of these bicycles have since been found, and Gottschalk owns them all, including the rarest bike in the world, the John Deere 1897 Courting Tandem bicycle. During that time period women didn’t ride bikes, so the Courting Tandem bike had a seat in the front for a woman to sit on while the man, who sat in the back, both pedaled and steered. 

 

The 1897 Courting Tandem bicycle was never actually manufactured and sold to the public. The one Gottschalk owns was a prototype and is the only one in existence. The candle lantern it featured still has the original candle in it.

 

Gottschalk also has one of only three complete collections in the world of the first John Deere cast iron toys. Produced by Vindex in the late 1920’s and early 1930’s, there are 11 pieces total, including the most rare, a pull-type combine of which only 10 were sold. Gottschalk has two of them.

 

Along with tractors and bicycles, the Gottschalk family John Deere museum includes vintage lawn and garden tractors, a horse-drawn sleigh, a doctor’s buggy, pedal tractors and other items.

 

One of the pedal tractors displayed is red instead of the traditional green and yellow. This is because it’s one of 10 prototypes made by a company in 1949 to pitch to John Deere. John Deere loved the idea but there was a problem. The company had created the pedal tractors with four cylinders and John Deere tractors only had two. They told the company to paint the 10 of them red to sell as generic tractors, and then create green and yellow pedal tractors for John Deere.

 

A year ago Trevor told Gottschalk he had a little room in his shed, so “maybe we should do something with antique snowmobiles.”

 

They started with a 1970 Wheel Horse to symbolize the first snowmobile Gottschalk’s father had bought him to ride when he was a kid. Word spread quickly, and today they have a large collection of air sleds and rare antique, vintage, racing and prototype snowmobiles, including Evel Knievel’s only snowmobile, a 1975 Skidoo RV 245.

 

Over the years collecting has become a family practice. They have a family motto, “Pay it forward; always pay it back. Try to do some good for other people.”

 

“When you see what they (Trevor and Travis) can do with just their blood, sweat and work ethics, it’s pretty easy to be proud of them,” said Gottschalk.

 

The Gottschalk Family John Deere & Snowmobile Museums, located south of Kimball, don’t have a website or do any advertising, yet 300 to 500 people a year from all over the United States visit each year. Everyone is welcome and appointments are preferred. To view their remarkable collections, call 320-398-5412.