Getting to know your (Former) IH Dealer

[FARMALL51]

 

[766 Man]

  Sadly, nearly all of the one time local IH dealers have passed on.  There is one left and he is in his 80's.  Enjoying retirement but does not go out into the farm community these days from what I hear.  The one dealer that dad did business with had two partners who were obviously middle aged during the 1970's.  The one had fought in WWII.  Kind of the same thing with the other brand dealers when they were one location mom and pop stores.  The nearest JD dealer had the owners retiring during the mid-1960's.  That location was never replaced by JD and most of the other dealers who got out of selling farm equipment were never replaced.  

[Drysleeves]

Local old school Deere dealer principal was a Korean War Vet. He placed an order and paid upfront cash for some 4430 tractors when things were rolling hot in the mid 1970’s. Deere dithered on his order and kept putting him off after he had sold the tractors they’d promised him. One day he’d had about enough and climbed in his pickup truck and drove the two hours to the Rusty Palace in Moline to complain in person. Legend has it he got fairly excited and Deere called the police….