Implement dealer to sell antique tractor collection at auction

Iowa Farmer Today


Hartington, Neb. - Longtime John Deere dealer Gerry Miller will sell his personal antique tractor collection he amassed over the last 46 years.

His collection includes nearly 60 antique tractors, and the highlighted tractors area1931 GP Wide Tread, a 1938 Unstyled G, a 1948 G, a 1946 BO Lindeman Crawler and a 1950 MC Crawler and many unstyled A & B tractors. John Deere implements, a gas engine and the 1st John Deere #25 front end loader complete the collection.


Miller admits he can't pick just one tractor as his favorite. He likes the 30 series tractors, including his 730, the early-unstyled ones, the R and AR models.

“I guess I like them all,” concedes Miller.

Miller was born and raised on a farm near Hartington and has been around tractors his entire life either as a farmer, auctioneer for 60 years, and a John Deere equipment dealer.

“I was a 4-H boy on the farm. When I was 10 years old I started going to auctions to buy my cattle,” said Miller.


Miller was called to the service in 1945. He spent two years in the Air Force as a meteorologist, but safely returned home to farm.

“When I returned home from the service I farmed, fed cattle and milked cows, and raised hogs” explained Miller.

A week after returning from military service, he decided to attend auction school in Iowa.

Miller stopped farming in 1960, but continued auctioneering and purchased a John Deere equipment dealership. Even though IH and Allis Chalmers sent out company executives to recruit him, Miller decided to go with the John Deere Company.

“I noticed when I was auctioneering that nearly every auction had some piece of John Deere equipment. They were a diverse company. They always had something to sell and we were in John Deere country,” explained Miller.

Miller recalls back in the 1970s and 1980s when many farmers were facing bankruptcy how busy he was with his auction business and dealership.

“At one time I worked for 137 days straight without one day off. It was hard work,” added Miller.

Miller's hard work over the years has paid off with numerous dealer awards and professional awards. Miller was named Nebraska Auctioneer of the Year in 1993 and was inducted into the Nebraska Auctioneers Hall of Fame in 2004.

Aumann Auctions, Inc., is in charge of the one-day, auction that will be held at 10 a.m., Sept. 16 at the John Deere dealership in Hartington. This auction will be broadcasted live over the internet. Preregistration is required to bid live on-line.

For a complete auction listing, photographs and online bidding visit www.aumannauctions.com or call an Aumann representative at 1-888-282-8648, or Ryan Creamer 402-254-9753 - Alton Heimes 402-254-3315 - Roger Janssen 402-388-4409 or their website www.mchjauctioneers.com.