On a trip to New England this summer, I made a point of stopping
by in Eastford, Connecticut, to see the John Deere Tractor Museum.
Unfortunately, the owner, Ewald Ratasep, was not at home at the
time but he has kindly sent me some information concerning his
collection.
The collection includes, in Ratasep’s words, ‘the most
popular tractor of its day, the main line, the biggest sellers of
John Deere’s in their time. I have all the important John Deere
rarities that were commercially sold.’ As of September, there
were 19 tractors and 1 power unit in the collection, a list of
which follows:
WB R#3892 (1917)
JD D#30,988 (1924)
JD GP#200,466 (1928)
JD GPWT#400,262 (1929)
JD GPWT#P5030 (1930)
JD GPWT#403,386 (1934)
JD GPWT#405,071 (1932)
JD A#410,205 (1934)
JD A#477,438 (1938)
JD #488,743 (1939)
JD A#499,863 (1947)
JD 60#6,000,459 (1952)
JD 620#6, 200,002 (1956)
JD 730#7, 310,456 (1959)
JD 62#61,1010 (1937)
JD-L BOC#335,868 (1946)
W#5,266 (1951) (Power Unit)
Ratasep’s Museum is informal and easy to locate, on Route
198 two miles south of Phoenixville, Connecticut. It is open all
year, and you can contact Mr. Ratasep by writing to him at the
museum in East-ford, Connecticut, 06242. This is probably the best
collection of its kind in New England.