Room C131, Hillcrest Dormitory, University of Iowa, Iowa City,
Iowa 52242
Fay Strait, 44, an Iowa farmer hailing from near Center Point,
realizes his collection of ’80 or better’ gasoline engines
and 40 antique tractors might not be the most beautiful sight to
behold.
‘I don’t have a whole lot of ’em painted up yet, but
I figure I can always paint up. I can’t always buy up,’ is
his philosophy. ‘Besides, if they’re painted, it takes some
of the oldness away from ’em.’
His wife, Lila, added that they had been thinking of putting the
sign ‘Rust Museum’ over the 44 by 90 foot steel shed Fay
built to house part of his treasures. But they didn’t want to
discourage the Sunday visitors that always seem to drop by either
to browse or buy. The first tractor model Fay usually shows curious
tourists is his favorite, a circa 1923 Rumely oil-pull. He calls it
his ‘birthday tractor.’ His wife bought it for him on his
40th birthday and its been his proudest possession since. But
perhaps not so for much longer.
‘I’ve got one coming next week that is three times
bigger. It’ll be a 30-60 Rumely and weighs eight and
three-quarter tons. That’s the biggest one they ever
made.’
The Rumelys are called ‘oil-pulls’ because they have no
water in their cooling system, explained Fay. ‘They’re all
oil-cooled and run on kerosene,’ he said.
Fay’s ‘birthday tractor’ was his first Rumely, but
it wasn’t the first tractor in his collection. He bought a
‘D’ model John Deere in 1968. He began his gas engine
collection with a horse and a half Sandwich model in the same year
and has had the collector’s bug since.
Among his tractors, the majority of which are gasoline-powered,
Fay boasts of five Rumelys, a Massey-Harris, Fordsons, Hart-Parrs,
a Silver King, Avery, and Titan.
He just recently bought the Titan 10-20 from a fellow collector
in Stewartville, Minn. ‘He was an antique nut just like
me,’ said Fay. ‘He had bought 18 of ’em, and was
selling what he didn’t want.’
On his journey home with the Titan, he stopped off at a cafe.
Another fellow came out of the cafe to inspect the tractor and told
Fay he knew where he could get hold of another antique. The next
day, Fay returned and bought the tractor he’d gotten the tip
on.
Fay related that the best way to get tips was to ‘drive home
slow. People notice the tractor and just start talking,’ he
continued. ‘Some of ’em about drive off the road when they
see me coming.
A 1923 ‘Birthday Tractor’.
” I even had one guy turn around and drive behind me
for awhile until he was satisfied and then drove away.’
When he first brings a tractor home, they’re usually a long
way from running condition. But that’s all right by Fay because
he loves to ‘piddle.’ His brothers, Bud (‘Whenever I
want to get him mad, I call him by his real name Alvin) and Clair,
both of Urbana, help restore the tractors.
A Titan 10-20 recently bought by Fay Strait.
Fay plans on building his collection of gas engines and tractors
powered by the same ‘until I get old and then monkeying with
’em.’
With some 40 tractors at his disposal, what does Fay use for
work on his 65-acre farm? It’s no surprise he plows with a
’49 ‘A’ John Deere.
