~by Janice Harbaugh for GreeneCountyNewsOnline
Jim Schleisman grew up on a farm near Lake City, Iowa and wanted to continue farming after his Army days in Germany and England in the 1960s. He served in the infantry and artillery and looked forward to coming home to the farm in Iowa.
But it wasn’t to be. The opportunity to farm wasn’t there when he returned and Jim went into the grocery business, first in Lake City, then Rockwell City, and finally in Jefferson, operating his own Jim’s Super Value here for 30 years.
But the sights and sounds of farming stayed with him, and Schleisman did the next best thing to actually tilling the soil. He started collecting tractors. He spent the next 30 years collecting and restoring John Deere two-cylinder tractors with their distinctive pop-pop sound as the engines came to life under his care.
In fact, the two-cylinder John Deere tractors are known as “Johnny Poppers.”
“I started with one tractor,” Schleisman said, “and pretty soon, it was two tractors.”
Schleisman said the first tractor in his collection was a 1939 B John Deere two-cylinder.
Over the years, Schleisman’s collection grew to 24 tractors, ranging in age from 1929 to 1960 models.
“I did most of the work on all of them,” he said. “Restoring, re-painting, repairs.”
Reflecting on the past years of collecting, Schleisman said he didn’t do tractor rides, but he did ride in a Bell Tower Festival parade.
“You have friendships with tractor people,” he said, “and learn interesting things.”
Though he did speak of a complete series of John Deere 20s he found individually and restored through the years, Schleisman wasn’t willing to identify any favorites in the collection, saying all the tractors are special to him.
So, when Schleisman decided it was time to downsize his collection, he decided to sell all of them, including one Farmall.
Schleisman has listed all his tractors with Sullivan Auctioneers LLC, an online auction service. He has also listed some parts such as wheel weights. The auction ends July 14.
“There are already bids,” he said, “I’ve gotten inquiries from Louisiana, California, Ohio, Missouri.”
Watching the bidding online is bittersweet, according to Schleisman.
“But there just comes a time when it’s time to downsize,” he said. “I might be able to spend a little more time with my sons in Arizona.”
