RANTOUL, Ill. — Numerous John Deere 4020 tractors will be on display during the Half Century of Progress to mark the 60th anniversary of the tractor that was in production for more than a decade.
“The 4020 tractor replaced the 4010 and the first year it was built was 1964,” said Ed Winkleman, president of the Friends of Green group. “The last year was 1972, so they were made for 12 years.”
He is expecting collectors to bring a couple hundred of the 4020 tractors to the event.
“I’ve had a lot of calls from all over the country, so hopefully we will get a big turnout,” Winkleman said.
“This was one of John Deere’s best-built tractors — it lasted forever,” he said. “They are still being used today, so there are a lot of these tractors out there.”
The medium-sized tractors were mostly used as a utility tractor.
“They are really simple to operate and they could do the work that most farmers need to do,” said Winkleman, who has several John Deere tractors in his collection.
“I used to have three 4020s, but now I am down to one,” he said.
The John Deere display will be located on the northeast side of the runway of the National Aviation Center.
“When we featured the John Deere Ds, we had an expert give a live demonstration,” Winkleman said. “We’ve talked about having him do a presentation about the 4020s.”
In addition to many states, Winkleman said, there will also be visitors from other countries traveling to attend the event in Rantoul.
“There is a lot of interest in the show this year,” the collector said.
“They like to bring a plow, a disc or something they can use in the field,” he said. “Nobody plows anymore, so about the only chance they get to plow is at the Half Century show.”