PAXTON, Ill. — Greg Phillips will be one of many B.F. Avery equipment owners displaying tractors at the Historic Farm Days in Penfield.
The show, hosted July 8-11 by the I&I Tractor and Gas Engine Club, will feature three brands of tractors this year — B.F. Avery, Minneapolis Moline and Massey Ferguson.
The 1947 B.F. Avery Model A tractor was purchased by Phillips’ grandfather.
“He bought it at Montgomery Wards in Urbana, so it’s been on this family farm its whole life,” Phillips said.
B.F. Avery tractors were built in Louisville, Kentucky.
“Before World War II, the B.F. Avery company was the world’s largest manufacturer of horse-drawn farm equipment,” Phillips said. “They weren’t real successful when it came to making engine-powered equipment and the company didn’t recover very well from the war.”
In 1952, the B.F. Avery company was purchased by Minneapolis Moline.
The Phillips tractor needed some work to get it running.
“It was stored in a corn crib and somebody slipped in there and took the starter and generator,” Phillips said. “I started working on the tractor in 1987 or ’88 and we did a complete overhaul on it, so now it runs as good as it ever did.”
Phillips works with friends to do the restoration work on tractors.
“I do what I can, but I don’t paint so we trade labor,” he said.
The tractor collector likes to collect tractors that look interesting.
“I buy whatever is available at the time,” he said. “If I think it’s a bargain, I’ll pick it up and drag it home.”
Phillips owns a John Deere A and he has some projects.
“I have an Avery Model V that is about in 800 pieces,” he said. “And I have a Case CC that has been stuck tight for 40 years and is not showing any signs of getting unstuck in the foreseeable future.”
There are two or three more tractors that Phillips would like to add to his collection.
“There’s always something that catches your eye,” he said.
Displaying his Model A tractor at the Historic Farm Days has been an annual event for Phillips over the past 30-some years.
“It’s the local show that’s close to home,” he said. “It’s the best fun there is that weekend in central Illinois.”
Members of the B.F. Avery Collectors & Associates group from many states will likely travel to the Historic Farm Days show, Phillips said.
“You never know who is going to show up,” he said. “The biggest show the Avery group had at Penfield was 64 tractors.”
For more information about the Historic Farm Days, go to www.historicfarmdays.com, or call 217-595-5000.