Clay County collector, retrofitter farms with 'working antiques'

(Photo by Kris Todd) Pictured with a cell phone in hand, farmer Pete Petersen enjoys restoring "working antiques" like this Job-Rated Dodge, which he purchased new in 1951 as a high school junior. [Order this photo]

When Lindell "Pete" Petersen began combining Monday night, he was excited to also initiate the process of familiarizing himself with a new implement. The Clay County farmer, who had traded his combine in two months ago, was recently told his former piece of equipment is now harvesting crops in Mexico.

"If I've got something 10 years old, it's new to me," Petersen said of his newest piece of equipment. With a slight smile, he added matter-of-factly, "I farm with working antiques. They're not all that old, but they work."

Petersen, who took a few hours from harvesting soybeans this week to show a few of his many repainted and/or restored finds, started in the building located next to his home.

"This little area here used to be a cob house," he said about the enclosed room now hosting an antique Minneapolis Moline corn planter he started working on last spring. "I had a fellow work for me 20 years ago. When we were thinking of a shop, he said, 'Why don't you just enclose the two?' So, to make a long story short, that's what we did. The other side, which is for woodworking, was supposed to have been my wife Jackie's side; and this is supposed to be my mechanic side. I can get a tractor in here, but it's pretty tight."

(Photo by Kris Todd) The avid ag collector shows how this corn moisture tester, which he currently has stored in a former farrowing house on their Clay County farm, worked. [Order this photo]

Today's rusty planter, which was purchased by his father in the late 1930s, was pulled by a team of horses. Petersen's father retrofitted the planter with a three-point hitch, which allowed it to also be pulled by a tractor. As Petersen currently contemplates whether or not he'll build a replacement hitch for the antique, he acknowledged some parts he's searching for can no longer be easily found.

"Of course, that's part of the challenge," the avid retrofitter said. "Tractors are probably easier. You can build a tractor with repo parts nowadays. But something like this planter, I don't know."

"I've gotten more into horse-drawn machinery because I find it sort of intriguing," Petersen added. "There's a lot more engineering in it than what it looks like. The tractors are getting harder to find and more spendy. I used to figure if I bought a tractor, it would cost $2,000 to have it painted and to put tires on it. Now, that doesn't even put the tires on. Plus, when there are fewer to find, the price goes up."

"So, I haven't done many tractors lately, other than the ones I have. And, I have some to go yet."

Pete Petersen is proud of this recent large find, a six-hole spring corn sheller. It works the same as hand corn shellers, pictured below, but with a power unit. Last month's purchase complements a two-hole sheller he recently restored. Petersen admitted he's still hunting for a four-hole sheller. [Order this photo]

The Clay County farmer, who started working on older tractors in the 1980s "for therapy," carefully removed the blue tarp covering three John Deere treasures: A two-cylinder 37B tractor formerly owned by the Demuth family and restored by his father, a 36B tractor purchased from a friend and a BO tractor. Of this Oregon-originated orchard tractor he bought from a Mount Pleasant trader, Petersen confided, "I'm a little prejudiced about this tractor. This was the one I lost my (right) eye on. I was working on a brake one night, and any farmer knows if you have a spline shaft on a sprocket, you'd just take a chisel, knock it off and everything would come apart pretty easily. Well, it was just a rusty mess of iron and it didn't (come) apart so good. By the fourth blow, I felt something hit my eye."

"To make a long story short," he continued, "I got a piece of steel in my eye and they didn't find it for one year. ... So, I'm a little prejudiced about that tractor. It's a neat little tractor, and I guess it would probably be the last one I'd sell if I sell any."

As Petersen then pointed to a nearby John Deere Model B tractor, which he said he'll attach to an auger this fall, he stated, "I'm a little prejudiced about the Bs too, I guess. That little 36 was the first tractor I drove."

Not partial to any specific make of machinery, the family's outbuildings, which formerly housed cattle and hogs, now also host Oliver, International and Massey Ferguson tractors. Some, like the Oliver 1650 he formerly used as a chore tractor, have been repainted and now travel parade routes. Others, like an Oliver 770 he purchased in 1959, were collected before Petersen married his wife or knew he'd become a farmer.

All carry memorable tales for the Iowa State agronomy graduate, who worked as a traveling chemical and fertilizer salesman for Armour for 15 years before the company was bought out by U.S. Steel. After marrying on Dec. 26, 1959, the Petersens lived in Spencer for three years before moving to the century farm they currently reside on.

As Petersen moved from their farm's shop area, he recalled exiting the hog industry in 1998, which he refers to as "the year they were $8." A farrowing building that formerly housed double its present eight crates, now hosts ag-related collectibles such as a Brown-Duval moisture tester manufactured by the Seed Trade Reporting Bureau of Chicago. As Petersen reflected on finding it at the Grantiques store in Spencer, he also recalled visiting the elevator as a child.

"In the wintertime, in particular, it smelled like burnt popcorn. That's because they cooked it. And sometimes," he said, "I'm sure they cooked it too long, just to get all the moisture they could out of it."

The farrowing house also hosts a corn tester daughter Kim Carter uncovered in her Washington home's attic. Petersen explained he was excited by this gift because it bares the Holden seed name. Some old corn shellers he's picked up over the years, along with seeders, seed dividers, seed graders and several horse-pulled cultivators line the building's walkways.

As Petersen handled an antique seed corn tester, the farmer indicated he's anxious to get high-speed Internet access on their Clay County farm. Compared to their current dial-up service, this, he said, will make researching his finds not only quicker, but easier.

As he continued his hunt for recently-discovered treasures to share, Petersen smiled as he looked up and exclaimed, "This has gotten entirely out of hand! I cleaned out this row of crates to bring this thing in, ... but we keep collecting things. ... I guess we've just got to get organized."

He then added, "It's the same way with things in the house. Jackie, at one time, didn't like all that. But she started (collecting) after stripping an old icebox, which led to several other pieces. She's not into just buying something and redoing it, she'd rather it be part of the family history."

The former Iowa Corn Growers Association board member recalled attending antique shows and flea markets with his wife. Not interested in dishes displayed, he found himself scouring for hand corn planters.

Through his research, Petersen found there are 400 hand planters patented, with probably that many more made by blacksmiths. A collector since 1994, another of the Petersens' farm building walls is lined with up to 80 such handheld treasures.

"I haven't collected any now for the last few years because I've gotten a little more picky as to what I want," he said. "I like them to be in good shape and have (legible) writing on them."

That same building also hosts corn probes, graders and dryers Petersen has collected.

Yet another farm building harbors a restored wooden boat Petersen's late uncle made 80 - 90 years ago.

Over the years, Petersen confided he's learned that restored and repainted pieces of equipment are not only time-consuming tasks to complete, but if they're left outside, they don't tend to weather well. To illustrate this point, he pointed to a deteriorating sulky plow he'd repainted years ago. Calculated to be about the second plow John Deere had made with a raised seat and pulled by horses, Petersen allowed it to sit outside upon finishing it.

"So now I try to get them inside," he said of the farm implements he works on.

The former 4-H leader and Parker Museum board member was active on both the state and county levels with cattlemen and pork organizations. Petersen continues to raise about 30 hobby cows today and stays busy with participation in an antique car club, a two-cylinder tractor club and as a Spencer ATV Corps member.

But as Petersen began detailing a list of projects and collectibles yet to be, his eyes lit up as he explained an old two-row cultivator and a manure spreader rank among his future repainting projects. A one-row John Deere cultivator, disk and drag, he relayed, need to be repaired and/or repainted. Petersen also confided an old dumpsite located on their farm is loaded with other possibilities.

"Anything's possible," he said with a slight smile. "It's a ton of work ... but maybe someday I'll have a sale. Then I'll have room to display things."

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Barn quilt honors Petersen daughters

By Kris Todd

Daily Reporter Staff

(Photo by Kris Todd) Pete and Jackie Petersen of rural Spencer have spent much time and effort making their century farmstead one they're proud to call home. [Order this photo]

Passersby can readily tell that Lindell "Pete" and Jackie Petersen, who live on a century farm northwest of Spencer near U.S. Highway 18, are proud of their daughters. The couple have a memento of the four women -- a barn quilt -- proudly posted on their barn.

Described as the "artsy" one of the bunch, Kim Carter, the Petersens' third daughter, was assigned the job of devising its pattern.

"She saw this pattern on an appliance barn in Kalona," Jackie Petersen said of their barn's colorful patchwork design.

Pete Petersen, meanwhile, was assigned the responsibility of making the barn quilt's frame.

"That was going to be one of my projects last winter, so (Kim) could paint it when she came home for vacation," he said.

(Photo submitted) The Clay County barn owned by Lindell "Pete" and Jackie Petersen features a barn quilt showcasing the birthstone colors of their daughters, from left: Debra Weeks of Hudson, Linda LaMair of West Des Moines, Kim Carter of Washington and Heidi Petersen of Waukee.

Ken Johannsen, the owner of Spencer Signs, was inadvertently brought into the mix when the Petersens realized that signs on their farm's Morton building weren't holding up. Through Johannsen's prompting, the ensuing barn quilt was constructed of a black aluminum sign board with colored vinyl squares representing each of the daughter's birthstones.

Iowa Lakes Electric Cooperative workers helped to hang the new family heirloom Aug. 1 on the Petersen barn. According to Amy Howard, the cooperative's customer services manager, ILEC crews have helped place nearly 50 barn quilts over the last two years throughout their eight-county service area.

Of their barn's newest addition, Jackie Petersen said, "They satisfied their dad. That's something he wanted done."