The Fantastic Tractor Collection Of Russ Englebrecht, Part 1

   The radio was off as I didn't want to be distracted by anything as I ruminated over a fairly serious question I'd asked myself while I was driving through the small town of Strasburg, Colorado on a sunny Sunday afternoon.

   But distracted I became, as I caught sight of a large yard filled with tractors of various ages, sizes and intended uses, and of course that meant I had to stop for a closer look.

   It is no exaggeration when I state there were tractors everywhere, as they were indeed, everywhere. Most of the them appeared to be John Deere tractors built in the past 100 years or so, but there were a few other makes, and a few much newer (and still in use) makes and models.

   The tractors (and other farm machinery) were all parked in neat, orderly rows on a lot that measured 14 acres. I know the size of the lot because shortly after I started taking pictures of the tractors I met the man responsible for the collection, one Russ Englebrecht, life-long resident of Strasburg and avowed tractor enthusiast.

   The number and variety of tractors Russ had collected over the past 5 decades is quite impressive, as is the care he has taken of them. After he came over and introduced himself he told me the history of his collection, and then showed me to a couple of buildings that contained a few of the gems of the collection, and a number of tractors that he had fully restored.

   In the first building we toured Russ showed me a number of tractors that he had fully restored and has displayed at various local fairs and parades. Russ is one of those people that cannot sit still - but he's not the fidgety sort, he's the hyper-productive sort. The sort that does more before breakfast than most people do in a day.

   He travels all over the country looking for old tractors that he can save from the scrap heap and give new life to - the tractor featured on the left of the photo above was a rusted old hulk he rescued from a farm in San Diego.   

   You'll have to excuse the dust, but when you live in a dry and dusty area of Colorado, dust is a constant, even in non-drought years.

   The tractor in the picture above is over 100 years old and has been fully restored. It's the oldest fully functional tractor in the state.

   The pictures I've posted today are just the tip of Russ's tractor iceberg however. Tomorrow I'll post pics of a much, much larger collection of tractors that Russ has collected...and restored, and built.

   Much larger, but also much smaller.