MEACHAM, Sask. – It was like saying goodbye to an old group of friends.
Tony Koob, 75, and retired from farming in Humboldt, Sask., auctioned off his large collection of antique farm equipment Oct. 3. The collection of 175 pieces, ranging from tractors and combines to stationary farm equipment, dated back to 1918. The highlights of Koob’s collection were the 45 tractors he gathered over the past 40 years.
“I just try to preserve this stuff for the future,” said Koob as he walked past a row of tractors. “If I run across anything that should be preserved, I’ll try and keep it.”
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And for every piece Koob collected over the years, he had a story of how it was used, who used it and how long they had it before he got it.
“The first antique tractor I collected was the 1918 Titan,” Koob said. “I got that from our neighbor … just a mile down the road. He bought that in 1918 brand new and it had never done very much work. It proved to be too small to run a thresh machine so they got a bigger one and ran this one in the fence line. When I got it, it was sunk in the dirt about a foot and a half and I pulled it out and restored it to the condition it is today.”
Koob purchased the Titan in 1956 and has since collected tractors from all over Saskatchewan and parts of Alberta. It was an appreciation for the machines rather than a financial interest that got him started.
“I never put a value on (any particular item) after I bought it and I never put a value on it during the time I had it,” Koob said as he picked his way through the crowd attending his auction.
In fact, the collector puts more value on the friends he made while compiling the collection: “Just poking around, you speak to the nicest people and that’s what makes (collecting) so interesting.”
Orvel Johnson, a neighbor and farmer, has known Koob for more than 35 years. Johnson remembered meeting the collector at the Thresherman’s Club years ago.
“You could volunteer and join the club and help them put on their summer show in July,” Johnson recalled. “Tony had done that and I had done it and that’s when we got to be really good friends.”
Auctioneer Elwood Nelson has also watched Koob restore the links with the past.
“For a fellow like Tony, a lot of this collection has become a part of him over the years,” Nelson said. “I think for somebody who has an appreciation for the collecting of these old tractors and all this kind of stuff, they are the ones that can appreciate it more than anyone else. It’s become a part of his life.”
Nelson owns Nelson’s Auction Service, the company Koob hired to run the auction. Koob became a good friend of Nelson’s over a 15-year span and is an important source of information for the auctioneer. Nelson remembered times when he would call Koob about a certain tractor or part he was unfamiliar with and Koob would tell him everything he had to know so he could sell it for the right price.
The auction attracted buyers and collectors from Canada, the United States and even as far as the Netherlands.
The main draw was the Rumely tractors, Nelson said, particularly a 1919 Rumely with 20-40 h.p. The machine was expected to bring in the biggest chunk of money and did when it sold for $18,250. Koob’s Titan sold for $12,000.
“Tony did a lot better than he thought he was going to,” Nelson said, happy knowing that a lot of the collection stayed in Saskatchewan.
For Koob, the auction was a good idea. As his age becomes a factor and with the lease on the farm soon to expire, he just wants to relax, enjoy his retirement and be with his family. But he’ll never stop collecting.
“Well, I’m not really finished yet, this is just an interlude here,” he said with a grin. “I intend to work with a club in Humboldt and other related antique things.”
