-Farm News photo by Doug Clough
Jerry Campbell, of Kingsley, enjoys a treat at The Farmacy Soda Fountain and Coffee Shop in Ida Grove. Campbell raised 250 hogs and 400 cattle on the land that his grandson now farms. His favorite tractor is a two-cylinder John Deere Model 70 tractor, the model he bought in 1962 after he began farming in 1958.

IDA GROVE — About 40 members of the Northwest Iowa Classic Tractor club took a tour of Ida County stops as part of their March 16 meeting.

“Originally, we were the Northwest Iowa Two-Cylinder Club,” said Bob Neppl, leader of the group. “A couple of years ago, we changed our name, so we could bring all kinds of breeds of tractor enthusiasts into membership.”

Originally, the group formed out of the National Two-Cylinder Chapter out of Grundy Center.

The group currently has 125 members, according to Neppl, and 30 members took part in the trip to Ida County.

“This is our first trip to this area,” said Neppl. “We’re doing our shop tour. We started out at Jerry Ruser’s place and EZ Equipment Sales by Holstein, then dropped down to Dennis Meisner’s Red Power magazine shop in Ida Grove for our meeting and finished off our time here at the Godbersen Car Museum and The Farmacy Soda Fountain and Coffee Shop. Jerry Ruser showed us a real nice collection of reds and greens at his place. We enjoyed an excess of 50 tractors he’s had restored.”

-Submitted photo
From left to right are Ethan Zobel, Don Jackson and Barry Hahn. Zobel is the owner and operator of EZ Equipment Sales near Holstein. Jackson and Hahn are Northwest Iowa Classic Tractor Club members. The tractor club originates out of Spencer and regularly travels northwest Iowa visiting museums and other points of tractor interest. Recently, the group visited EZ Equipment Sales, a company that sells tractor parts as well as refurbished tractors all over the world.

Neppl said that his favorite part of Ruser’s collection was “anything green” but favors the two-cylinders.

“I grew up with two-cylinder John Deeres,” said Neppl who was raised on a half section by Estherville. “I have a 3020, and I have my dad’s 3020. My dad had a farm sale in 1970 and, about 10 years ago, I went to a sale and bought that tractor back during a bidding war. My brother was standing on one side and a good friend on the other, and I kept getting both elbows to keep bidding.”

During his formative years, Neppl helped milk cows and worked at the COOP in Superior; he decided then if farming was milking cows, he wanted no part of it. Neppl then formed a career managing co-op elevators.

The Northwest Iowa Classic Tractor club usually tours facilities in their state’s quadrant, but has toured museums as far away as Clarion in the north central part of the state. “The ‘Gathering of the Green’ is every other year in Davenport,” said Neppl. “We attend those meetings and sessions as well; we do a lot of fun things with our members. For instance, today we stopped at Dennis Meisner’s replica of an old International Dealership; it’s magnificent, and I just appreciate people who do things like that for those of us who lived through those times.”

On this trip, Neppl and the rest of the group had the opportunity to peruse the Godbersen Classic Car Museum, founded by Ida Grove’s Harold Godbersen along with his son Gary, both deceased and former heads of GOMACO Corporation of Ida Grove. “The old family cars are just so unique,” said Neppl. “These are cars that they kept in the family, well maintained, and with low miles on them. It’s wonderful that the Godbersens could do this and share it with others.”

Jerry Campbell, from Kingsley, is a club member who enjoyed an ice cream treat at The Farmacy Soda Fountain and Coffee Shop.

“It’s all been good today,” said Campbell, who farmed 640 acres in the Pierson area and is now retired. “It’s always nice to see people interested in what you’re interested in. I didn’t realize that the Godbersen Car Museum was in Ida Grove; I’d like to have that ’56 Ford! I’ve also enjoyed looking at all the nostalgic pieces here at the soda fountain.”

Campbell raised 250 hogs and 400 cattle on the land that his grandson now farms. Campbell’s favorite tractor is a two-cylinder John Deere Model 70 tractor, the model he bought in 1962 after he started farming in 1958.

Neppl said the diverse members of the club are what makes it so interesting.

“We have Allis Chambers guys in the club as well as other people who know the more obscure brands,” said Neppl. “When we opened it up to all the different colors, we thought that we would have gained numbers, be we really didn’t — what we did gain was some real solid members.

“We put on the antique tractor display at the Clay County Fair every year. John Metcalf, a friend of mine, and myself, pretty much head that thing up. We invite all our members to bring tractors in, and we open it up to the public to bring tractors in also. We get quite a mixture of tractors. We have a great mix of guys who really hold this club together.”