-Farm News photo by Darcy Dougherty Maulsby
Chris Cobler, of Ottumwa, did some plowing near Albert City on Aug. 8 with his 1924 John Deere Model D.

While there were plenty of vintage John Deere tractors on display at the 2024 Albert City Threshermen and Collectors Show Aug. 9-11, one tractor had celebrated its 100th birthday just weeks before the big event — and it attracted plenty of attention.

“This is a 1924 John Deere D with a 26-inch flywheel,” said Chris Cobler of Ottumwa, who owns this remarkable tractor.

Nicknamed the Spoker D for its spoked flywheel, the John Deere Model D offered power, sturdiness and reliability for farmers in the early 20th century. Introduced in 1923, the John Deere Model D became the first tractor built, marketed and named John Deere. It replaced the Waterloo Boy in the company’s product line.

“Deere made about 50 Model D’s in 1923 and 750 in 1924,” said Cobler, whose tractor was manufactured in Waterloo, Iowa.

His tractor’s two-cylinder engine produces 15 horsepower at the drawbar and 27 on the pulley. In the mid-1920s, a farmer could obtain a Model D for about $1,000. [That’s roughly the equivalent of $18,500 in 2024 dollars.]

-Farm News photo by Darcy Dougherty Maulsby
There’s no choke on Chris Cobler’s 1924 John Deere Model D tractor, so he has to prime it with fuel. There’s also no starter, so he has to manually turn the flywheel.

The Model D was part of a whole new era of horsepower on the farm. Since the 1903 appearance of the Hart-Parr line of tractors, farmers had turned from steam-traction engines to lighter, more practical internal-combustion engine tractors. Most farmers did not need a large tractor, just one that was versatile and could do both field and belt work.

The Model D competed with McCormick-Deering, Hart-Parr, Rumely and other major tractor brands of the era, noted the Smithsonian Museum of American History, which has a John Deere Model D tractor in its collection.

The John Deere Model D offered power, sturdiness, reliability and simplicity — all contained in the smaller size tractor that farmers wanted. It remained in production for 30 years.

From 1923 to 1953, roughly 160,000 Model D’s were built, according to Farm Collector.

This year was the first time that Cobler’s John Deere Model D made an appearance at the Albert City Threshermen and Collectors Show.

-Farm News photo by Darcy Dougherty Maulsby
Nearly 100 years of John Deere history are captured in this image, including (left to right) a 2018 John Deere 9520RX driven by Matt Pohlman of KC Nielsen Equipment in Laurens, a 1924 John Deere Model D owned by Chris Cobler of Ottumwa, and a 1934 John Deere Model A owned by Travis Mullenger of Manning.

“This show featured some of the rarest John Deeres you’ll ever see,” Cobler said.

Preservationists helped this Model D survive

One of the most sought-after variations of the Model D has a spoked flywheel like Cobler’s tractor. The first Model D’s built had a spoked flywheel, most likely a hold-over from the Waterloo Boy design. These flywheels proved problematic, however, with many cracking around the keyway.

Deere switched to a thicker, 24-inch-diameter flywheel, but this didn’t improve the design. In 1926, Deere switched to a solid flywheel, according to ClassicTractorsTV.com.

Cobler’s 1924 Model D is a true survivor. The tractor likely wouldn’t exist today, had there not been three key preservationists who intervened through the years, starting with one of the tractor’s earliest owners.

“This tractor got saved way back then because of a farmer fix on the flywheel,” Cobler said.

The second preservationist who kept this particular Model D’s history alive was Stan Reynolds from Wetaskiwin, Alberta, Canada. Reynolds (1923-2012) was a successful businessman and dedicated collector of vintage tractors and more. His generous contributions helped to preserve a wide array of agricultural, aviation, transportation and industrial heritage.

“Stan Reynolds was a Chevy dealer who started collecting vintage cars,” Cobler said. “He also started saving some of this old iron that was part of agricultural history.”

By 1955, Reynolds had acquired enough items to open the private Reynolds Museum to display some of the extraordinary items he had collected. In 1981, Reynolds made a substantial donation to the province of Alberta, including 850 important artifacts. This generous gift was the foundation for a new public facility operated by the Government of Alberta. The Reynolds-Alberta Museum opened in 1992.

About 35 years ago, the 1924 John Deere Model D that Reynolds helped preserve came up for sale. The Cobler family had been searching for a vintage Deere with a 26-inch flywheel. They saw an ad for a 1924 John Deere Model D in Engineers & Engines magazine.

Cobler’s father, Fred, paid $4,500 for this tractor and had the machine shipped to Ottumwa. “Today, this tractor would be worth about 10 times that much,” said Cobler, who inherited the tractor.

Showcasing a century of progress

Cobler put the Model D to work recently in a field near the Albert City Threshermen and Collectors Show grounds. There’s no choke on the 1924 tractor, so Cobler had to prime it with fuel. There’s also no starter, so he had to manually turn the flywheel.

Once the tractor roared to life, Cobler did some plowing with the vintage iron.

He was joined by Travis Mullenger, 38, of Manning, who pulled a plow with his 1934 John Deere Model A.

“I wanted to collect a Model A every year the Model A was produced, from 1934 to 1952,” said Mullenger, whose family members have an extensive vintage tractor collection.

Matt Pohlman also did some tillage, following Mullenger and Cobler. Pohlman, a salesman for KC Nielsen Equipment in Laurens, was driving a 2018 John Deere 9520RX — a 520 horsepower machine that costs around $430,000.