Worthy of Being on the Cover

Featured as the Cover of the 20^th anniversary edition, the 2009 Classic Farm Tractors Calendar showcased Jon Kinzenbaw with some notable items from his collection.

In the 1970s, farm prices were booming, coupled with the trend to fewer farmers with larger acreages, the stage was set for bigger tractors with increased horsepower. Jon Kinzenbaw, an Iowa farm boy and mechanical genius, had established Kinze Manufacturing Company, repowering John Deere tractors with Detroit Diesel engines, such as the John Deere 4520 shown. Depending on inject used, it could be boosted to between 250 to 300 hp.

This tractor, equipped with a Detroit Diesel 8/V-71 engine, was repowered for Deere and underwent trials at its test farm near Coal Valley, Illinois—the kind of experimentation that led to today’s high-horsepower tractors.

The blue 30’ folding disk was hand-built by Kinzenbaw in 1970. The 4520 pulled it easily at 7 mph.