WESTLOCK – There’s been a buzz of activity at Westlock’s Canadian Tractor Museum this spring which is expected make well over $100,000 following the sale of a bevy of surplus equipment, much it donated by one of the museum’s founders.
A large portion of the surplus equipment were older tractors and other equipment such as three combines and well-drilling machines that had been donated to the museum by the late Albert Miller — many of the restored tractors and pieces Miller had donated to the museum has been kept and are on permanent display.
The auction sale of the pieces was done as a timed on-line auction through Ritchie Bros Auctions and museum board chair Steven Miller said last week the sale will net over $140,000 for the museum.
While many of the pieces will remain in the region, Miller said others “will be going coast to coast, from Vancouver Island to New Brunswick.”
A number are heading to Saskatchewan and Manitoba, and one old John Deere “D” tractor has gone north to Dawson Creek. On May 3, Frank Doerksen of Richer, Man., was in Westlock to pick up a unique piece of equipment — a two-cylinder 840 John Deere industrial tractor and paddle scraper combination. A Google search indicates less than 1,200 of these were manufactured — the tractor is basically the John Deere 830 with heavier frame and axles.
Museum makeover
Meanwhile, museum board and volunteers were busy re-arranging the collection of tractors in the main building from oldest to newest.
They started with the oldest unit now on display there, a large one-cylinder stationary engine on a steel trailer, placed in the northeast corner. The next two units are tractors, both over a century old and then working on up to the “newest” tractors, which are all at least 60 years old. The idea is to show museum patrons how tractors developed and improved over the years. It took a dozen or so volunteers, not always the same ones each day, three days to complete the task.
The museum will open for the summer season starting on the Saturday, May 20, part of which will be the official measurement of the height of the weathervane with the Case Model D tractor on top, with the Town of Westlock’s ladder fire truck to have someone at the top to hold the measuring tape and one on the ground. Plans are to have those attending the opening to guess the height from the ground to the top, along with other fun things during the day.
