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John Deere Collectors: Tractor Serial Number Tags. Buying, Selling, Stealing, Where do we draw the line?
 

 
This letter is in response to answer to Mr. DDs question regarding proper and ethical use of Tractor Serial Tags.


 
Mr. Thinker, 
 
Do you have any idea how many John Deere Collectors and Owners you may have inadvertently concerned with your dissertation on the legality of selling, stealing or otherwise altering Serial Number Tags on tractors?   The fact is that you have done us a service by beginning the discussion on a very important issue: John Deere Tractor Serial Tag Integrity. 
 
Mr. D.D. is not confused as stealing of a tractor tag or knowingly and fraudulently mis-representing a tractor with a stolen or altered tag is still stealing and fraud under the laws of all the 50 States in America.  And we do not need any new laws on the books that no one is going to enforce.    You may define it as crossing the line.   Selling of a stolen tractor serial tag is illegal.  Selling of a serial tag off a tractor you own or acquired legally is legal and your business.  Selling a tractor which you have placed an incorrect tag to enhance the value and dupe the new owner is fraud, or crossing the line and if you cross a state line with the intent to sell it then you have crossed another line making it a Federal crime.  I assume you define crossing the line as being the difference from honestly representing a tractor as a rebuild or incorrect tag as knowingly profiting by being dishonest.          
 
Mr. Thinker, did you or did I miss the point?  Crossing the line is when you comprise the integrity of a John Deere Tractor. 
 
Do you own a rare tractor with a low serial number?  Please tell me what it is and I will buy a tag and stamp your serial number on it and attach it to a tractor just like it and bring it to some show you take your same Serial Number tractor.   Maybe someone will steal your tag, put it on a like tractor and try to sell it to you? 
 
When you unload your rare one of only 23 tractors ever built at the Collectors' Center or a show and there is one just like it with the same serial number sitting beside yours...are you going to think about Mr. DD's question?   Are you going to be a little "shocked"?  If you own a tractor of any kind and I come over and lift your tag, isn’t this going to piss you off just a little?  Can anyone in good conscience lift a tag and put it on their tractor and then be proud to own it?
 
For example, a 730 High Crop sold last year in Indiana and had a tag that was a duplicate of the original that is in a collection in Minnesota. The tractor sold for good money and the real owner of the 730 protested to John Deere.  The auctioneer bought the tractor back and the tag was sent back to the collector in Minnesota.  The duplicate tag is going to be destroyed with documentation and John Deere is supposed to be investigating the situation.  Some time ago two G High Crops showed up at a sale/show with the same rare Serial Number.  Who was the real owner of the High Crop G?  John Deere is still investigating the situation? 
 
The time for John Deere to weigh in on this matter in a firm and decisive way is now!
 
The gentlemen who answer these questions consider those of us who are serious John Deere Collectors and owners of rare tractors and have had serial tags ripped off tractors of value, possibly exceeding their annual salaries are "Reactionary".  I can say, OH, REALLY?  Have you inadvertently forgotten about the reason John Deere is collectable?  Because it is John Deere and will always be John Deere, the only surviving original American tractor manufacturer.  I want to tell you "hell yes" I am reactionary, passionate, sincere, and I am reacting to your answer and here to tell you that the reason John Deere is John Deere is the integrity of the tractors and the owners.  Any time you compromise the integrity of a John Deere Tractor, you are crossing the line! 
 
Perhaps you do not take this matter serious enough.  You have trashed many well meaning readers who have written into you what you consider irritating questions.  Maybe the levity you exercise in answering questions should be re-considered? {just a little bit}  I enjoy some of your humor, dry wit, and think about the poor well meaning guy you just trashed in a 40,000 reader publication. Do you ever think about the well meaning guy who means well and asks a relevant, to him question, and you just turn the sand blaster on him? 
 
Sometimes I think about you and chuckle, are you like the guys who make fun of a 1972 Power Shift 4020 High Crop?  They are either jealous or know they may never own one.  You may be an expert on other areas but I think that the jury is still out on how John Deere is going to react to the questionable use of Serial number tags.  It is going to be up to the John Deere Board to define and draw the line. 
 
I am speaking as a John Deere Collector, that I am resolute in my determination that this matter must be properly addressed.  As the values of the rare tractors increases the temptation is going to increase to make something worth more by just stealing a little piece of metal worth about a nickel that someone can lift in 20 seconds.  Yes, about a nickel, this is crossing the line!  A small misdeed that alters the integrity of a John Deere Tractor!
 
Do you think there are any tractors in the Collectors’ Center that do not have authentic tags?   What would the value of Chris Vissers' John Deere G High Crop be if someone would steal the tag off it and sell it to someone who brings one in from Argentina and makes it the special numbered tractor?  I would bet that you gentlemen scrutinize every detail of every tractor you see in the Collectors' Center.
 
The original Serial Tag enhances the collectible value of each individual tractor.  Many of us collected tractors before they had their present day value.  The integrity of the tractor and the owner should always out-weigh the economic value of the tractor.  It is important that what we preserve and pass along to our future generations of John Deere Collectors, tractors of original integrity.  The tractors are going to be here forever.  All of us are not.  It is the integrity of the John Deere tractor that has the real value. 
 
These tractors will always be owned and cherished by someone.  If you build a tractor you know what you have and should be honest and tell a buyer what you are selling. 
 
What people do with their private collections is their business.  If they present a tractor to the public it becomes open to the public.  Perhaps this is where the line should be drawn.  If you build a tractor or steal a serial number to make it authentic and sell as an original, it is in my opinion a deceitful act.    Every collector in the World should have your name framed on his desk on a John Deere “Dis-Honorable Roll."  
 
I have all but quit taking tractors to shows as some little piece or tag always comes up missing.   In the last few years I have had tags lifted off a 420 W, 420 C, and a 1939 Farmall H, oil pressure gauges, and umbrellas disappearing. 
 
I have a John Deere 4020 PS Console Power Shift High Crop with a good tag that has the incorrect engine and front end but it is my personal tractor. It is obvious that it is not correct. I knowingly bought it that way. I love the power shift and the big brute.  
 
I do agree with your scenario that whatever you do with a tractor which you own, buy pieces, and build is your own business.  Everyone knows that even John Deere retrofitted some of the spoker D’s with solid fly wheels.  Some of us remember tales of broken arms.  If you want to take a tag and housing and build you a tractor for your own collection, you know what you have. That is your business and is different than stealing a tag from some well meaning collector who has busted knuckles and bank accounts to preserve a rare tractor.  And when I say rare I mean like one of only 1,034 being built.  Of the John Deere’s 4020 series which 234,000 tractors were built only 1,034 were documented by the serial number tag and designated by John Deere to be High Crops.
 
I think it is crossing the line when you steal or buy a rare tag and put it on a common tractor and present it for sale or trade.   It is a matter of personal integrity, honesty and veracity. The last thing I want is another law on the books that is never going to be enforced.  We have plenty of laws.  And there is no way to legislate morality or honesty.  I have High Crops of many colors and I want you to know that I sincerely believe that honesty and integrity of the very name John Deere or any other tractor lies with the owner. Anyone can build a tractor.   Crossing the line is easy. 
 
Mr. thinker, thank you for opening the discussion on a very important issue, John Deere Tractor Serial Tag Integrity. 
 
Sincerely,
 
 
 
Vernon Bruckerhoff
PO Box 84
St. Mary,  MO 63673

Responses

Vernon,
All I know is what Dax Kimmelshue, the owner of the GH with the
original tag, told me. He attended a Polk auction and noticed that a
GH with a replaced tag had the same serial number as his GH. He brought

this to the attention of Dennis Polk, the seller and the buyer and no
one seemed interested. As far as I know he has not pursued it farther.
Dick Kabel really stirred the pot when he found that another tractor

had the same number as his 730H.
As for stealing tags, the thief has not thought it over. If I were
to steal a tag from your Waterloo two cylinder high crop, the only thing
that I could do with it is to hide it under the bed because I would get

caught sooner or later if I put it on a tractor I could not take it to
a show, put it in an auction or let anyone look at it because the word
would be in the hobby magazines, on the internet and you and all your
friends would look at the tag of ever Waterloo two cylinder high crop of
that model that they saw.
When the "clone" of Dick Kabel's tractor sold at a Polk auction,
Kelly Bossief, Steve Just, Randy Griffen, and several other people
recognized the number as belonging to Dick.
The bottom line is; deal with honorable people and if the deal
seems too good to be true, it probably is. Jim

 

 

 



I think that JD has no clue how to handle this matter. Whether their records of production from years back are lost or not, they should should have to supply some kind of answer for every tractor they did produce. I get sick of going to a JD store and asking about history on a particular tractor and getting looked at like I am stupid. I feel JD should dedicate more time to the older tractors that have made them successful over the years by researching their production numbers and former employees that are probably dying off or are already dead. They still sell parts for these tractors and should know that they are more popular today than they ever were. If a current serial tag is off of a tractor, there has to be a way to designate it in another fashion (another stamped casting number, part #, or something) to guarantee it's authenticity. This holds true for not only the rare tractors but the common one's also. I thought JD used to have a way to send a territory man out to designate the tractor and assure it's normal and original serial number. I have not heard of this process in several years but I know it used to exist. If this is the case, then JD knows more about their productions than they will release. In my opinion, JD is the one to hold responsible for serial tag problems and theft. Yes there is serial number duplication and theft everywhere, but if JD would have some kind of answers to their past and make them known to the public then we would know how to recognize duplication and theft and know how to trace when it happened and what to do about it. Maybe I am off the wrong track, but this is my opinion about it. I can tell you one thing for sure, the tractors of today are not going to be collectable for many reasons but the main reason is they cost too damn much to begin with and there is no rarity to them. Also they have a track able identification process that cannot be tampered with. This is what they should have done years ago but they should be held responsible for what they produced in the past no matter what.



Thanks for listening!

Collins