[Faces]-5jjSn1-9c0[/Faces]
Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler delivered his recently restored 1943 John Deere LA tractor to the N.C. Museum of History for exhibit, but he didn’t bring it on a trailer.
Troxler drove the tractor down Hillsborough Street from the State Fairgrounds, where it had been on display at the recent Got to Be NC Festival. He said the ride was fine overall, “but I knew I was in trouble when two bicycles passed me.” (The tractor has a top speed of about 10 mph.)
After arriving at the museum, Troxler removed the battery and drained the gas from the tractor before he and a few other folks pushed it into the building. Linda Carlisle, secretary of the Department of Cultural Resources, steered the machine into place in the museum lobby, where it will be on exhibit for an extended period. It will share space with a 1927 Ford Model T car. Two other notable vehicles — Chevrolet stock cars driven by racing legends Junior Johnson and Dale Earnhardt Sr. — are on exhibit nearby.
The Museum of History is open Monday through Saturday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sunday, noon to 5 p.m. Admission is free.
Troxler has been restoring antique tractors and farm equipment for many years. He bought the John Deere from a Henderson County farmer and spent 18 months getting it back into shape. Another of his restoration projects, a 1950 International Harvester Farmall Cub, is on display in the lobby of the Agriculture Building, which is next door to the museum.
Check out video (above) and photos (below) of Troxler’s tractor trip.