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Antique JUMP tractors in Boise are 'national treasures'

This is one of 50 antique tractors located at the JUMP facility in downtown Boise.


By Sean Ellis

Idaho Farm Bureau Federation

BOISE – In the heart of downtown Boise sets one of the world’s premier collections of antique and oddball tractors.

The 50 tractors, which date from the 1890s to 1939, are part of Jack’s Urban Meeting Place, a $70 million community gathering center funded by the family of the late J.R. Simplot, who was known as “Mr. Spud” because of his role in putting Idaho potatoes on the map.

“I think we have the most diverse collection of antique tractors around the world,” said Rob Bearden, the curator of the JUMP facility’s tractors, whose title is literally Tractor Doctor. “Every tractor you could possibly imagine is pretty much here in one shape or another.”

Some of them are the last of their kind, such as a 1912 Olmstead, a four-wheel drive articulating tractor that is the only one left of 28 made.

Some are one of a kind, such as Kerosene Annie, a 1909 Rumely prototype.

Others are one of only a handful of their kind left in the world, such as a 1921 Avery Track Runner, which is one of only two left in the world.   

“Just seeing them is a treat enough but being able to work on them, oh man, I’m just really fortunate,” said Bearden.

A few look like something that might appear in a Dr. Seuss book.

“Some of them are pretty wild looking,” Bearden said. “There was no wrong way to build a tractor back then. It was all trial and error.”

They aren’t just old tractors, “They are national treasures, every one of them,” Bearden said.

The tractors are among the 110 pieces of agricultural equipment that Simplot purchased during an auction in 1998 from an agricultural museum owned by Oscar Cooke, a Montana farmer who died in 1995. Bearden said Cooke had the largest collection of tractors and farm implements in the world at the time and Simplot bought the best of the best.

The other 60 farm implements that Simplot purchased from Cooke’s museum are sitting in a warehouse awaiting Bearden’s attention. Where they will be located hasn’t been decided yet.

The JUMP tractors, which are positioned in and around the facility, are a highly visible nod to the state’s agricultural roots, said Kathy O’Neill, the facility’s community engagement director.

Anyone who spends even a small amount of time driving or walking around downtown Boise can’t help but see them.

O’Neill said Simplot’s original vision was to place the tractors in an agricultural museum to ensure people in the valley remembered Idaho’s agricultural roots.

That vision evolved after Simplot passed away in 2008 to include the JUMP facility, which opened in December 2015 and is billed as an interactive creative center designed to inspire people to be innovative and resourceful.

Besides holding a variety of interactive programs and events available to the community, it includes meeting rooms that can accommodate luncheons, conferences and other gatherings.

Thousands of people visit the facility every month.

Instead of just being an agricultural museum that people might visit once, “Now the entire community comes into contact with those tractors and is inspired by those pieces of agricultural equipment,” O’Neill said.

By viewing the antique tractors and seeing how far technology has evolved since then, “People can be inspired to be innovative and resourceful and figure out where we go from here and how we feed the world in the future,” she said. “They really are inspirational like that.”

Idaho Farm Bureau Federation video and broadcast services members Jake Putnam and Steve Ritter were among the last media members to interview Simplot, 15 years ago.

Putnam said he had goosebumps listening to Simplot as he laid out his vision for an agricultural museum as well as a meeting place in downtown Boise.

“To see this vision come to fruition is one of the most amazing experiences as a reporter I have ever had,” he said. “It’s awe-inspiring.”

As he has repaired them, Bearden has spent a lot of time researching the tractors and said that “doing that research is almost as fun as putting them all together.”

People from around the nation and world have come to see the antique tractors, and Bearden said he has learned a lot about them from some older farmers who have visited the JUMP facility.

“Every day is a school day around here,” he said.

He said most visitors without an agricultural background are struck by how large the tractors are. One, an Aultman-Taylor, is almost 20 feet high and has 8-foot diameter tires.

“The mass of these tractors is pretty incredible to people,” he said. “You get a lot of people that don’t realize how big they really are. They might see one of these old tractors in a movie or something, but they don’t really know how big they are until they’re standing right next to one looking at the top of the tire.”

Bearden was hard-pressed to pick a favorite among the tractor collection when asked.

“Oh man, do you have any kids?” he said in response. “Which one do you like the best? They are all so unique.”

To sign up for a tractor tour, call (208) 639-6610 or email JUMP at tours@jumpboise.org