The Most Interesting Iron of 2024

Every year, a lot of really interesting tractors show up on Tractor Zoom that I never get to write about. There’s only so many hours in the day, you know? With over 700 auctioneer partners and close to 1,400 dealer locations, it happens more frequently than I’d like. This year, we’ve seen more machinery changing hands than ever before, but a lot of it was newer stuff and inventory reduction auctions. There was still quite a bit of interesting stuff, and they deserve some love too.

Here’s a few that stuck out to me that never got the attention they deserved.

The One From the Barn: Steiger 1700

To me, vintage 4WDs have always represented a kind of can-do spirit that’s so typical of the farmer’s attitude. The Steiger brothers personified it: When the bank wouldn’t loan them money to buy a big 4WD back in the late 1950s, it didn’t deter them. No “woe is me” attitude whatsoever. They just got their heads together and started welding, and built a tractor that met their needs themselves. I often wonder if any of them ever thought to themselves, “This could turn out to be something big!” while they were putting that first tractor together. Someday, if I have the opportunity, I’d really like to ask Douglass Steiger that question.

At any rate, Steiger 1700s are pretty darn rare. There were only 41 ever built, and I don’t know how many of them are left today. Normally they’d have been powered by a 6V53 Detroit. At some point in this tractor’s life, somebody put a 6V71 under the hood to give it a little more snort and a fairly big radiator to keep it cool as well. I think that’s okay, too. I’m sure that there was a good reason for the engine swap. I think the Steiger brothers engineered those tractors such that they could be modified if the need ever arose.

Hammer Price: $29,400

Auctioneer: C.A. Tesch Equipment

Date: Dec. 16, 2024

Side note: To the best of my knowledge, this was the only Barn Series Steiger that came up on auction this year.

The Flawless One: 1939 Ford 9N

What you’re looking at is likely the most correctly-restored Ford 9N on the planet.

Right now, some of you are saying, “Wait a minute, Interesting Iron guy … 9Ns weren’t mirror-polished. You’re off your rocker again.”

Nope, I’m not. There were a handful of 9Ns that went out the door looking like that. Keep reading — I’ll explain in a second.

Literally everything on this little guy is the way it came out of the factory, including that polished aluminum hood. See, a lot of people don’t realize this, but Henry Ford intended to introduce the 9N at the 1939 World’s Fair in New York City. When the factory wasn’t quite ready to put steel hoods into production by the time they needed to start building tractors, they substituted aluminum hoods until the steel ones were ready for prime time. All in all, I believe the first 600 tractors went out the door with aluminum. Most of them were painted, but for the tractors that went on display at the World’s Fair, they chose to polish them to a mirror finish. This is one of those tractors!

As for the award-winning thing in the heading? The Early Ford V8 Club of America is dedicated to preserving Ford vehicles built between 1932 and 1953 (including tractors) and at their shows, they’ll grade vehicles on a 1,000-point scale of correctness. In order to win a Dearborn Award, a vehicle has to score at least 950 points.

This tractor has won that award on three different occasions with a perfect score. One thousand points each and every time.

Not only was this shiny 9N a holy grail for Ford collectors because of its rarity (experts estimate that there are less than 40 aluminum hood tractors left), but it’s the most technically perfect 9N in the world!

Hammer Price: $59,400

Auctioneer: Aumann Vintage Power

Date: Nov. 5, 2024

Side note: The aluminum hoods on the 9N didn’t weather the elements very well at all, which is why there aren’t many left. Most of them cracked and were replaced with steel hoods.

The Beauty Queen: 1986 Peterbilt 359 EXHD

I’m an absolute sucker for a really well-done flat top Pete, and this 359 long hood is just that. In my opinion, it’s one of the prettiest semis that’s ever been listed on Tractor Zoom. It’s not 100% original — I’m fairly sure that it was a ground-up restoration with some mild customizations. Either way, if you were an owner/operator back in 1986, this was the truck you dreamed of ordering from your Peterbilt dealership. It has a 300-inch wheelbase, 63-inch sleeper, B-model CAT set at 425 hp, and a 13-speed Road Ranger. That was tall cotton back in the day, and in my opinion, it’s still tall cotton today!

This truck came out of the Shawn Gibson Trucking fleet, and Shawn has built a number of show-stopping Petes over the years. Somebody got a heck of a deal on this one, because I can tell you for certain that you couldn’t build this truck for $127,000. Honestly, I’ll bet that would barely cover the mechanical and structural restoration, let alone the paint or interior!

Hammer Price: $127,800

Auctioneer: Purple Wave Auctions

Date: May 30, 2024

The Hot Rod: John Deere 5010

Quite frankly, this is the coolest Detroit Diesel repower I’ve ever seen, and it’s the only one I’ve ever seen that uses a Silver Series 8V92. It has a pretty good story, too. Basically, the tractor shelled the motor about 10 years ago on a pretty good-sized auger, so they started considering options on how to fix it. A turbo-ed 619 would be cool and all, but they wanted something a little more unique. And when a friend points to a 450 hp Silver Series 8V92 in the corner of his shop and says, “Y’all ought to use that!” and offers it to you for dirt cheap, you don’t waste time waiting for him to come to his senses!

The owners enlisted the help of Levi Schrock to make the whole project come together. And as he has with the rest of his big-frame hot rod Deere projects, Levi poured heart and soul into making sure it turned out awesome. For those of you who haven’t heard of Levi, he’s built some truly amazing monsters!

Here’s the other fun fact about this tractor. At $50,000, it’s the highest auction price we’ve seen on a 5010 in almost two decades! There’s only one 5010 that brought more, and it sold in December of 2006 on eBay (of all places) for $79,100. Why? Well, as it turns out, it was the first 5010 to roll off the assembly line! It went to Brillion, Wisconsin where it lives in the Keller Collection!

I’m not sure who ended up taking this one home, but I sure hope they have some fun with it!

Hammer Price: $50,000

Auctioneer: New Paris Tractor Parts Co. Inc.

Date: Dec. 12, 2024

Side note: If you bought this tractor, please reach out! I really want a video of that thing at a plow day or something!

The Corn Cart: Brent 780/John Deere 9610 Grain Cart

I have a lot of respect for people who can look at two different things and visualize how they’d go together to create something new. I’m definitely not the guy who can look at a 9610 Maximizer parked next to a Brent 780 and say, “You know, I think we can mash these things together and make something super useful!” That isn’t me at all, so my hat’s off to the crew that built this one. It turned out beautifully.

Hammer Price: $26,600

Auctioneer: Hamilton-Maring Auction Group

Date: Sept. 10, 2024

The One I Wanted: 2001 Dodge Ram 2500

Oh my, what a beautiful pickup! I had a 1999 Dodge Ram 2500 about 20 years ago and I absolutely loved it. It was a great truck. Roomy, comfortable, and the 360 gasser under the hood was great. It’d pass anything on the road except for a gas pump — which was ultimately why I ended up selling it. Living in the city, it just didn’t make much sense as a commuter car. I still miss it, though.

This white one in the photo was an SLT package with nearly every option except a sunroof. It had a Cummins 24V under the hood, which was the engine I always wanted, too. Here’s the best part: It was bone stock, rust-free, and only had 62,000 miles on it! Literally the only thing it needed was a new driver’s seat, because the leather was coming apart at the outside seam like they always do.

I’m telling you, folks, if it’d had a 6-speed manual, I’d have found a way to get that thing into our garage for Valentine’s Day. For $33,000, somebody got a great deal on a really nice pickup!

Hammer Price: $33,250

Auctioneer: Sullivan Auctioneers/Big Iron Auctions

Date: Feb. 14, 2024

Wrapping Up

There you have it: a half-dozen of the most interesting stuff I never had the opportunity to write about for Interesting Iron. Stay tuned, we’re only halfway through the list! We’ll get back at it in January.

In the meantime, I hope you have a joyous holiday season with the ones you hold dearest. Tell some old tractor stories of your own this holiday, or better yet, make some new old tractor memories!

Find some Interesting Iron of your own here!

Hi! I’m Ryan, and I love tractors. It doesn’t matter if it’s a showpiece, an oddball, or seen its share of life… if it’s unique and it’s listed by one of our auctioneer partners at Tractor Zoom, I’m going to show it off a little bit! This equipment is all up for auction RIGHT NOW, so you can bid on it. I think it’s cool, and I hope you will too! This is Interesting Iron!