During
the purchase of a 1967 John Deere 110 in 1997 Rick Herbers was bitten by a
bug, not any old bug you'd find crawling around in your lawn. He fell
victim to the Collector's Bug. Herbers, along with wife Mary, and son
Tim had decided the cure would be to start collecting and restoring vintage
John Deere riding lawn mowers. After many frustrating months of
searching through farm magazines and the internet for lawn and garden
collector groups, they came up empty. Herbers was convinced there had
to be other garden tractor nuts out there, so he got together with a few
friends and neighbors and formed a group. In November 1997 Little G
was born. The club would be an outlet for collectors to find
information, parts, and technical advice about restoring John Deere lawn and
garden tractors. The first members list was compiled; Rick Herbers,
Tim Herbers, Jerry Kramer, Chris Kramer, Lloyd Droessler, and Joe Lansing. The first matter at hand,
what to call themselves. Since the garden tractors were smaller in
comparison to their full size counterparts, and all of the members owned
John Deere's, it was agreed upon to call the club Little Green.
But for fear of excluding garden tractor enthusiasts with other brands, it
was decided to amend the name to Little G...the "G" now standing for
'Garden'.
Little G would welcome owners of all brands. An ad was placed in Green
Magazine to attract more members and as they say, the rest was history!
"We kept getting calls and
letters from people that said 'Thank you for starting this. I thought
I was the only crazy one'." - Mary Herbers
Why collect
lawn and garden tractors? Well, for years many people have collected
farm toys as well as two cylinder tractors and both markets were getting a
little pricy. Little G would offer collectors an opportunity in
between. Lawn and garden tractors don't require special storage - they
fit in a garage or basement. They don't require special transportation
- they fit in the back of a truck. And best of all - they're
affordable.
Herbers
thought a garden tractor show would be a great way to attract additional
collectors and find more parts and product manuals. August 1998, 2
acres of the family acreage in Dyersville was transformed into the first
Little G Expo. Expo 98 proved to be an excellent opportunity for
members, as well as the public, to get together and show off their
collectables, buy and sell parts, and more importantly get to know one
another. Expo-goers spent the weekend on their mowers competing in
skills tests and races and simply riding around the Expo grounds.
Little G Lawn and Garden Tractor Collector's Club
has attracted well over 300 members. You can meet many of them the weekend
of August 1st and 2nd at Expo 2009.
Exhibitors and vendors from 17 states and Canada are scheduled to
participate.
