1 of 12
Adam Ewing
Keystone Tractor Works owner, Keith Jones
Photos by Adam Ewing
2 of 12
Adam Ewing
What began as the simple purchase of his uncle’s 1950 John Deere M has blossomed into the area’s largest tractor collection.
3 of 12
Adam Ewing
4 of 12
After buying his uncle’s tractor and restoring it, Jones began purchasing collections of John Deere tractors across the country.
5 of 12
Adam Ewing
His tractor collection became so big that Jones decided to open his own 70,000-square-foot museum to the earth-working machines.
6 of 12
Adam Ewing
The 1967 Chevrolet Chevelle SS is just one of the many classic cars in the Keystone collection, including three 1960s Ford Thunderbirds and a 1957 Studebaker Golden Hawk.
7 of 12
Adam Ewing
It might not be the prettiest item on display, but this custom-built tractor from Macedonia, Ohio, is certainly one of the most interesting. This Frankenstein machine was created by an engineer in his backyard using an old Indian motorcycle engine and World War II government-surplus parts.
8 of 12
Adam Ewing
9 of 12
Adam Ewing
It might not be the prettiest item on display, but this custom-built tractor from Macedonia, Ohio, is certainly one of the most interesting. This Frankenstein machine was created by an engineer in his backyard using an old Indian motorcycle engine and World War II government-surplus parts.
10 of 12
Adam Ewing
The Comfortractor was the first cab tractor ever built and was capable of speeds upwards of 40 mph. Instead of having a separate car and tractor, this vehicle would combine the two to save money. The idea wasn’t very popular — only 90 were ever sold.
11 of 12
Adam Ewing
This dog hood ornament led the charge on Hopewell’s first fire truck, a 1934 Ford pumper. Local lore has it that the first call the truck ever responded to occurred when a Greyhound bus went through an open drawbridge, plunging into the Appomattox River on Dec. 22, 1935.
12 of 12
Adam Ewing
The Waterloo Gasoline Engine Company was the first company to manufacture gasoline powered tractors, but this 1917 Waterloo Boy Model R ran on kerosene.
If there’s something that Keystone Tractor Works owner Keith Jones is lacking, it certainly isn’t ambition.
What began as the simple purchase of his uncle’s 1950 John Deere M (pictured below) has blossomed into the area’s largest tractor collection, big enough that Jones decided to open his own 70,000-square-foot museum to the earth-working machines.
As Jones walks through row after row of gleaming machinery, he notes that his obsession has outgrown the spacious warehouse. “We only intended to use half of it,” he says. The museum is currently at work readying even more space for a tractor collection that numbers more than 200.
Since it opened a year and a half ago, the Colonial Heights museum has seen more than 10,000 visitors, he says. The majority of the collection is tractors but also includes classic cars and trucks. Tractor-trailers have snuck into the museum as well.
Jones, who is also owner and CEO of the trucking company Abilene Motor Express, points to a tractor-trailer. “I learned how to drive on one of these,” he says. “Being in the trucking industry, these things are dear to my heart.”
On Sept. 1, the museum will host the Classic White Truck Bash, where the public can view road trucks and older road tractors free of charge.
Keystone Tractor Works is located at 880 W. Roslyn Road, Colonial Heights. For more information, call 524-0020, or visit keystonetractorworks.com.
