Brand loyalty is a big deal to an Ogle County farmer, and so are his old tractors he still uses many decades after they were built. He’s acquired quite the collection of Case tractors and memorabilia for his museum.

A couple of weeks ago, I featured the National Farm Toy Museum in Dyersville, Iowa on this website. The museum has a large collection of Case toys. For Remmer Schuetz, his Case toys are actual working machines, some of which he still uses on his farm between Ashton and Daysville.

Passersby along Flagg Road between Rochelle and Dixon wouldn’t know if they drove by the farm if wasn’t for a small sign planted on the ground at the intersection with Watertown Road. Schuetz, who is approaching 90 years old, has been loyal to Case orange since he bought his first tractor in 1950, and he still uses it. When he’s not riding, he’s walking around with his cane when he shows interested people around – tapping his cane on a machine when he starts to describe one of them.

There’s complete machines, as well as those he’s scrapped parts from to keep his working fleet going. Each has a story, each has an interesting function. Some of the machines also make it to regional antique equipment shows; the Living History Antique Equipment Association’s annual August show in Franklin Grove is the closest to him.

Tractors and machines are only a part of what Schuetz has in his museum. If it has the Case logo, it’s collectible. That goes for manuals, brochures, parts books, toys, and other trinkets of memorabilia. The collection isn’t just a dedication to farming, it’s a testament to brand loyalty that’s served him well for 75 years.

Case, of course, is no longer a separate company; it was bought in the 1960s and now is part of the Case-IH (International Harvester) brand that is now producing red-colored machines. It all goes to show that if you take care of your machines well, they will last longer than you think.

Schuetz’s Case Tractor Museum is only open by appointment. I had the opportunity to write about his collection for Sauk Valley Media’s Northern Illinois AgMag magazine in late 2023. His collection is truly fascinating, and what makes it particularly unique is that not a lot of it is all dolled up. There are working scars, some dust on things, and nicks on book covers, but that’s how working farmers of the day had it back then.

Before I share the link to the magazine article, there is a neat “small world” story that I would like to share about my visit.

Schuetz actually is a transplant to Ogle County. He lived and farmed in West Dundee for many years. His family name is German. One of the pieces of his collection was a street sign of the road he lived on, Boncosky Road. I didn’t ask him where he was from until I saw this sign, because the road was familiar to me.

A personal fact that not a whole lot of people know about me is that I have an older half-sister. She has lived in the Chicago area her whole life and was raised in West Dundee. When she was in high school, her family lived in a subdivision off of Boncosky Road. I don’t think the actual subdivision was part of his farm, but with how close-knit farmers were with one another decades ago, I couldn’t help but think he knew who owned the land that my sister would later live on.

To learn much, much more about Remmer Schuetz’s collection of Case tractors and memorabilia, read my 2023 magazine story at the following link:
https://issuu.com/shawmedia/docs/svm_am_111023/4

Call 847.878.1491 for tour information.