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Gene Browning makes a living selling used farm machinery, but in his spare time, he collects a different kind of machinery – the kind that’s generally powered by pedals rather than gas or diesel.

His collection started almost by accident in 1988 when he saw and purchased a Murray pedal car at a farm sale. Since then, he has acquired a collection of pedal cars, pedal tractors, custom-built models and other farm toys, a collection that can only be described as “enormous.”

“You’ve never seen anything quite like it,” he said. And he’s probably right.

His collection of “pedals” is housed in a large building behind his house, located just outside of South Whitley, and that building is full nearly to the rafters with notable toys:

• Pedal cars from Packards to Pontiacs and everything in between.
• Pedal tractors from John Deere, Oliver, Minneapolis-Moline, Farmall, Allis-Chalmers and Case IH, among others.
• Farm toys (mostly 1/16 or 1/32 scale).
• Custom-made model tractors.
• Pedal airplanes, fire trucks, Army Jeeps, rocket ships, bulldozers – and more.

Part of the reason the collection is so big is that in his job as a buyer and seller of used farm machinery, Browning (who has been a member of INFB since 2017) comes into contact with a lot of toys at farm sales, dealerships and parts stores. He also goes to farm toy shows.

But the other reason is that there are a lot of pieces to collect. Pedal cars for children first appeared in the late 1880s, and by the early 1900s, pedal cars were widespread, especially in the United States, England, France and Australia, according to CollectorsWeekly.com.

“There was a pedal car for about every manufacturer who built cars,” Browning explained, noting that manufacturers generally offered budget, mid-range and top-range models of pedal cars.

As for pedal tractors, there are a lot of them to choose from as well. The first pedal tractors were built in 1949-1950, and they’re still being built today.

“Each tractor brand had a pedal tractor, and when the model changed, they’d change the model on the pedal tractor, too,” he said.

Browning said he’s still missing three of the really rare – and expensive – tractors, but his collection of pedal tractors alone now numbers well over 300. Early in his collecting days, he and most collectors opted to restore their tractors, but in recent years, original paint has become highly desirable.

“Original’s the best,” Browning explained. “They’re only original one time.”

These days, if he finds a good, original version of a model that he’s restored, he’ll buy the original one and display it, putting the restored version into storage.

“So really, I still hunt pedal tractors, but only original stuff now.”

He’s also still buying large, custom-made models built by skilled craftsmen. Sometimes referred to as “scratch-built models,” those in Browning’s collection are 3 or 4 feet in length, and they are so detailed that they give the impression that if you turned a key in the ignition, they’d start right up.

“I still enjoy coming down here and looking around, and there are things that I forget that I’ve bought. But I’m still at it. This year I’ve probably added 50 pieces,” he said, noting that the year isn’t over yet.