One of the more unusual vintage machinery collections heading to auction this September is not built around perfectly restored tractors or late-model equipment. Instead, the Hudson’s Rusty Lugs & Tracks Museum Collection offers a broad cross-section of early American tractors, crawlers, industrial conversions, implements, parts and restoration projects accumulated over decades.
Aumann Auctions is handling the dispersal of the collection assembled by the late Dave Hudson, a longtime mechanic and friend of the auction company. Other members of the Hudson family have also contributed machinery, parts, implements and memorabilia, expanding the sale well beyond Hudson’s personal tractor collection.
The collection is being divided between two online auctions scheduled to close September 8 and September 9, 2026. A public open house is planned for September 5.
For serious collectors, the attraction is not simply the number of machines. The catalog reaches deep into the formative decades of mechanized agriculture, with Emerson, Rumely, Minneapolis, Hart-Parr, Case, Fordson, McCormick-Deering, Allis-Chalmers, Cletrac, Huber and other historic manufacturers represented.
Several tractors also retain unusual configurations, steel-wheel equipment or industrial conversions that rarely appear in conventional farm auctions.
1919 Samson M Draws Early Interest
Lot 306, a 1919 Samson M, is one of the strongest collector pieces in the catalog.
The tractor has a free engine and is equipped with a Simms magneto, drawbar, fenders, belt pulley and rear bar lugs. Its condition leaves substantial restoration work ahead, including a rusted fuel tank, damaged fenders and an incomplete manifold.
The current high bid stands at $2,950 after 29 bids.
The significance of the tractor goes well beyond its present condition. Samson Tractor Company became part of General Motors during the early tractor boom, and surviving Samson machines occupy an interesting place in the history of automobile manufacturers attempting to enter the agricultural machinery market.
For collectors interested in early tractor development rather than simply finished show tractors, this could be one of the defining lots of the Hudson sale.
Emerson 12-20 AA Offers Rare Appeal
The Emerson 12-20 AA, Lot 200, is another machine likely to attract specialist interest.
Its engine is free, and the tractor retains drawbar side rails, a belt pulley, fenders, Stromberg carburetor and Splitdorf magneto. It carries an older repaint, while the hood, fuel tank and cowl all show significant age-related deterioration.
Bidding has reached $2,050 after 12 bids.
Emerson tractors appear far less frequently at major collector sales than Fordson, Farmall or John Deere machines. That scarcity may make condition less decisive for dedicated early-tractor collectors, particularly when substantial original mechanical components remain present.
Rumely DoAll Tractors Add Prewar Interest
Two Rumely DoAll tractors appear back-to-back as Lots 201 and 202.
The 1929 example in Lot 201 retains steel wheels with rubber-lined road bands, a hand clutch, Zenith carburetor and fenders. Its original fuel tank has internal rust, and a temporary plastic tank has been installed.
The high bid currently stands at $1,250 after 15 bids.
Lot 202 is another DoAll fitted with a Waukesha four-cylinder engine, Fairbanks Morse magneto, Zenith carburetor and steel wheels. Its tractor serial number is listed as LD205, and bidding has reached $1,500 after 15 bids.
Rumely is one of those names capable of drawing attention whenever substantial early agricultural equipment collections are dispersed. The company is particularly associated with its OilPull tractors, but the DoAll machines provide a different entry into Rumely collecting and could attract buyers looking for less frequently traded models.
Minneapolis Cross Motors Stand Out
The Hudson collection contains several Minneapolis Cross Motor tractors, including multiple 17-30 examples and a 1929 27-42.
Lot 204, the 1929 Minneapolis 27-42 Cross Motor, is particularly notable. Its engine is free, and equipment includes steel wheels, fenders, a belt pulley, Bosch magneto and oiler.
The tractor is not cosmetically pristine. Its fenders are heavily pitted and damaged, paint is chipped throughout, and both final-drive dust covers have cracks.
The current high bid stands at $1,150 after 31 bids.
Lot 205, another Minneapolis 17-30 Cross Motor, has attracted stronger bidding, with the high bid at $2,250 after 31 bids.
The presence of several Cross Motor tractors in the same collection adds depth to the offering. For collectors trying to build a progression of Minneapolis machinery, having multiple examples available in one auction creates an unusual opportunity.
Fordson N All Around Attracts Bidders
One of the most actively bid tractors in the catalog is Lot 222, a Fordson N All Around.
The tractor has a free engine and an older restoration, along with a belt pulley and drawbar. It rides on 6.00-16 front tires and 13.6-36 Goodyear rear tires.
The current high bid has reached $2,150 after 60 bids.
Fordson machinery occupies a major portion of the Hudson collection, but the importance of the group is its diversity rather than simply its size.
The catalog includes conventional Model F tractors alongside road rollers, an Austin Pup roller conversion, tracked machines, a road grader, cultivator-equipped tractors, a loader tractor and a Fordson fitted with a White Tractor Hoist winch system.
For Fordson specialists, the auction effectively becomes a study in how one basic tractor platform was adapted for agriculture, road work and industrial service.
1925 JI Case 18-32 Sees Heavy Activity
Lot 300, a 1925 JI Case 18-32, is another tractor generating substantial bidding activity.
Its engine is free, and the tractor retains its drawbar, belt pulley, fenders, rear wheel lugs and front guide bands.
The older repaint hides none of its needs. The rear portions of the fenders have substantial rust damage, the steering arm is bent and the air-cleaner glass is broken.
Bidding has reached $1,650 after 71 bids.
It is joined by a 1919 JI Case 15-27, Lot 301, which carries a high bid of $1,550 after 38 bids.
Together, the two provide another strong pre-1930 pairing within a catalog that is particularly rich in machines from the first major decades of tractor adoption.
Hart-Parr 50 Power Unit Could Be a Sleeper
Tractors will naturally receive most of the attention, but Lot 307 deserves a place among the auction highlights.
The 1930 Hart-Parr 50 power unit is listed as running and mounted on a homemade trailer. While the trailer tires are flat and weather-cracked and one oiler glass cover is broken, the power unit itself is described as being in generally good condition.
The lot has attracted 100 bids, with the high bid currently at $2,200.
That level of activity makes it one of the most closely watched pieces in the collection.
Stationary and portable power units tell an important part of the same mechanization story as tractors. They powered threshing, processing and other agricultural equipment and can be considerably harder to find than conventional row-crop tractors.
For a machinery museum or a collector building a historically representative display, the Hart-Parr may ultimately prove to be one of the more interesting pieces in the sale.
Crawlers Expand the Collection
The word “Tracks” in the museum name is well represented.
Among the crawler tractors are a Cletrac 25, Cletrac Model K, several Allis-Chalmers machines, McCormick-Deering T-20s, International TD-35s and a Caterpillar RD-4.
Many are projects rather than operational machines. Some have stuck engines, worn undercarriages, missing sheet metal or incomplete components.
That does not necessarily reduce their collector significance.
Crawler restoration often depends on locating machines with usable castings, track components and model-specific hardware that are no longer readily available. As a result, even incomplete examples can become valuable either as restoration foundations or donor machines.
The Caterpillar RD-4, Lot 335, is one example. It is incomplete, with its cylinder head and engine side panels missing, and its track-drive gears show substantial wear. Yet the RD-4 designation places it within an important period in Caterpillar diesel crawler development, giving the machine interest beyond its immediate condition.
Another notable crawler is the International TD-35, Lot 338. Its engine is free, although the hood, engine side panels and radiator guard are missing.
A Collection Built for Restorers
Perhaps the strongest characteristic of the Hudson auction is that it has not been curated to look like a showroom.
There are cracked manifolds, damaged radiators, worn steel wheels, seized engines, missing magnetos, welded castings and tractors that spent decades being modified for very specific jobs.
Some buyers will see those as liabilities. Others will see exactly what makes the sale interesting.
A collection such as this gives restorers access to machinery that might otherwise remain hidden in private buildings for another generation. It also creates opportunities to acquire uncommon tractors before restoration costs and cosmetic improvements push them into a completely different price category.
With bidding still open, the figures listed in the catalog are likely to move before the auctions close on September 8 and 9.
That is especially true for uncommon machines that may not return to the open market for years.
Aumann Auctions Vintage Machinery Business
Aumann Auctions is a family-owned auction company based in Nokomis, Illinois, with roots dating to 1962.
That gives the company more than six decades in the auction business.
Aumann handles a broad range of sales, including agricultural machinery, real estate, vehicles, collector tractors and specialty collections. Vintage machinery has become a particularly recognizable part of its business, with dedicated sales featuring antique tractors, engines, implements, signs, parts and transportation-related collectibles.
The company reports conducting more than 100 auctions annually.
Its experience with collector machinery is particularly relevant to a dispersal such as the Hudson collection.
Many of these machines cannot be evaluated the same way as conventional used farm equipment. Horsepower, operating condition and mechanical completeness matter, but rarity, surviving original components, serial numbers, unusual conversions and demand for individual manufacturers can have an equally important effect on collector value.
Hudson Auction Dates and Locations
The Hudson’s Rusty Lugs & Tracks Museum Collection is being offered through two online Aumann Auctions sales.
- The first auction is scheduled to close on September 8, 2026 at 6:00 p.m. CDT.
- The second auction is scheduled to close on September 9, 2026 at 6:00 p.m. CDT.
- A public open house will be held on September 5 from 9:00 a.m. to noon.
The collection is divided between two Indiana locations:
- Location A: 7096 W State Road 28, Union City, IN 47390
- Location B: 1640 E Division Road, Portland, IN 47371
Bidders should check the listed location of each individual lot before bidding or arranging transportation because machinery is stored at both sites.
For vintage machinery collectors, this is less a sale centered around one headline tractor than an opportunity to buy into several different chapters of early mechanized farming at once.
From a 1919 Samson and prewar Case tractors to Rumely DoAlls, Minneapolis Cross Motors, unusual Fordson conversions, early crawlers and industrial equipment, the Hudson collection offers the kind of variety that increasingly appears only when a longtime private collection comes to market.
