A display of more than 20 tractors spanning nearly 80 years caught the attention of folks driving by a field on Gidding Road in Edinburg Township, in Portage County, Ohio on July 4.
Kevin Kibler organized the display of mostly Farmalls and Internationals in honor and memory of his father, Bill Kibler, and also in honor of the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
Bill developed a love for the Farmall tractors at a young age because his uncles, Homer and Charlie, owned Kibler Farm Equipment in Atwater, Ohio, and his father, Norman, worked there. Kibler Farm Equipment was in operation from the 1930s to the 1950s.
In the 1960s and 1970s, you could find him at local tractor pulls on his beloved Farmall 460, according to his obituary.
“That was back in the days when farmers would work the fields all day long and go to the tractor pulls at night,” Kevin said. “He won a lot of trophies with that one.”
Bill’s favorite tractor was the International 756, Kevin said.
“It’s just a fun, easy tractor to drive,” Kevin said. “It’s a big tractor in a small tractor package. It always outperformed its abilities for its size… It was always his favorite.”
Kevin’s favorite is the International 786 that his dad bought brand new when he was a child.
“That’s the one I learned to drive on when I was 9 or 10,” he said. “We still farm with it today.”
He and his father talked about doing something like this off and on over the past few years but sadly, it never worked out before Bill passed away on Feb. 4, 2026 at age 88.
Kevin decided that he wanted to do it this year to memorialize his father, and it turned out that the July 4th weekend was the perfect time. Rains through the spring delayed their first cutting of hay, so they’d just taken hay off that field before the Fourth.
He thought people would drive by and enjoy it, but he didn’t realize how much attention the tractor line-up would attract.
“People were stopping and taking pictures,” Kevin said. “I was surprised by that.”
Tractors in the display belonged to Bill and Donna Kibler, Kevin and Holly Kibler, Alex and Erin Lange and Kirk and Lisa Lange
Tractors in the display included, by year:
