W.F. Larson/Ford 4000 High Crop: Tractors on stilts!

When I headed out with Jordan to look at Jon Kinzenbaw’s collection, I already had a few tractors in mind. The easy layups, so to speak. Still, I’d never seen a full list of what he was selling (full list is here, if you want to take a peek), and the team from Sullivan Auctioneers wasn’t done taking photos yet.

I knew he had a few 4020s and a clean 1206 on the sale — the usual suspects in a collection like Jon’s. But I was really hoping we’d stumble across something different. Something with a story.

As it turns out, we did…and I just about tripped over it. Literally.

I stopped and stared for a bit at this Ford 4000 on stilts, then muttered, “What on Earth would Jon want with a Ford super-high-crop?”

Garry Roberts, who looks after Jon’s collection, must’ve heard me or seen the confused look on my face. He grinned and said, “Y’know, we found out after he bought it that these tractors have kind of an interesting story. Turns out they were made by a company that builds carnival rides!”

That earned a proper double-take. I spun around and said, “Excuse me, what?”

He laughed. “True story!”

Okey doke…a tractor with a story. Check. Gotta do that one.

So, here we are. Let’s talk about this thing, shall we?

Ford 4000 High Crop

There’s not a ton of history out there on these high-crops, but there’s a little. They were built by the W.F. Larson Company — now called Larson International — from the late ’60s through the early ’90s, according to a short blurb on the company’s website.

Walter F. Larson, the man behind it all, lived in Plainview, Texas — about halfway between Amarillo and Lubbock. In the mid-’50s, he partnered in a Massey Ferguson dealership, so he knew his way around tractors. He ran that business for about ten years before selling it to the James brothers to start his own machine and metal fab shop.

W.F. Larson’s High Crops

His first product? These beefed-up high-crops. They came in several different sizes and heights, designed to handle all kinds of specialty crops. From the looks of it, they were built fairly stout, too. Jon told me that he suspects that the chain drive setup is probably using a #80 roller chain between the sprockets.

From what I’ve read, most of them went to fruit and vegetable growers — tomato fields, blueberry farms, vineyards — anywhere farmers needed to work around or above the plants without tearing them up. They were also surprisingly customizable. We don’t have many in the TZPro database, but I’ve seen at least a couple set up for spraying and a few more set up for cultivating.

All told, the company built around 3,000 of these tractors, and I’m fairly certain every one of them was Ford-based.

But as I hinted earlier…that’s not all W.F. Larson built. See, one day in 1970, Walter Larson took a meeting with a man from Amarillo. That meeting would change the direction of the company forever!

When Walter met Walter…

Back in 1970, two men named Walter sat down for a meeting that would change the course of one man’s company forever. Walter Larson met Walter House — a fellow Texan from nearby Amarillo — who had an idea for an amusement park ride called the Super Loop.

The timing couldn’t have been better. Larson was looking for ways to diversify the business, and House’s idea was just the spark he needed. The two put their heads together, refined the concept, and in 1972 the Super Loop made its debut to plenty of fanfare.

But that first ride was just the beginning. Over the next five decades, W.F. Larson — now known as Larson International — helped redefine the thrill ride scene at amusement parks and county fairs all over the world. Along the way, they picked up a few notable names too, including Sellner Manufacturing, the company behind the iconic Tilt-A-Whirl. And more recently, they teamed up with Rocky Mountain Construction, a world-class coaster builder out of Hayden, Idaho. Something tells me they’re not done innovating yet.

The story of Walter Larson’s company takes a lot of twists and turns — fitting, given what they build. It’s pretty remarkable to see how they’ve pivoted through the years, expanding into everything from high-crop tractors to oilfield and mining rescue equipment, all the way to amusement park rides. But at the end of the day, it all started with tractors on stilts — like the one headed to Jon Kinzenbaw’s upcoming auction.

Speaking of which…let’s talk about that one.

Jon’s Ford 4000 High Crop

This tractor’s journey to Jon’s collection has had a few twists and turns of its own. A friend of mine in Tennessee once owned it — he’d picked it up at an auction in Oklahoma. When he was ready to move it along, it headed north to a buyer in Illinois. That owner kept it for a while, then sent it off to another auction…and that’s likely when Jon snagged it.

They’ve had it for a few years now — not sure exactly how many — but according to Garry Roberts, it’s a well-built machine and a really nice one to drive.

Here’s a video we shot with Jon and Garry, where they share a few more thoughts about this one.

What’ll it bring?

Honestly? I have no idea. High-crop tractors are cool, but they appeal to a pretty niche crowd — and when it comes to W.F. Larson-built Fords, there just aren’t many around. The few that have surfaced in our TZ Pro database were still in their work clothes — and from the looks of them, they’d definitely earned their keep — with sale prices usually landing well under $2,000.

That said, with less than a week left on Jon’s auction, bidding on this one sits at $2,900. Will it go higher? I think it could. It’s one of the more unique pieces on the sale, and it’s gotten enough attention that I’d bet the high-crop collectors have already taken notice. Either way, it’ll be fun to watch — and it’ll give us another data point for the next one that comes out of the barn.

Here’s the link to Jon’s auction if you want to poke around — there’s a ton of neat stuff in this sale!

Jon Kinzenbaw’s Collector Tractor Auction