from the auction listing.
0648. JOHN DEERE (in CUTOUT letters) TR590 - - 18". Largest, most impressive looking and most desirable of all the known cutout wrenches. there is a "Holy Grail" of antique wrenches the TR590 is it.
When I listed Don Ervin's TR590 John Deere wrench on the Spring 2009 Wrenching News Antique Wrench Auction I expected that was the first and last one I would have the opportunity to list. But I now have this one from a non collector from North Dakota that had it for over forty years without realizing its rarity or value. His brother had found it while hunting for old bottles in a small town South Dakota abandoned dump site over forty years ago. It was not previously on my list of known TR590's.
The TR590 wrench came with the experimental John Deere Dain All-Wheel Drive four cylinder, three wheel tractor that John Deere (under the supervision of Joseph Dain Jr.) made in 1919. According to researchers only 100 were made and sold mostly in the Dakota's. The project was abandoned when Deere & Company acquired the Waterloo Boy tractor and produced the Model D Tractors instead. Purportedly most of Dain's tractor were recalled and destroyed.
Condition: The cross bar section of the last "E" is missing and there are some hammer dings on the top edge above the large end, I can just picture some farmer hammering on a half a million dollar tractor with a $20,000 wrench! These dings are fairly minor and not very noticeable. Overall it's is an terrific looking wrench with nice dark even patina and smooth surface with not a trace of pitting. The wrench could be repaired but personally the missing crossbar is part of the history of the wrench and I would leave it as is. Last known auction price $15,000, last known private sales: $14,000 and $20,000. (R135, D536)
