Larsen Tractor Museum — Attraction in Lincoln

Well this is definitely another unique Museum to be added to the list of y'all ain't going to believe there's a museum to do this list. This Museum Chronicles what has happened over the last 100 years with tractors being tested so that one can determine if the claims of the manufacturer and the performance of the tractor are equal. It turns out that Nebraska took this so seriously that in order to sell a tractor in Nebraska it's got to be certified and it's performance of its duties. I was lucky enough to come during the time when there was no crowd of students only the staff at the Museum. The lady who was the executive director had a script that was memorized that told stories of the tractors and the history of the testing and why it became important and how it's recognized now worldwide, it's an incredible story. Now I've looked at a lot of tractors because the town just north of me where I live has tractor parade every year with lots of really old tractors some back to 1897. But that is a different area this is about testing tractors seeing how they pull seeing how much load they can take seeing how much power they put out on their power take offs and a whole bunch of other stories that would make this review go on for pages. I must say it was an impressive display of tractors and an incredible display of information. My door was broken into two pieces the second piece took me to their Laboratory where are the major tractor device that the tested tractor pull against and it was another impressively huge device. I think I'm not going to be able to describe this as well as the leader of the tour but what I will do is tell you just a little bit that I can remember and if you're interested in those odd little funny museums this is one to put on your list for sure. Now additionally there were some very interesting quarter scale tractors that were built by the students to compete in the tractor competitions around the country. Oh yes and Nebraska was first place last year. They're pretty proud of that. Anyway I am rambled on enough about this Museum I think I'm going to have to go collect my thoughts and post the pictures at some time later because my brain was full by the time...

This little gem of a museum is on the UNL East campus behind the East Union. It is a little white building with a few parking spots for the museum visitors. We walked to it after going to the quilt museum and then circled to the dairy store for cheese and ice cream, then back to the quilt museum.

The museum is free, but donations are needed and appreciated for their operation. They have started a donation brick wall so consider buying a brick and having your family memorialized in this engineering based museum.

There are lots of cool tractors shown and a really nice model T. There are tractors outside in the back, a play area for kids, a video offering and a super cute museum store. If your kid or grandkids likes tractors you can find some great ones here.

You will also learn the history of tractor testing that was specific to Nebraska but had repercussions worldwide for better tractors! Expect to spend about an hour at...

Today, March 19 2021 we drove 150 miles to see this museum. Website said open 9 to 4, face mask for anyone over 3 years old and no more than 15 people. We arrived at 10 am and museum was not open. Called and answer machine said closed due to Covid and will reopen when university gives the ok. My advise is to call and make sure they will be open and not rely on the website. We are antique tractor enthusiasts and were really looking...