But nearly 40 years of wrangling machinery can take a toll on a back. The owner of Rusty Acres Restoration has found a way to keep alive his love of John Deere tractors and equipment, but with a job that is kinder to the muscles and joints.

“I purchased this business a little over a year and half ago,” Peterman said of his new venture, Jorde Decals. “My restoration work is now a half-time business, and we are really working hard on this new business.”

When he purchased Jorde Decals from founder Travis Jorde of Rochester, Minnesota, Peterman opted to keep the name because of the reputation Travis Jorde had built over nearly a half-century in the business.

“I’ve known Travis Jorde since I was 5 years old,” Peterman said. “He started Jorde Decals in 1976 and he just retired. He’s 87 years old.”

-Messenger photo by Lori Berglund
His shop on the family farm may be small, but for Dan Peterman, it houses literally thousands of authentic John Deere decals to help with restoration projects, or those who simply want to collect the real Deere look.

He first met Travis Jorde at a farm show when his father was restoring a tractor and needed decals to complete the project. The friendship continued as both father and son Peterman utilized Jorde Decals in their work as owners of Rusty Acres Restoration.

Distribution of official decals is a very exclusive business, closely monitored by John Deere.

“I license through John Deere,” Peterman said. “There are two of us in the United States that are fully licensed just to do decals; I’m one of them.”

His inventory starts in the early 20th century and continues through the early 1980s. In total, it numbers in the thousands. The famous running deer logo changed a number of times over the years, and Peterman can put just the right deer with the correct font on the name and numbers to make every project true to the original.

“I have all of the machinery decals, as well as combines, plows, you name it; whatever John Deere had on a piece of equipment, I can get it made up,” he explained.

-Messenger photo by Lori Berglund
Dan Peterman displays the decals available for any particular year or model of John Deere equipment on boards that make it easy for customers to understand how many decals may go on to even just one piece of equipment. Making sure they are authentic and licensed by John Deere makes the difference in authentic restoration and collection.

For tractor restorers who want their piece of equipment to be true to spec, precision decals are a must.

“These are all from the original patterns from ‘Day One’ that Travis Jorde had gotten, and I’ve added to it,” Peterman said.

As a corporate entity, John Deere is extremely careful with granting permission to reproduce authentic representations.

“If John Deere doesn’t produce it anymore, then I can sell it,” Peterman said.

While Jorde Decals was already licensed by Travis Jorde through John Deere, Peterman had to go through the process from beginning to end in order to secure a license for himself as the new owner.

“It took a few hurdles,” Peterman said. “John Deere doesn’t like to give out licenses of this type anymore. It took me two years to get a license.”

For his part, Travis Jorde was equally selective when it came time to finding a new owner for the business he had grown over the years.

“He had a dozen people who wanted the business, and I was at the top of the list because I’ve been doing this (restoration) my entire life. He knew my history, and I would know what decals belong where.”

A tractor decal is not as simple as the John Deere name and number or letter for a specific tractor. Peterman has made up detailed sign boards that display all of the decals that would be needed on different tractors. For example, in addition to the name and model, there would likely be decals for the fuel tank, transmission case, air cleaner, clutch and more.

The license also allows Peterman to use authentic John Deere lettering to create decorative items for use on such things as mailboxes, drink cups, farm signs, or almost anywhere else a John Deere fan might like to display his allegiance to the ‘Green.’ The decals are all vinyl and Peterman can offer tips on placing them for restoration.

Peterman works with Kristin Stein, owner of K.Stein Designs in Webster City, to create whatever he doesn’t already have. As part of the license agreement, she is an authorized designer, but only Peterman is allowed to sell.

“She is on my license and she does great work,” Peterman said.

One of the biggest changes for Peterman was moving from his Rusty Acres Restoration business, which meant spending long days working mostly alone on equipment, to working in a business where he meets the public on a regular basis. He has a comfortable shop on his farm west of Webster City and also does a number of shows throughout the Midwest.

“I’ve never done retail before,” he said, “but I enjoy talking to people.”

And when they discover that he’s also done restoration work, there’s plenty to talk about.

Peterman did his first show at Albert City last summer and is looking forward to a show in Belmond coming up in August. The Prairie Homestead Antique Power Show and Market is slated for Aug. 15, 16 and 17 in Belmond and will feature all things John Deere.

Much of the business is done by mail order and the orders demonstrate the far-reaching appeal of John Deere.

“So far, I’ve shipped to California, Florida, just about all over the United States, and Canada — and I’ve only been at it a little over a year and a half,” he said.

His wife, Jennifer, helps at all the shows, and even his mother-in-law helps with shipping merchandise to customers, making it a true family business.

In addition to selling at shows and through the mail, he has a tidy new shop on his farm west of Webster City. While he has both a website and Facebook page, the internet sites are strictly for browsing. Potential customers can look over the internet sites and then call Peterman at 515-571-1027 to place an order. He encourages a phone call before coming out to the shop in person. He can also be reached at jordedecals1837@gmail.com.