Jed has a long history with wrenches & farming. He grew up working on his Grandfather's farm near Chapin, where his current business and farm are still based today.	Grandpa Allen & grandkids, 1986, Jed age 8
In 1993, a combination of the purchase of a 1951 Chevy pickup and a power-mechanics class sparked his mechanical interest when he was a freshman at SCMT High School in Sheffield. He overhauled a neighbor's Honda ATC 3-wheeler in the spring of 1993, and soon after was flooded with customer's Hondas, very popular machines in the area at the time. Offical business began when he acquired his retail tax-permit in January 1994, operating under the name "J.W. Allen Small Engine Service." Most of his free time in his high-school years was not spent chasing girls, but repairing ATVs and snowmobiles. "Me and all my buddies had old, klunker snowmobiles, and we made fun of the 'Indy Posse' crowd." Jed explains, "We called ourselves 'Jalopies,' hence 'Jed's Jalopy Joint.'" The name apparently stuck.	Jed & his '51 Chevy, 1996
After graduating SCMT in 1996, he was accepted at Hawkeye Community College in Waterloo, Iowa, where he successfully completed two years in their "Ag Power Technology" program, which included areas of study such as diesel engines, hydraulics, electronics, power-trains and transmissions. Jed and his Hawkeye classmate, Shane, together won first place at a John Deere sponsored National PAS Ag Mechanics Contest (click here) near Norfolk, Virginia in the spring of 1998. They were believed to be the first students from a non-Deere affiliated school to win in the history of the contest. Upon graduation from Hawkeye, Jed wished to continue and expand his repair business. However he was quickly out-growing his small dirt-floor, tin-shed shop he had been working out of since 1993. In the summer of 1998, he remodeled an old corn-crib/farrowing house on his Grandfather's farm, to be large enough for tractor repair. This is still the current business location.	The newly relocated Jalopy Joint, 1999, swamped with snowmobiles!
Between 1998 and 2001, the transition was made from small engine repair to large scale tractor and combine repair. In summer of 2004, Jed worked "out west" with a father/son custom-harvesting operation,Weber Harvesting (click here),from Riverton, Wyoming. They followed the wheat and barley harvest starting in southern Oklahoma in May and ending in Wyoming in September. In 2007 Jed purchased a Case-IH 2188 combine and worked again with the Webers on the wheat harvest. 2008 brought the addition of a grain truck & grain cart to the harvesting business. Since Jed's first minute in an Axial-Flow combine seat in 1993, he has harvested over 45,000 acres at the wheel of Red combines. Today, nearly all of Jed's service & harvesting business revolves Axial-Flow Case/IH combines.	Allen Seed & Grain teams up with Weber Harvesting -
To Jed its all about Customer Service. Whether a late night service call or harvesting your soybeans before the big storm, Jed will do what he can to help you succeed. Jed took a group of customers to East Moline in 2004 to tour the IH harvester works before it closed. "It was sad to see such history being closed down, but it also is exciting to see things streamlined now in Grand Island." referring to Case's move of the 2388 production. "From a 1440 to a 7088, IH & Case-IH combines are a true dynasty." Coming from an independent farmer, custom harvester, and technician who makes a living revolving around these machines, that really says something.     What does the future hold? Well on December 31, 2010, Jed married his best friend Candie, a sweet small-town woman from Sanford, Michigan.   And then on October 17, 2011 they welcomed the birth of their first son, Cyrus William, into the world.  (Possibly named after a certain famous inventor named Cyrus??)  Then a few years later comes Clyde & Colby! Together they plan to continue to farm, custom harvest, and keep providing their customers with unmatched repair service.    For 2022, Jed's Jalopy became central Iowa's authorized Viscosity Oil dealer, the source for the original IH Ultraction Hy-Tran and No. 1 Engine Oil.    Jed has also been in the seed business since the late '90s.  He has delt with several different companies and has seen lots of changes through the years.  After a long relationship with Latham Hi-Tech seeds, and continuing into 2025, Allen Seed with be exclusive with Latham Seeds, a great local company.    They would like to say Thank You to their friends & customers for their past, present, and future business!	Jed & Candie, wheat harvest 2010