Tractor Boy Memories

Here is an image of the type Allis Chalmers Model "C" Tractor that My Dad purchased in 1944.
Here is an image showing a Massey Harris Model 30 like My Dad purchased in 1951 or 1952.

Shown here is a Farmall 300 Tractor like My Dad acquired in 1955 if my memory is correct. He also purchased a Model 76 Grain Combine which was pulled by this model 300 Farmall, which I operated. This system replaced a steam powered Trashing Machine. I thought I was big stuff at the age of fifteen and operating a new Tractor and a Grain Combine.

Thanks to the resources of the World Wide Web so that I could acquire images of these three tractors.

History Lesson Number Two

Some time ago I printed an image of the First Gasoline Traction Engine. Well before 1892, which is the year of record for that accomplishment, a method of turning over the rich prairie soil was needed so a gentleman named "John Deere" fabricated a steel moldboard plow. This event happened in Grand Detour, Illinois and a marker has been erected there.
Now you know that the year 1837 was a turning point in American agriculture.

More Snow in the Holy Land

Sometimes you just have to blow it away.

Iowa Tractor Boys Work In Winter

This image tells it all. No need to say anything more.

One Thing is for Sure - A White Christmas

Seven Inches of Snow

Northeast Iowa. This is what seven inches of snow looks like. For all the readers who do not enjoy living in this area of the United States of America, please take the time to study this image. I have also heard that the plethora of Presidential Campaign Buses have had to slow down as they criss-cross Iowa in search in "Caucus Votes."

A December View

In December it is quite common to awake and view this from the front porch. The Sun is on the ascend and the good earth is covered in a mantle of fresh snow and ice. This is Mother Nature at her best. She is recharging the soil of the Midwest, and in the case of this view, the soil of Iowa so that the 2008 crops may flourish.

One More Iowa Tractor Boy - Initiation Stage

Air Conditioned Operator Stations on Combines insure that the operator can run the machine without the hazard of dust. Here is an Operator In Training.

"Christmas List"

Now that the Harvest is over Iowa Tractor Boys sometimes engage in Window Shopping and some even begin the process of acquiring new equipment to replace aging machinery. This is an older model John Deere Combine with a grain header. Most Combines also need a "Corn Header" so that all crops can be harvested.

A quick check of the John Deere Web Site for the newest models of Combines quickly reveal that you can easily spend over $300,000.00 for the basic Combine. Then you must select the header/headers you need for your operation.

While we city dwellers fret over the annual commercials featuring the Grey Lexus with high sticker prices with the Red Bow on top, we would do well to realize that the real luxury vehicles are used to provide us all with our daily bread.

As we participate in "Thanksgiving Dinner" with our respective Families we should also be grateful for all the "Farm Boys" who provide the resources that we enjoy with such abundance here in the United States of America.

Have a Blessed Thanksgiving!!!!

The Development of a Hunter

Good Venison

Goose Decoy

The Blind

Squiral Meat for Lunch

Once the Harvest is complete Iowa Tractor Boys focus on meat for the coming Winter.

The End of an Era

In years gone by, Iowa Tractor Boys engaged in Farming with the concept being that you had livestock, grew corn and oats as well as hay. This required a wide range of equipment and also required a lot of labor. The Silo shown here on the ground was demolished because it was no longer being used. In the past it was used to store forage for feeding to Beef Cattle. Yes, it was the end of an era when this silo was imploded.

Harvest Time - Iowa Tractor Boys

A Young Iowa Tractor Boy with His Son in the Combine as they are harvesting Corn. Iowa Gold!!!!!!!!! A recent Post to this Blog discussed the potato harvest and how Iowa Tractor Boys grew their own produce. This image shows a combine with the corn header ready to harvest corn. This crop is used to feed livestock which produces our beef, our pork, our poultry, and our mutton. Additionally, corn is used in the production of cereal. Of course, corn from the United States of America is exported around our World. Additionally, corn and other grains are now being used to produce energy.
Here the hopper is being emptied to a grain wagon for transport to the holding bin and drying. Some Farmers ship their corn directly to a grain elevator for appropriate drying and future shipment to grain processing facilities or export.

The two pictures above display the wagon unloading operation to a holding bin for additionally processing at the onsite grain dryer. A few years ago, the composer of this post was complaining about the high cost of natural gas to heat his Georgia Home. His sibling Brother quickly informed him that the cost of natural gas to dry his corn crop had doubled in the past year, from $17,000.00 to $34,000.00. So much for complaining about a few hundred dollars to keep warm all Winter in Georgia. Additionally, I was informed that a tune-up and appropriate repair conducted on the corn combine for readiness for the harvest was a mere $17,000.00. So much for the high cost of keeping my pick-up truck in peek operating conditioning. It is amazing what the Iowa Tractor Boys must expend to produce our food material.

This Is Not Idaho

Yes, it is that time, the time for Harvest. What you are viewing here did not take place in Idaho. This is Iowa. You can quickly ascertain that this is an older model of a John Deere Tractor. A name that abounds in the land of Iowa Tractor Boys. What is happening in the above picture is that Iowa Tractor Boys are engaged in the plowing up of potatoes.
Shown here are two future Iowa Tractor Boys as they display with pride, the results of their labors after their Dad and two Uncles turned the potatoes to the top so that they could be picked up. One thing is certain, both of these young boys know where their food comes from. They even helped harvest it. Shown here are two generations of Iowa Tractor Boys. They just happen to be Uncles of the two young boys in the previous picture. You can be confident that this is not the total harvest of potatoes. Even Iowa Tractor Boys need to take a break now and then.

"The Formation of a Tractor Boy"

Many years ago, My Sister gave the above miniture collection of John Deere Tractors to my Son for Christmas. She was the God parent at his Baptism in 1972. The Tractors have been maintained all these years. The tractor on the top is a "Green" version of the Original Traction Engine which I have discussed in a previous post to this Blog. In fact these tractors have become the genesis of an entire "John Deere" Collection which has been established by this same Son. He does indeed have a John Deere Room in his home.
Because of his John Deere Tractor Collection everyone who knows this "Tractor Boy" in exile in the State of Georgia gives him frequent gifts to add to his John Deere Collection. Shown here is a Tractor given to him by his Father-in-Law.

Iowa Tractor Boys

and

The Field of Dreams

July 1994. During vacations to Northeast Iowa, this former Iowa Tractor Boy often visited the "Field of Dreams" near Dyersville, Iowa. This photo shows my Son on the far left and my Dad in the Middle. I, of course am on the far right. This is an image taken on the Westside of the Field of Dreams, just beyond Left Field. As I reflect on the "Boys of Summer," even though I never played Baseball, this image is very precious to me. This "Field of Dreams" was the site of the hit movie released in 1989 and is still maintained so that visitors can see the actual field. It is a tourist mecca. It is my understanding that a "Reunion Game" is played each year on Labor Day Weekend. Of course you can learn a lot more at:

http://www.fieldofdreamsmoviesite.com/distance.html

Northeast Iowa Farm

Antique Association

You have recently viewed information about the First Gasoline Powered Traction Engine that was developed in Northeast Iowa.

More recently a group of Young Farmers and Retired Farmers established the Northeast Iowa Farm Antique Association to conduct an exhibit of various action events each September so that future generations could appreciate how it used to be on the Farm. This view is from the Show conducted in 1983 and shows a steam engine. For additional information about this event I would encourage you to visit this web site:


http://www.silosandsmokestacks.org/resources/FieldTripGuide/Clayton/plagman_barn_northeast_iowa_farm_demonstration_and_antiques_show.htm

A Woodcutting Saga

Iowa Tractor Boys is a Blog dedicated to Memories and also Current Events involving Tractor Boys. Recently my sibling Brother shared this story with me.

It was either January or February 2006 and my Sibling Brother and a Nephew were enjoying a few adult beverages during a Blizzard. Never to be outdone by the story of long ago when our Father took us to the Woods to cut firewood when the temperature was 45 degrees below zero and the school buses could not run because it was too cold these two males determined that it would be a great day to cut firewood. Therefore they traveled the total of two miles to the Timber which is located on an outcropping near the Mississippi River to cut down a tree. This Timber has been in the family since 1946, when our Father purchased the twenty acres for a mere $40.00 an acre.

The challenge of traveling to the Timber and the fact that they would cut down a tree was a real challenge and these two males were looking for excitement to spice up the long nights of Winter. They took the John Deere 2030 (shown above) and fitted it with the wood handler on the three point hitch. My sibling Brother, being the older of the two determined that he would not hurt this John Deere in as much as he had spend many hours in bringing it back to Factory Fresh condition just a few years prior. In fact he had stated that he would never take it into the woods. That promise was thrown aside as they both sought excitement. My sibling has reported that this saga does have a happy ending. The tractor hardly got a scratch and they harvested a generous supply of fire wood.

Thank You, Sibling Brother for this Saga.

Please note that this John Deere Tractor was new in 1974. The home in the background is now owned by the Sibling Brother. It was new in 1952 and our parents raised six wonderful children there. The farm is a small one by today's standards, but 80 acres plus rental acres allowed our parents to raise us all in an adequate manner.

Iowa Tractor Boy

On July 23rd I introduced you to the original Iowa Tractor Boy. I did not post a picture of this great inventor, but I did have some pictures from the museum. Today, I received a postcard from this museum so the above picture allows you to obtain a better view of this "First Gasoline Traction Engine."

Along with the post card was a lovely T-Shirt from Iowa and obtained at the Froelich Museum concerning the invention of this Traction Engine. A special "Thank You" to the photographer and family member who forwarded the post card and the Shirt.

Current Events

Iowa Tractor Boys

This is an image of an Iowa Tractor Boy taking round hay bales from a transport trailer to a storage shed. This handling equipment certainly makes this task much easier. The Flower Child has many memories of stacking sixty pound square bales on a wagon to be transported to a barn and then again stacking them inside the barn for use during the Winter for feel to Dairy and Beef Cattle. This handling system is certainly much easier and also quicker.

Every consumer of food stuff knows that for the Farmer to remain competive and still generate an income to remain solvent that new technology and methods must be employed. What you are viewing in the above picture is a crop duster approaching a Corn Field near Kale Avenue in Clayton County, Iowa. The duster is spreading a treatment to "kill the fungus that grows on the ears of the corn." This should allow a higher corn yield. The crop on the left is a planting of Soybeans and the target corn field for the duster is on the right side of the road. The crop dusting firms travel the corn belt and start in Texas and travel North to provide their services to the Farmers. Young Farmers embrace new technology in an effort to produce higher yields all in the goal of continuing to produce the most at the least cost to us City Folk. As a former "Iowa Tractor Boy," I can appreciate this concept. The dusting companies are from Missouri and Texas.

This is a picture of a "square baling rig" baling straw for use in a Dairy Barn. Note the automated equipment behind the baler. This system shoots the square bale into the high sided wagon. No longer do Iowa Farm Boys have to stack the bales on the Wagons. Note the Tractor and empty Wagon in the background ready to take the full wagon to the barn so that the straw bales may be stowed for use this Winter. The farmstead in the Background is where I was an Iowa Tractor Boy from 1941 through 1961 which was the year I joined the U. S. Navy. I always stated that if I had a nickel for every hay and straw bale I stacked on a wagon behind a baler that I would indeed be a rich person. I enjoyed the job of stacking bales on the wagon more than being the persons who placed the bales on an elevator to run into a tall barn or even the person who stacked the bales in the barn. To be fair, in my youth, my Sibling Sisters put the bales on the elevator and my Sibling Brother stacked them inside the Barn. They were younger than me and I enjoyed stacking bales on the wagon with the frequent cool breeze that often passed by. This was much more pleasant than stacking bales inside the Barn or even loading the elevator.

"The Original Iowa Tractor Boy"

In 1892, John Froelich invented the first successful gasoline powered engine. He operated a wheat threshing rig which required a steam engine to power the threshing machine. Because of the prairie fire hazard of these behemoth wood fired steam engines, John developed the gasoline powered engine. To learn more about this accomplishment, please visit:

http://www.froelichtractor.com/tractor.htm

This is an image of this gasoline traction engine, as it was known then. It is in a local museum in Froelich, Iowa in Clayton County. This tractor concept was then purchased by a group of investors in Waterloo, Iowa and the gasoline powered tractor was known at "The Waterloo Boy."

Shown here is a 1892 Froelich Traction Tractor. You will note that this was the tractor on display on the 100th anniversary.

The Burlingame General Store in Froelich, Iowa, which is now the mecca of Iowa Farm Boys who are visiting Froelich, Iowa to acquire information about the "Original Iowa Tractor Boy."

This image was taken on Sunday, July 22, 2007 as a Tractorcade was being assembled to travel from Froelich, Iowa to Clear Lake, Iowa. The Tractorcade is sponsored by a radio station in Clear Lake. What a neat way to highlight the accomplishments of John Froelich and the importance of the gasoline traction engine first built in 1892. You will note that there are tractors in this picture that are not green and yellow. We all know that the green and yellow colors belong on John Deere Tractors and other Farm Equipment. You must also know that the Waterloo Boy Tractor Company was later purchased by the John Deere Company in 1918 for $2,350,000.00.

Now you know the early history of the John Deere Tractor Company and the very first Iowa Tractor Boy of Froelich, Iowa. Should you be motivated to learn more and also see first hand the activities the annual celebration in Froelich, Iowa which is held during the last weekend of September please be aware that the original Traction Engine through the lastest John Deere Tractor will be on display.The "Flower Child" gratefully acknowledges that the pictures contained in this Blog were acquired by a member of the Family on Sunday, July 22, 2007. Froelich, Iowa is a mere seventeen miles from the birthplace of "Flower Child" near Clayton, Iowa.

John Deere, Dubuque, Iowa Tractor Works

The John Deere, Dubuque Tractor Works recently celebrated sixty years as a production plant manufacturing the small John Deere Tractors along with Crawlers. This celebration was named: "Full Throttle Day." Here you are viewing the gallery of some of the Tractors built in Dubuque. This factory is located alongside the Mississippi River and in the Northeast corner of Iowa. To become an employee of this manufacturer you must pass a fourteen step program of screenings, testing and physicals.

This John Deere Tractor fitted with a sickle mower is not in the traditional John Deere Paint because it was built for a Department of Transportation deployment as a roadside mower to reduce the amount of weeds and also tall grasses along side the roads. If my memory serves me correctly this model was manufactured in the 1950s era.

The "Flower Child" has two nephews who currently work at the John Deere, Dubuque, Iowa Tractor Works. They are both welders. Many years ago, Flower Child's Dad was a Fork Lift operator at this same factory. He worked in the shipping department and one of his favorite stories was way back during the Cold War when our country was selling farming and construction equipment to the former USSR. He always told us about shipping buckets to be fitted on crawlers which the Soviets had bought. Their original contract did not require the buckets. The buckets were ordered after the crawlers arrived in Russia. The cost of the buckets was a fair amount of money, but the shipment of the buckets was much more expensive than the cost of the buckets.

Of course My Dad always quickly informed us that the Soviets were using money from the U. S. A. to make the purchases.

Beef on the Hoof

Iowa Tractor Boys also enjoy fine food. Here you see some fine Steaks, Filets and even Hamburger being nurtured in a range free environment. The brood cows at the hay feeder and the yearlings in the pasture are all part of the future "Meat Lover's" Diet.

All Work and No Play..............!!!!!!

I am sure that you have heard the adage, "All Work and No Play Makes Jack a Dull Boy." This post will clearly show that Iowa Tractor Boys know how to play. Here is a "Paddlefish" that was hooked just below Lock and Dam Number Ten on the Mississippi River. You can certainly see the glee on the face of the "Iowa Tractor Boy" who caught the fish. It was released back into the Mississippi River. Note the Dam Gates in the left background of this picture.

June 2007 - Iowa Tractor Boys

June 2007 - Iowa Tractor Boys

Have No Fear. In order to develop a successful Iowa Tractor Boy you need to start them Young. Here you see two young Iowa Boys experiencing the joy of imagining what the future will be like. This Lawnmower is not running and it is a posed picture.

A Veteran Tractor. A John Deere Model 4060. A workhorse in the era in which it was manufactured. But due to the high cost of dedicated Farm Laborers, the Tractors were made bigger so that a Farmer could be much more efficient.

Here you have the opportunity to see the range of Tractor size as well as the various ages of the John Deere Farm Tractors. From mowing the lawns to deep tillage of hundreds of acres the Iowa Farmer needs a wide range of equipment to conduct farm operations. If you look closely you will also see some Iowa Tractor Boys.

The final picture today features a head-on view of John Deere Tractors. In addition to farming with John Deere equipment the young Farmer in front of the largest tractor also works at the John Deere Dubuque, Iowa Tractor Works. This Factory has produced Farm Tractors and Crawlers for sixty-years and the John Deere equipment line is exported all over the World, along with becoming a major supplier of Green and Yellow Farm Equipment for the production of Food Stuffs in the United States of America. In fact in the Heartland of America, the great Upper-Midwest, if it is in a Field, the changes of it being Green and Yellow is the norm. Please take note of the white tank in the picture which is a part of the corn drying operation each Harvest season. The other bins are for storage of corn shelled corn awaiting shipment to the producers of feed for livestock, food for us human beings and even exportation to the far reaches of our Globe.

Please note that by clicking on any of the images above that you will be able to view the picture on a larger screen.

Junior Iowa Tractor Boy - June 1979

This is a picture of my Youngest Son during a visit to his Grandparents in June of 1979 when he was a three year old. He grew up and did not return to his Grandparents roots. Of course, he followed in his Father's footsteps and became a City dweller.

Corn Spraying Rig in Iowa

While it is true that you cannot see the "Iowa Tractor Boy" in this image you can be certain that He is within a few hundred feet of the activity shown here. You might call this a replenishment station as the tank of the Corn Spraying Rig is being fulled with water. The appropriate chemicals are then mixed with the water and the fields of young corn plants are sprayed. This is done to kill the weeds that compete with the corn crop for the necessary nutrients and water to produce an abundant harvest. Of course an abundant harvest means that our Corn Flakes and our Beef, Pork and Milk will remain at a price that is affordable. As you know, we here in the United States of America have the most plentiful food supply at the lowest cost.

The Tractor

The Tractor displayed on the header of this Blog is an Allis Chalmers Model "C." I can remember as if it was yesterday when my Dad purchased the Model "C." The total cost was about $700.00 and that included the tractor, a 2 bottom - 12 inch moldboard plow and a two row hand lift cultivator. The tractor had eleven horsepower and was quite small by today's standards.

The Tractor Dad purchased in 1944 is still in operation today on the Farm of my Sibling Brother. It is not called to do heavy plowing anymore, but it does real well in powering an elevator and other light task.

I think I was about 12 years old when I had enough body size to operate this tractor and the hand lift cultivator. The hand lift was counterbalanced with a series of tension springs, but it was no easy task to raise and lower the two gangs of cultivators when working in the corn field. In addition to this Tractor my Dad continued to use the team of horses to complete the farm work in a timely manner. I remember one time when I was operating the tractor in the corn field and I managed to mire the tractor in a muddy area of the field. At that point I was given the task of walking behind the one-row horse drawn cultivator because the horses knew enough to avoid the wet areas. If I could not operate the tractor properly my Dad thought that I would learn a valuable lesson given this opportunity. Of course I did!!!

Welcome

I developed this blog so that former Iowa Farm Boys could share their memories. Additionally I hope to have images and information that I receive from Current Iowa Farm Boys to let the World know what is currently going on in the Upper Mid-West.

A future Blog will highlight information about the Tractor that is featured in the Mast Head of this Blog. An Allis Chalmers Model "C."

Again, Welcome and enjoy the stories and memories. Thank You!!!!