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.