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W
e e k l y F
e a t u r e P a g e
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The contents of the “Weekly Feature” page are provided
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Here you may find articles of interest, pictures, historical information
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LIFE
WITH A TRACTOR-HOLIC
Having celebrated our 34th Wedding Anniversary in
April, I recently spent a day reflecting on my life married to a tractor-holic.
When
we were first married, people would say “When did Bill buy that?” and
my response would be “hmm, let me think which fight was that.” After
giving this some thought, I now realize that the benefits of being
married to a tractor-holic outweigh the downside by far!
Very early in our marriage, new living room furniture
was a priority on my list, but instead the money we saved went toward
a John Deere
AR tractor. I remember Frank Young telling me that an AR would look
good sitting in my living room. I did not think so! We have since bought
new living room furniture a couple of times and the AR was sold or
traded long ago. I now realize, however, that the AR was just a stepping
stone to the collection of antique tractors we have today.
The first Baker tractor Bill bought was around 1983
when he was drawing unemployment and trying to start his own business.
Needless to say,
I was not a happy camper! I never dreamed that eventually we would
have the largest collection of Bakers in the world or how rare of a
tractor they actually are. There were only about 300 ever built and
only half are in existence today. Bill’s love for Bakers took
us to Mt. Pleasant, Iowa on Labor Day weekend in 1987. We attended
the Midwest Thresher’s Reunion in Mt. Pleasant because they were
featuring Baker Tractors. It was a bit of a disappointment when we
drove 10 hours to see only TWO Bakers at their show, while we had at
least 8 in our back yard. Yet, because of Bill’s interest in
Baker’s and that trip to Iowa, we met several families from Iowa
who have become lifelong friends and have us returning to Mt. Pleasant
many times over the years. Also, the Mt. Pleasant show is well worth
the trip despite the lack of Baker tractors.
In 2010, a couple of our Bakers were sold at auction
and I never dreamed how sad I would feel when one of our first Bakers,
a 1928 25-50 Wisconsin
Baker, was sold and shipped to Germany. I almost (mind you I say “almost”)
felt like I was losing a member of our family.
The auction in 2010 surprised me. I never thought I would see the day
that Bill would part with a third of his tractor collection like that.
But, I have come to realize that he has moved from collecting a large
quantity of tractors to collecting larger and rarer tractors or “toys” as
I like to call them. Like the 1910 Hart-Parr that will be featured
this year at the show or the 1919 & 1921 30-60 Aultman Taylors
we now own. Had it not been for the auction, he would not have had
the money to purchase those big toys. People are known to go over their
heads in debt with hobbies and addictions, but Bill always finds ways
to avoid doing that to us. He has become a master at trading and selling
to be able to afford what he wants. For a man who refuses to move into
the electronic age of the 21st Century and cannot log onto a computer
or send an e-mail, he has figured out how to lookup tractor sale sites,
which I fondly refer to as his “tractor porn” sites, on
the Internet at least once a day in order to do a lot of his wheeling
and dealing.
Being married to a tractor-holic has made for some
very interesting trips. In 1992, we took a 3-week family vacation to
Wyoming and Montana
to see Oscar’s Dreamland (a very large, rare collection of antique
tractors). Bill would have been happy to just drive out to Oscar’s,
spend a few days, and then drive home. I, on the other hand, planned
the rest of the trip that included Yellowstone National Park, the Grand
Tetons, the Bad Lands of South Dakota, Little Big Horn and several
other stops all of which (even Bill had to admit) were much more exciting
than Oscar’s. BUT, I also know had it not been for his desire
to see Oscar’s antique collection, we probably would never have
taken that memorable trip with our 10-year old daughter.
Since my retirement a few years ago, I have had the
opportunity to travel more frequently with him seeing the beautiful
scenery this country
has to offer, such as the Rockies of Colorado; Amish country in Lancaster,
Pennsylvania; the port of Duluth, Minnesota; and this past fall we
traveled to Barrie, Ontario and drove along the West Coast of Lake
Huron. Although each trip has entailed either picking up or delivering
a tractor (or both), we have met many very interesting, friendly people
along the way.
Several of the guys in the club who have travelled
with him can attest to Bill’s obsession with tractor shows on Labor Day weekend.
He will travel a circuit of stops in Pontiac, IL, Mt. Pleasant, IA,
Janesville, WI, and Escanaba, MI to hit just a few of the shows that
go on that weekend. The travelling on that weekend trip is too much
for me so I leave it to the guys. Maybe the travelling wouldn’t
be so bad if Bill would take the quickest routes, but he prefers taking
back roads on many of his trips. His theory is that you cannot find
antique tractors on the expressways, which is true, but you also cannot
find rest areas on the back roads. When the guys travel with him, that
probably isn’t a problem, but for a woman, it definitely can
be.
When our daughter Dani had the opportunity to interview
for a position with the U.S.D.A. in Ames, Iowa, Bill jumped at the
chance to take
her out there. Of course the trip also entailed picking up an antique
tractor in Boone, Iowa and a little detour trip through Wisconsin on
the way home to pick up another antique tractor. Dani didn’t
really mind the extra detours because that trip with her dad landed
her the job she has held for the past 5 1⁄2 years.
Shortly before Dani moved to Iowa, Bill attended
an auction here in Michigan at which he bought so many tractor parts,
he had to also buy
an S-10 pickup that was on the auction to help haul the parts home
in. One might think that is going a little overboard, but that little
S-10 served us well in moving Dani to Iowa and giving her a vehicle
to drive for the first 2 years she was there.
It seems like many of his purchases always fall around
my birthday or our anniversary and the joke in the family is what my
latest tractor-related
gift is going to be. In February this year, Bill pulled in the driveway
with what looked like some guy in an orange hoodie standing in the
back of his truck. What it turned out to be was a Case Eagle statue.
Bill’s first job out of High School was with a Case Dealer and
he has always wanted a Case Eagle statue. That morning, he had gone
to look at an antique tractor…didn’t buy the tractor…but
found the eagle instead. The orange hoodie was used to protect the
paint from being scratched. He told me that it was my belated Valentine’s
Gift…gotta love him! I must admit though that the eagle is a
nice addition to our business’s show room.
The most memorable tractor related gift Bill bought
me was Christmas of 2000. As a kid, I had learned to drive my Grandpa’s 1953 Ford
Jubilee. A cousin bought my Grandpa’s tractor at the estate sale
some 20 years ago. At that time, we didn’t have the money to
buy it and if anyone knows Bill well, they know that “Ford” is
not his brand of tractor. I have told him for years that if he ever
has the opportunity to buy a tractor like Grandpa’s, I would
really like to have one. After Christmas Eve services in 2000, we stopped
at the shop and Bill told me I had to go in for a minute. When I walked
in the door, there stood a restored 1953 Ford with a bow on it. I was
brought to tears thinking that he had bought me a tractor “like” my
grandpa’s. Then Bill started telling me the story of how he acquired
it and I realized that this was not a tractor “like” grandpa’s,
this WAS my grandpa’s tractor that he had tracked down and bought
for me. That little Ford was the BEST present ever!
So over the past 34 years, I have come to realize
that there are a lot worse things Bill could be addicted to and being
married to a tractor-holic
has brought many more blessings than curses to our life.
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