4th of July Tractor Fun
Independence Day, 4th of July, Hope you all had a great time celebrating our country’s 250th. Here is a little background information. On July 4, 1776, the Declaration of Independence was ratified and solidified the colonists will to continue their fight against England in hopes of forming a new country of their own, the United States of America. During that struggle several future leaders of our country stepped forward. Two of those patriots were Thomas Jefferson and John Adams. Both fought hard for our independence. Later John Adams became the second president of the United States and Thomas Jefferson the third. These two men fought together to achieve freedom from England. Later in their political careers they found themselves at odds with each other. Adams envisioned the new country as having a strong central government while Jefferson thought the federal government should take a more hands off approach. Jefferson envisioned the US as a land of small towns and farms.(I kinda like this guy!)
The coincidence is that both of these men died the same day, July 4, 1826. As the story goes in their later life they had revived their friendship. John Adams last words were said to be, “Thomas Jefferson still lives!” Unfortunately he was wrong as Jefferson had actually died five hours earlier.
Oh yah, this is my tractor article. Well, my 4th was a tractor day-on purpose of course. In the morning I headed to Gully, MN, to check out the parade, well at least the line-up. I parked by the elevator and began my walk northward to check out all the floats and tractors lined up to enter the parade. I was lucky, being a John Deere guy I ran into many John Deere tractors and enjoyed some fun John Deere conversation. I snapped pictures of 3-B John Deeres, 2-A John Deeres, a 60, and a 2010. Some nice tractors!!
After a few minutes of visiting I was off again for Plummer for their celebration with a parade at 1:00. The main reason I had to hurry was the 1942 A John Deere I had got running needed a bit of adjusting before the parade. The A had low oil pressure so I had “turned it up” but after I put it back together I realized I could not remember if I tightened up the bolt that locks the adjustment nut in place. So I got there, took the starter and inspection plate off and checked the bolt……It was tight, I wouldn’t have had to tear it apart! I had to do it for peace of mind. I got the A fired up along with several members of the Tri River Pioneers and their tractors or tractors that belonged to the museum. As usual the Plummer celebration put on a great parade and the streets were lined with people….so fun.
After the parade a couple of awards were given. The Best of Show award went to Dave Wilson of Goodridge with his VAC Case. The Judges Choice award went to Greg Harstad of Plummer with his U Minneapolis Moline. Another one in the books! Happy 250th to the USA!
How about a little tractor trivia!
1.The B John Deere came out in what year?
A)1934 B)1935 C)1936 D) 1937
2.True or False More model Bs were produced that any other John Deere model.
3. The model B had versions called the BR and BO. What did BO stand for?
4.The VAC Case came out in 1942. What year did production end?
A)1949 B) 1951 C) 1953 D) 1955
5. The U MM tractor was tested to have _______ drawbar horsepower.
A)35hp B) 39hp C) 40hp D) 42.5hp
Answers: 1. B 1935 2. True. 3. B-Orchard 4. D. 1955 5. 35hp
Eric Mickelson
Green Magazine
RIchard's Publishing
Oklee, MN 56742
218-791-9157