8005 Highway N Mountain Grove, Missouri 65711
The Ozark Older Iron Club, EDGE&.TA Branch #28, hosted the
1999 National Tractor Show in Cabool, Missouri, August 12, 13,
& 14. Members from the local FFA Club greeted you at the gate
with a smile as they took your money, gave you a pin, directions,
and a schedule for the three day event.
The first display you saw was an antique grain binder and corn
binder owned by the club, and a field roller owned by a member. The
next display was all horse drawn equipment owned by Jacob Fletcher.
It consisted of ten mowers dating from 1852-1951, a stalk cutter
1895, Little Chief Sulky plow from 1920, and an Osborn disk 1902.
All of this equipment was attractively painted red, white and
blue.
Next to this display was a Model T Ford converted into a mower,
a McCormick 1920 or 1930 horse drawn cultivator, an 1895 two-man
horse drawn road grader, and a sickle mower all owned by member
Tony Friga.
All down the road were very interesting displays of 40-50 small
hit and miss engines. A McCormick Deering 1946 milking machine and
related equipment along with a Hercules 1918 hit and miss engine
was shown. A large variety of old tools and barbed wire collection,
and twenty-two pedal tractors were on display that brought back
memories for many people. A man from Grants Pass, Oregon, displayed
a ? horse Bessemer dated 1915 which was an air cooled motor for
pumping water, and a 2 HP 2 cycle engine with a governor patented
1907. On the opposite side of the road was a display of memorabilia
of the Civil War. These men were dressed in costume and are members
of the Missouri Division of Sons of Confederate Veterans. There
were several craft booths and games for the children as well.
In the field across the road were approximately 150 tractors on
display. Owners would proudly tell you all about their tractor or
tractors. This year’s show featured McCormick, Farmall and
International machinery. They were all well represented.
Each day’s events started with the flag raising and the
national anthem. The Missouri Division of Sons of Confederate
Veterans held the ceremony of the flag raising on Saturday morning
complete with the firing of a cannon, and Diane Edwards sang the
national anthem. Throughout the day, demonstrations of threshing,
hay baling, sawmilling, and grist milling were given. Some were
powered by steam engines of which there were two large ones and two
small ones a horse, and lots of man power.
Every noon there was a fine parade of tractors. Owners proudly
rode their tractors and all wore a big smile as they passed the
reviewing stand.
The children were not left out, as there were Kiddy Tractor
Pulls different ages, and trophies were awarded. They also searched
for coins in the straw and could ride a ‘barrel train’
through the park all day.
In late afternoon and evening the tractors were put to work to
show what they could do. There was slow racing, fast starts,
trailer backing, and tractor pulls with lawn tractors, garden
tractors, Powder Puff (ladies only), as well as antique, steel and
classic. There were 166 pulls all three nights. Many trophies were
awarded. Wayne Hart, Wayne Simpson and Becky Melton took turns
announcing the many events. If you were not interested in the
tractor pulls, music entertainment was enjoyed in one of the
tents.
Saturday a delicious lunch was served to members wishing to
attend and was followed by the National Meeting. Many nice gifts
were given away during a drawing. In the late afternoon the
Southern Cruisers had a ‘Cruise In’ of classic cars.
Saturday evening at the tractor pull, a drawing was held for a
Farmall Super C Tractor, a John Deere quilt, and a pedal
tractor.
Many states were represented as people came from Alabama,
Arkansas, California, Illinois, Kansas, Michigan, New Mexico,
Oklahoma, Oregon, Texas, Washington and others.
The local Branch #28 sold T-shirts, hats and coffee mugs with
the show emblem, and there were assorted crafts. A food concession
stand furnished by the Cabool Chamber of Commerce was available t
all those with a good appetite and was.
The best restored tractor was a Cotton Express Farmall
‘M’ owned by Larry Kaufman from Alhambra, Illinois. The
most Engines of nine various models was Bob Engler from
Bentonville, Arkansas. The one who came the farthest was Dean
Axtell from Grants Pass, Oregon, which was about 3,000 miles. The
person with the most tractors was Ralph Moore of Inola, Oklahoma,
with 330, 430, 530, 630, 730, 830, and a John Deere. The ugliest
tractor was an M Farmall owned by Ryan Kargel of Willow Springs,
Missouri.
If you were unable to attend the show and wish you could have
seen all the activities, you can, thanks to Joe Aid of West Plains,
Missouri, who videotaped the entire show. If you wish to order a
tape, they will be available December 1999, prepaid for $20.00 plus
$3.00 shipping from: Bob Moore, treasurer, HCR 64 Box 270, West
Plains, Missouri 65775.
