MONROE — While little boys were busy pedaling toy tractors near the barns, the big boys were out in the field engaged in a serious tractor-pull competition.
The 20th annual Antique Tractor Show and Threshing Bee attracted all ages to the Frohning farm in the Tualco Valley south of Monroe. An estimated 3,000 people and nearly 200 vintage tractors showed up for the three-day event, which ended Sunday.
Alan Vickers, 71, of Arlington drove his 1949 John Deere Model G tractor in the tractor pull Sunday afternoon. In the 6,000-pound class, Vickers was able to drive his old tractor nearly 162 feet before the front wheels came off the ground and the weight on the back of rig forced it to a stop.
The crowd, seated on lawn chairs and hay bales, cheered.
“It’s a ball,” Vickers said of the competition. “The secret is to avoid the soft spots in the track.”
The tractor show is sponsored by the Sky Valley Stock and Antique Tractor Club. Longtime club member and former president Arnie Odegaard, 73, of Snohomish said the event is geared not only for tractor collectors but for families.
That’s right, said Betty Frohning, 82, owner of the farm where the show is staged each year.
“The show is unique because it’s a way to see how hard the pioneers worked,” Frohning said. “It’s a heritage you have to see before it’s gone.”
Various models of tractors made by companies such as Allis-Chalmers, Massey-Ferguson, Farmall, Ford and John Deere were represented.
The event included vendors selling old tractor manuals, entertainment, corn on the cob, blacksmithing demonstrations, a grain-threshing bee, tractor-driving skill contests, barrel races, hay rides for children and displays of machinery run by tractors.
Mike Intlekofer of Bellevue brought along several machines, including a washing machine, a water pump and a 1916 Wade corn grinder that was powered by a belt run by a nearby tractor.
“Before some farmers got electricity, this is how they powered their machines,” Intlekofer said.
Odegaard brought to the show some of his collection of 20 garden tractors.
“A bunch of old guys with tractors got together and that’s how this all got started,” Odegaard said. “Now we’re getting a lot of kids involved, with a lot more young men participating in the tractor pulls.”
The annual tractor show raises money to support food banks and senior centers in Snohomish County, Odegaard said. The nonprofit club includes about 150 members who already are preparing for next year’s tractor show, set for the second weekend in August.
Reporter Gale Fiege: 425-339-3427 or gfiege@heraldnet.com.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
