[AT] Indiana tractor show at Spring Mill State Park

[Robinson]

	We drove down to the park to look at the tractor show. Not 
a big show...
	Didn't see anything really special in regular tractors. 
They did have a V-8 Ford. The most unique thing there was a 
butt buggy that was painted Prairie Gold and had an MM 
sticker on it. It had been made from an old 3 wheel McClean 
riding mower. Those were originally made in Indianapolis 
then near the end of their run some years ago they had moved 
the operation to Shelby County about 3 miles east of me. 
Unlike most three wheel mowers the McClean steered with the 
two front wheels and the single rear drive wheel stayed in 
one position. The mower deck which used two synchronized 
blades linked by a bicycle chain, sat out front and ran on 
swiveling runners. Much like the David Bradley Tri-trac they 
were not the most stable beast on hills. They were made as 
metal fabrications with no cast or farmed out parts. Many 
that had them liked them very much partly because any decent 
shop could make parts. Most other parts  were standard 
items. The one at the show had no mower deck and someone had 
converted the rear to two wheels, one on each side of the 
housing that had held the single rear wheel. I didn't see a 
differential and I suspect it just drove with one wheel. 
They had added a brake to the rear axle. Something that was 
not on the mowers...  :-)   You just used the friction drive 
reverse. They had also added a cute little pair of garden 
tractor fenders to the rear.
	There were several garden tractors there and a few flywheel 
engines. There was one of those John Deere power units that 
was based on the "D" engine and a John Deere "LUC" power 
unit that had a right angle drive and a flat belt pulley on 
it. I believe that was the first one I have seen with that 
pulley on it as about all we ever saw around here were from 
combines which had the lever clutch and a big Vee belt 
pulley. Both of those units were on 4 wheel rubber tired 
carts that were all varnished up and the smaller one even 
had little highly polished brass fenders on it.
	Looking back, there were several problems with the show 
being there. I don't aim to be knocking their show. Even a 
small show takes a lot of effort. It is that I am always 
studying shows and how they are put on looking for ways to 
improve our local show and how I display my stuff at Conner 
Prairie Museum. Maybe I will hit on something that will help 
another show...
	First the space they were in was too limited. We had to 
hunt for a parking space as there was a good bit of normal 
park traffic and also because they had used up huge amounts 
of space parking their trucks and trailers kind of 
helter-skelter. While they could have cleaned up the parking 
pattern a little there just was not any other parking area 
nearby where they could have parked their rigs.
	Next they were on a paved lot which ruled out anybody with 
steel wheels unless they had rings (one nice F-14 was there 
with rings padded with rubber belting.
	There were no other activities of any kind and I doubt any 
tractors moved except for unloading, lining up and then 
loading. There was no swapping, no auction and no flea 
markets or food vendors. I suspect that the concessions 
stand at the park Pioneer Village has an exclusive in the park.
	I saw a number of park visitors stand at one end of the lot 
and and look at the tractors from a distance but I got the 
feeling that many of them felt that it was some kind of 
private thing that they shouldn't crash. A big sign 
welcoming park visitors to come and look around might have 
doubled their traffic.
	It was a nice friendly bunch of guys but most seemed pretty 
bored.
	A last observation was that the local tractors were few in 
number and that some had traveled a good distance to show.
	I get disappointed at our local show sometimes but maybe it 
is better than I give it credit for. Falling in June it has 
to compete with quite a few shows for those guys that will 
travel to show. We do have a selling area and we do have an 
auction. There is also a flea market area and a few food 
vendors. There is also several others things like kids rides 
in a barrel train, a tractor parade and a few tractor games. 
There is a good bit of antique pulling. They run a sawmill 
and a thresher. I believe someone said something recently 
about a husker shredder.
	The show this year is the weekend before CUB-Fest and I 
will be pretty busy but I thought I should try to do my part 
and take several items in. It is at the fairgrounds and it 
is only 3 miles from me.

	We left the Spring Mill show about lunch time and hit the 
buffet at a Golden Corral in Bedford IN where I about did 
myself a mischief trying to eat a bit of everything there.  :-)
	Bedford IN bills itself as the "Limestone Capital of The 
World". Bedford stone is widely known among major builders 
around the world as the best. I was amazed while touring 
Washington DC many years ago at how many of our great 
monuments are labeled as being Bedford Indiana limestone.
	We made one very short side trip this morning to look at 
what was labeled on the state map as "The longest covered 
bridge in the United States". It is no longer in use but was 
left in place and the new one went around it. All I had on 
me was my 12' tape so I wasn't about to measure it but I 
pace a fairly accurate 3'. We walked to the far end and 
stepped it off at just over 500'.

	Spotted a flyer today for a show at Brown County 
(Nashville) Indiana at the fairgrounds. 4-30-04 to 5-02-04.

-- 



"farmer"

Just when I was getting used to yesterday, along came today.


Francis Robinson
Central Indiana USA
robinson at svs.net