[AT] The Le Sueur, MN swap meet

[Cecil E Monson]

	I returned late yesterday afternoon from the Midwest and my
annual visit to the Le Sueur, MN swap meet. This show has gotten to
the point it is so large that the club is having difficulty handling
the crowds and the number of vendors that go there, IMHO. Not enough
food at peak times up where the food is and not quite enough portable
toilets with a lot of people lined up in both places. I had to skip
breakfast on Saturday as the line was way out in the street and about
4 people wide. All were waiting for the pancake breakfast.

	It appears to me that the parking is not quite adequate even
though it appears that the club has about a hundred acres for parking.
They predicted a thousand vendors but I think there were more than
that. No roping off was permitted ahead of time and no vendors were
allowed into the grounds until early Friday. I stopped Thursday afternoon
and the entire parking area was pretty much full of vendors waiting to
get in.

	There is no charge at this show for either admission or for
parking. Not many shows do this any more but this show gets so many
vendors it apparently does not have to charge admission.

	I was there before 7:00AM on Friday and was able to park right
up near the buildings and close to everything. As a lot of vendors were
already in place and ready to sell by the time I got there, I wondered
how early on Friday they started letting them in the gate. I spent the
entire day Friday cruising the vendors looking for not only bargains
but for some specific parts for a couple of my tractors. I got lucky
with the Allis Chalmers D-12 Series III and found the missing side plate
when I got to Larry Swenson's spot and bought it off a parts tractor he
had for sale. I was looking for a couple things for my 52 Farmall Cub
but was unlucky there. One thing I was looking for was an original top
cover for the battery box. Last year I saw three of them for sale for
$10 to $20 and this year not even one. I also wanted a swinging drawbar
but did not see one of those either. I guess a lot of the big IHC vendors
stayed home this year. John Deere stuff was for sale literally everywhere.
I am sure there is big money in JD parts and I sure saw a lot of them
being carried out by happy JD guys. People come to this show with money
to spend and they sure spend it.

	I met Ron Cook of Salix, Iowa and a friend of his from Blue Earth,
MN and delivered a Willys gearbox to Ron from Mike Sloane. I thought maybe
Ron was going to fly in with his Air Tractor but I was disappointed when
he showed up in a JD Gator. grins.

	The highlight of the show was seeing everyone at the Miller Tire
truck at noon on Saturday. This was the second year in a row now where it
wasn't raining or blowing or both and a real pleasure. We chatted a while
and took some photos and everyone went back to looking for bargains. I had
done all the walking I could stand for the second day in a row and headed
for Le Roy, MN to spend a little time with my two brothers and sister before
leaving on Sunday morning. I stopped Sunday to see my youngest daughter and
her family just west of Chicago in St Charles, IL before heading east on
Monday.

	I had ordered a new 24 foot cargo trailer from Haulmark in Elkhart,
Indiana and picked it up on the way home. This thing is 8 1/2' wide and has
a 24 foot box on it. Bright red to match my 49 Cub with some extras including
8 floor mounted tie-downs, flow thru vents, roof vents, interior lights, and
every light on the outside being the new and very bright LED lights. I had
to pay extra for these lights but after seeing how nice and bright they are,
I am glad I did. I noticed that on the 700 mile drive home from Elkhart that
no one had any trouble seeing my turn signals as they all moved over when I
turned them on.

	I took some photos of the group at the swap meet and intend to post
them one of these days on the ATIS photo site.

Cecil
-- 
The nicest thing about telling the truth is you never have to wonder
what you said.

Cecil E Monson
Lucille Hand-Monson
Mountainville, New York   Just a little east of the North Pole	

Allis Chalmers tractors and equipment

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