[AJD] John Deere Saves the Day!!!

[Duane Ledford]

Brandon,

I'm glad that the ole R did OK, too. Would have been a large heap of egg on 
my face if she just lugged down and pooped out. Didn't know what to expect. 
Tractor had been sitting in a barn for several years. I had changed all the 
fluids, filters and fuel and did what I could to get things limbered up 
before the show, but one never knows just what will happen when you go to 
pull such a load. Fellow last year pulled a 70 diesel standard and barely 
got ten feet before it lugged out. My son took some pics which I hope to get 
posted soon. Will send links when I do.

Duane

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Brandon Knapp" <lneuwirth at eriecoast.com>
To: "Antique John Deere mailing list" 
<antique-johndeere at lists.antique-tractor.com>
Sent: Wednesday, September 29, 2004 2:33 AM
Subject: Re: [AJD] John Deere Saves the Day!!!


> That would have been a sight to see! YaHoo!
>
> I'm glad to hear that the R is doing good for ya!
>
> Brandon
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Duane Ledford <dledford at classicnet.net>
> To: antique-johndeere at lists.antique-tractor.com
> <antique-johndeere at lists.antique-tractor.com>
> Date: Tuesday, September 28, 2004 4:41 PM
> Subject: [AJD] John Deere Saves the Day!!!
>
>
> Our local tractor show was this last weekend. We are a small town, and the
> show is not that big, but does draw a fair crowd. One of the features is, 
> of
> course, a tractor pull. The antique tractors pulled on Saturday night with
> the classics pulling on Sunday afternoon.
>
> My R was too heavy for competition. They said that in times past, there 
> were
> no tractors in that weight class to pull, so they did away with the 
> heavier
> classes. They did allow me to pull as the very last hook for exibition.
> Saturday night I was kind of worried as I had not pulled before, and the R
> had found its home in my shop only a few weeks ago. Was hoping that the
> tractor would at least move the sled. I had nothing to worry about. Wasn't 
> a
> full pull, but pretty darn close.
>
> The next day, decided to try it again. The last class to pull that day was
> the 5000# open class. No speed limit, etc. They had weighted the sled down
> pretty good in order to keep these "hotrods" from going on out the back
> fence. They had succeeded in doing so except for three tractors.
>
> Now, for the good part. Our local New Holland dealer supplies both the 
> pull
> back tractor as well as the blade tractor for these events. Good
> advertisement, or so he thought. I had noticed Saturday night that as they
> added more weight to the sled, that shiney blue New Holland tractor would
> have more and more trouble gaining traction in order to pull the sled back
> to the starting point. On Sunday, the sled was weighted even more for 
> these
> open class tractors, and it was quite an effort for that fancy new tractor
> to do its job. It would spin and throw about as much dust as those
> "hotrods", even with the rear end locked up.
>
> On the last pull before the pull-off, that brand new 70 horse tractor just
> couldn't do it. Just sat there and spun the tires. After much head
> scratching, they decided to hook the blade tractor to the front of the
> larger one and pull in tandem. That was a scary sight! Both tractors
> spinning their tires, slowly going forward. If the larger tractor would 
> have
> happened to have gotten traction, it would have been over the top of the
> blade tractor in an instant. I was sitting close to the starting line
> waiting for my turn to pull. When they finally got the sled back into
> position, I said that they should put a John Deere on there and show them
> how it is supposed to be done.
>
> After they put even more weight on the sled for the pull-off, the first
> tractor went flying down the track in a cloud of dust, the pull back 
> tractor
> right behind. The next thing I know, someone is running up to me saying "
> get down there and pull the sled back!" That shiney blue tractor couldn't
> even budge the sled. Oh boy, I thought. Hope I didn't just put my foot in 
> my
> mouth! I got down there and finally got backed straight to the sled. (The
> Armstrong power steering was giving me some trouble) Got hooked on. Put 
> her
> in first, opened the throttle a little, and slowly engaged the clutch. The
> moment of truth had arrived. She chug-chugged like nothing was behind her.
> Gave her full throttle and away down the track we went. Applause from the
> crowd, and a few not so kind words about the pretty blue tractor. Got to
> pull the sled four times that day. Three going one way, and once the other
> way. Didn't pull as far as Saturday night, but there was a whole lot more
> weight on the sled. Was within about 10 feet of where the "hotrod" 
> tractors
> made it.
>
> All in all it was a pretty good day, for me at least. Don't know when the
> New Holland dealer will live down the fact that a 53 year old John Deere 
> out
> did his nice new New Holland. Like I said, this is a small town. Things 
> like
> that are hard to live down.
>
> Duane Ledford
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