[AT] Back 40 Junction

Thu Jan 8 23:14:34 PST 2026

Charity auctions were a part of it and I still have the Minneapolis Moline I won and with the help of folks got moved from I think it was in AZ anyway moved to California then to Portland OR where I picked it up from and it still lives on Whidbey Island and runs occasionally just for fun.  It still runs on Propane after finding the necessary parts for the Ensign regulator. 

Bruce Fallon

 <mailto:bfallon at whidbey.com> bfallon at whidbey.com 

From: AT <at-bounces at lists.antique-tractor.com> On Behalf Of Dean Vinson
Sent: Thursday, January 8, 2026 8:28 PM
To: 'Antique Tractor Email Discussion Group' <at at lists.antique-tractor.com>
Subject: Re: [AT] Back 40 Junction

Spencer, thanks—it’s fun to remember that era.   I wasn’t as closely involved as many but made it to dinner at the Back 40 at least once, possibly twice, and in more recent years have stopped there for old times’ sake a couple of times when driving through Indiana on some trip or other.

[Tractor content:   One of my comparatively recent Back 40 visits was on the way home from an early 2024 trip up to Mishawaka, Indiana, to look at the John Deere 3020 that shortly thereafter came to live at my place.  :) ]

And thank you in general, very seriously, for the entire ATIS experience.  I think it was right about 30 years ago I found the ATIS page and signed up, after finally giving in to my wife’s suggestions that I search the web for old-tractor info.   She’d been telling me to do so for a while but I’d expected it to be a waste of time since I figured the kind of folks who’d be interested in old tractors would be out doing something useful rather than fooling around on this silly internet thing.  I’m glad I eventually took her advice.

For years thereafter checking the ATIS list (and eventually the John Deere and Farmall sub-lists) was a regular and treasured part of my day.  The ATIS group was a community, and, by the way, much more so than has ever been my experience in any other web forum, any messaging app, any Facebook group.  Some of the names got linked with faces at Portland or other shows or via the “ATIS Box” journeys, while others just remained names, but all lived large in my slow journey from “ex-farmkid who daydreams about old tractors” to “guy who finally managed to get some tractors and move back to a rural setting.”   Neil Yerigan once patiently walked me (entirely via email) through diagnostics on an ignition issue.  Gene Dotson gave me a couple little Case parts I needed, in exchange for a grilled porkchop sandwich at a tractor show in Xenia, Ohio.   Steve Sewell welcomed me and my young son to his home and shop for a visit one fine summer day.  Brice Adams let me drive his old John Deere D around for a bit at Portland one year, a process which taught me those standard-tread tractors may not be tall like the row-crops of my youth but they’re mighty *big* old horses nonetheless.  Steve Offiler I don’t think I ever met in person but time and again delighted me with some detailed and literate explanation of any of a huge number of mechanical or engineering topics.   Cecil, George, Hank, Farmer, Chuck, Evil Dave, Jim, Mattias, so many I hesitate to try to list them because I know I’ll overlook so many.   And Spencer, of course providing and managing the infrastructure that made it all exist in the first place but also always there facilitating and encouraging and posting your own comments and (when occasionally necessary) stepping in to keep the discussion civil and constructive… the *community* magic, whatever all went into it, I don’t think it would have happened without you. 

Dean Vinson

Saint Paris, Ohio

From: AT <at-bounces at lists.antique-tractor.com <mailto:at-bounces at lists.antique-tractor.com> > On Behalf Of Spencer Yost
Sent: Wednesday, December 31, 2025 1:35 AM
To: at at lists.antique-tractor.com <mailto:at at lists.antique-tractor.com> ; The SEL email discussion list <sel at lists.stationary-engine.com <mailto:sel at lists.stationary-engine.com> >
Subject: Re: [AT] Back 40 Junction

I don’t know how many of you remember, but giving back to the community was always something important to me and was something that I wanted for ATIS and SEL. Between the Portland auction and the Christmas auction, I was determined to raise money for those less fortunate than us.

I remember Dave Rotigel giving me shit at one of these dinners to the point it pissed my wife off. But Dave was one of those friends you tolerated because he was also always the best of friends. Both he and a college roommate taught me that not everyone understands the language of friendship, but they managed to communicate it in their own way.

Our arrangements at the back 40, our relationship with the hostess, our relationship with the management, everything about the back 40 was integral to our gathering at the Portland, Indiana tri-state, gas engine and tractor show for a number of years.

We raised tens of thousands of dollars for charities.

I hate that everything changes yet I am fully aware it does.

The onus on is on you, new generation. Lift everyone up with you. We’re too old and occupied with family, grandchildren, infirmary, and late life planning to carry on.

Be even better than us,  please.  We’re counting on it.  

Spencer Yost

On Dec 31, 2025, at 12:06 AM, Dean Vinson <dean at vinsonfarm.net <mailto:dean at vinsonfarm.net> > wrote:

The Back 40 Junction restaurant in Decatur, Indiana has hosted some dinners in years past for ATIS and Engine List groups attending the Portland show.   I just saw this article announcing the restaurant is closing due to the owner's health concerns.

https://www.wane.com/top-stories/iconic-decatur-restaurant-back-40-junction-closing-its-doors

Times change.  I hope a new owner can be found to reopen the Back 40.

Dean Vinson

Saint Paris, Ohio

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