We consider the Brown County Machinery Association our “home” club and show. We always enjoy this show and this year was no exception.
When we pulled into the fairgrounds, we spotted (it was hard to miss!) this massive yellow tractor that looked like something from a sci-fi movie. More on that later. In addition to our standard setup, you will note the number 7 placard above. We were station number 7 for the 6th graders who would invade the grounds on Friday morning.
Friday morning turned out to be foggy enough to cause a two hour delay to the start of school. A nice warm day, coupled with the start of school delay equaled a lively bunch of kids. As always, this is one of the highlights of any show for us. We talk about the Jeep’s history and pass around pictures of kids operating Jeeps on the farm. We know we got through to at least a couple of the kids, as they returned with their parents on Saturday.
Fred from YouTube’s “Recommended by Fred” stopped by for an interview. We want to thank him for taking the time to talk with us. I think it is representative of what we try to do at shows – tell some of the Farm Jeep story.
About that machine…
There were many visitors who stopped to look at the mystery machine before they visited with us. Out of all the many individuals who stopped by, only one correctly identified the purpose of the machine. He had seen one at a recent show in Tennessee
The front view didn’t provide many additional clues.
Lots of hoses, big brushes and steel “fingers” on both sides. And a conveyor in the back.
There is a big clue!
In this case, the answer was in front of the book – make that machine –
Thanks to Randy for bringing the green bean picker and teaching all of us a little history about where our food comes form.
Fred also stopped by and talked to Randy.
Breaking up is hard to do
The Farm Jeep story of the show was provided by the gentleman who stopped by to tell us about his uncle, the grass and cattle farmer. He used his CJ2a with a “breaker” ( middle-buster or sub-soiler in today’s terms) in his grass fields to break up the hardpan and to open the soil to allow moisture to seep into the ground.
The photo above is from the film Revolution in Pleasantville. At about the 19M58S mark, you can see the breaker in operation.
It seems our farmer liked to drive his Jeep in ever larger circles. One year, when the soil was very dry, the breaker wouldn’t stay in the ground, without additional weight. So our farmer attached ropes to the Jeep’s steering wheel and rode on the breaker. Seems uncomfortable, but apparently it worked.
Fred provided another view of the show.
Thanks to all our Brown County friends for another great show.