Ed S.
Well-known Member
- Location
- Middle Tennessee
My wife and I met No. 1 Son and the grandkids at the antique tractor show in Eagleville this past weekend - brought the '50 8N and the '10 Boomer 8N to show, and we all had a great time. The kiddos especially liked the steam engines running a saw mill and threshing machine.
Wife cajoled me into entering the wagon backing contest - the folks we had been watching were taking well over a minute to back up maybe 30' ("Amateurs!" I was thinking to myself). So I hitched up and started backing up, thinking, "this is a breeze!" Well, I didn't realize they had rigged the rear wheels of the rack so they steered too, opposite the front wheels! It hooked around right at the end, but just made it inside the folding chair marking the finish line, and I ended up winning the event with a time of 21 seconds. No-one wanted to enter after that, and I got a trophy, new iron skillet and a Cracker Barrel gift card for my efforts.
The other event I entered was the "slow race." I used the Boomer 8N for this one, since it has a CVT transmission with cruise control. I bumped the throttle enough to engage the clutches in low range, then set the cruise and let it go. Everyone else except an old Farmall quickly ran away from us. I was about a foot ahead of the Farmall halfway down the track, but then she started to pull ahead slightly and I ended up winning by 10 seconds (less than 1 foot) - they said over the PA it was the closest slow race they'd ever had. Total time was 6 minutes 33 seconds. Wife said it was about as exciting as watching golf. Someone told me afterwards that the Farmall I was up against usually wins these (it must have been the owner's daughter driving, as I saw an older guy hollering at her from the sidelines to bump the throttle down more). Got a second trophy for that effort.
My 5 y.o. grandson was a winner, too, in the kiddie tricycle race, so we pretty much made a clean sweep of the awards.
I even talked my wife into letting me teach her how to drive the Boomer 8N - with power steering and a CVT transmission, it's pretty much like driving a car. Went well - we didn't run over any pedestrians. The plan was for us both to drive in the tractor parade, but rain showers canceled that.
There was a guy with one arm in a sling driving this old MM around - he had his hand full!
Wife wanted to watch a little bit of the pulling, but it started a downpour after about 15 minutes. I had already loaded my tractors, so we high-tailed it back home at that point.
All-in-all, it was a fun day!
es
Wife cajoled me into entering the wagon backing contest - the folks we had been watching were taking well over a minute to back up maybe 30' ("Amateurs!" I was thinking to myself). So I hitched up and started backing up, thinking, "this is a breeze!" Well, I didn't realize they had rigged the rear wheels of the rack so they steered too, opposite the front wheels! It hooked around right at the end, but just made it inside the folding chair marking the finish line, and I ended up winning the event with a time of 21 seconds. No-one wanted to enter after that, and I got a trophy, new iron skillet and a Cracker Barrel gift card for my efforts.
The other event I entered was the "slow race." I used the Boomer 8N for this one, since it has a CVT transmission with cruise control. I bumped the throttle enough to engage the clutches in low range, then set the cruise and let it go. Everyone else except an old Farmall quickly ran away from us. I was about a foot ahead of the Farmall halfway down the track, but then she started to pull ahead slightly and I ended up winning by 10 seconds (less than 1 foot) - they said over the PA it was the closest slow race they'd ever had. Total time was 6 minutes 33 seconds. Wife said it was about as exciting as watching golf. Someone told me afterwards that the Farmall I was up against usually wins these (it must have been the owner's daughter driving, as I saw an older guy hollering at her from the sidelines to bump the throttle down more). Got a second trophy for that effort.
My 5 y.o. grandson was a winner, too, in the kiddie tricycle race, so we pretty much made a clean sweep of the awards.
I even talked my wife into letting me teach her how to drive the Boomer 8N - with power steering and a CVT transmission, it's pretty much like driving a car. Went well - we didn't run over any pedestrians. The plan was for us both to drive in the tractor parade, but rain showers canceled that.
There was a guy with one arm in a sling driving this old MM around - he had his hand full!
Wife wanted to watch a little bit of the pulling, but it started a downpour after about 15 minutes. I had already loaded my tractors, so we high-tailed it back home at that point.
All-in-all, it was a fun day!
es
