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Farm fair tractor parade


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Today was the 3rd annual Tractor Parade to kick off our county's farm fair which starts Wednesday. We may or may not go because it is historically the hottest, wettest week of the year so it's pretty gross weather wise.

The tractor parade leaves the fair grounds and travels 35 miles through the county and returns back to the fairgrounds. The website said there was to be about 75 tractors in the parade and I would say it was pretty accurate.

A bunch of us gathered in a parking lot waiting for the parade. We ended up waiting about 45 mins for it to come by. Thankfully we were in the shade and loaded with water, snacks, bubbles, frisbee golf and some other stuff to entertain the kids.

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I have no pictures of us because it was hot and the kids were somehow full of energy and running around like crazy. However we have lots of tractor pictures to share. I know nothing about tractors so there will be little to read and just a lot to look at.

Here they come!

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They were announcing over their radio "The tractors are coming! The tractors are coming!" We all cheered.

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Notice the sign? I'd like to point out I don't live that close to Camden. It's in a different county.

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We had 4 primary tractors we used extensively on the farm when I was growing up, and in your pictures you have captured 2 of the models we had.  Awesome sauce! 

 

In the top picture, the third tractor back is a Farmall A.  I spent hundreds of hours on one of those as a kid, cultivating fields of peppers, cukes, tomatoes, etc.  That thing had the hardest, steel seat in the history of tractors.  We called it the Hemorrhoid Express.  LOL.

 

The bottom picture, center is an International Harvester tractor very similar to another one I spent a ton of time on.  In fact, I started driving that one at 4 years old.  The interesting thing about that tractor is that, a) it had power steering, which they didn't all have in those days, and b ) you could set it to move incredibly slow, which was helpful for walking along to load bushels of tomatoes onto the trailer.  When I was 4 my Dad had me start driving while the rest of the family loaded the maters.  All I had to do was steer and keep from going to far at the end of a row.  If I got in trouble I'd just turn off the key.  I can't imagine putting one of my little ones on a tractor like that these days. 

 

Thanks for sharing!

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We had 4 primary tractors we used extensively on the farm when I was growing up, and in your pictures you have captured 2 of the models we had. Awesome sauce!

In the top picture, the third tractor back is a Farmall A. I spent hundreds of hours on one of those as a kid, cultivating fields of peppers, cukes, tomatoes, etc. That thing had the hardest, steel seat in the history of tractors. We called it the Hemorrhoid Express. LOL.

The bottom picture, center is an International Harvester tractor very similar to another one I spent a ton of time on. In fact, I started driving that one at 4 years old. The interesting thing about that tractor is that, a) it had power steering, which they didn't all have in those days, and b ) you could set it to move incredibly slow, which was helpful for walking along to load bushels of tomatoes onto the trailer. When I was 4 my Dad had me start driving while the rest of the family loaded the maters. All I had to do was steer and keep from going to far at the end of a row. If I got in trouble I'd just turn off the key. I can't imagine putting one of my little ones on a tractor like that these days.

Thanks for sharing!

I didn't realize you were such a farm boy! now that the rest of the pics are posted, did my dad capture the other 2 you used? i just read an article in our paper and they said there was over 100 tractors were in it. I was surprised at how fast they were moving.

Hemorrhoid Express nice! considering the length of time farmers spend on them, you would think the seats could be a little more forgiving!

and that is incredibly scary you were on a tractor at 4! The boy has 2 john deere ride on toys and they make me nervous, I'd have a stroke if it was a real tractor!

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 now that the rest of the pics are posted, did my dad capture the other 2 you used? i just read an article in our paper and they said there was over 100 tractors were in it. I was surprised at how fast they were moving.

Hemorrhoid Express nice! considering the length of time farmers spend on them, you would think the seats could be a little more forgiving!

 

There were a couple that closely resembled the other 2...same make and similar models. 

 

Some of the tractors have incredibly comfortable seats and cabs.  And some do not.  There was one tractor in particular, a Ford, that we used for spraying the grapes.  It wasn't very comfortable and did not have an enclosed cab, so when spraying I had to wear a full body suit and gas mask for protection from the chemicals (this was obviously not an organic farm).  In the summer you'd be drenched with sweat from being enclosed in rubber.  I was the youngest of my parents' kids, and as soon as I was grown and moved away, and my father had to do all the spraying, he bought a new tractor with an enclosed, air conditioned cab.  It even had a stereo!  At that point he was in his 50's and deserved some comfort, but couldn't he have sprung for it a few years earlier? 

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We have tractor parades at Florida Flywheeler Shows  3 times a year.  Also have old car parades and funny looking carts running around. might have to take up photography and learn how to post pictures.

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We have tractor parades at Florida Flywheeler Shows 3 times a year. Also have old car parades and funny looking carts running around. might have to take up photography and learn how to post pictures.

You should!!!

I bummed that it is just too hot for us to go to Farm Fair. Last night at 8 the heat index was still like 95 :barf:

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Aww you guys need to stop hating on jersey! I was just at the farm stand picking up some fresh Jersey produce! We have tons of farms around here. There is one huge one (which Adam's picture just so happens to be on their website!) about 15 mins away that is a gold mine. They even have a splash pad! I think the new term is agricu-tainment. South Jersey even has a rodeo! My part of Jersey is great, can't say I feel the same about North Jersey....

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I have many hours on an old Farmall offset. Those things were great in the field, especially when you were pulling a planter and trying to keep the rows straight.

I also drove an old Ford, not sure of the model but it had a single arm front loader we called the widow maker. It was a little unstable and if you had too much in the bucket it had a tendency to tip over.

Lets see- a 35 mile long tractor parade. That should take about 10 hours, right?

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