'You better hang on': Classic tractors at plowing day

RANKIN, Ill. — Travelers a few miles south of this community may have thought they’d stepped back in time when they saw numerous classic tractors pulling plows along a field of wheat stubble.

Friends from Armstrong, Potomac, Cissna Park, Paxton, Rankin and other towns gathered at Joe Kuntz’s farm for his plowing day on Sept. 12.

“This is about the fifth or sixth one that we’ve had. I haven’t had one for two years because of weather and then my wheat crop failed a year ago, so we didn’t have the wheat stubble. We’re back at it again this year,” Kuntz said.

The visitors, many of whom are members of the I&I Antique Tractor and Gas Engine Club, spent the morning plowing. They welcomed the chance after the cancellation of this year’s Historic Farm Days, hosted by I&I, and similar events due to the pandemic.

“It is nice to see your neighbors and have some friends around. We’ll get together and have lunch. It’s just a good day all and all,” Kuntz said.

“I call them up to let them know when we’re going to do it and ask them to bring a couple of tractors if they can. We always have a good time. That’s the beauty of it. You can have these tractors all painted up and looking nice, but it’s nice to get them out and drive them. I grew up plowing a lot before we went to conservation tillage. It brings back a lot of memories.”

Kuntz was plowing with his 1937 John Deere and started restoring his first tractor about 20 years ago.

“I have a couple that I’ve redone and a couple that need to be redone. Most of them are John Deere. I’ve got Minneapolis-Moline Z, and that was the first tractor I’d redone,” he explained.

“It’s a fun hobby, especially for a farmer who grew up doing this kind of work. I love to see these tractors out working and actually doing something in the field rather than just going to a parade, but parades are nice, too.”

Preserving Past

Kuntz believes it is important to preserved agriculture’s past for future generations.

“For instance, that’s my son, Matthew, driving that tractor, and when he helped me on the farm as he was growing up he never got the chance to do any of this,” Kuntz said.

“So, I think a lot of it is for the next generation, not only for the love we have for it, but it’s that next generation to be able to see what these old tractors did and how slow it was compared to the machinery we have today. We’re able to show the younger generation the way it was done years and years ago. That’s a big part of it, too.

“There’s no GPS on this. It’s right there in your hands and you better hang on.”