Annual two-day ride bringing 240 tractors to Fairfield

Restored tractors, used in the fields a generation or more earlier, will come to Fairfield Thursday evening, gathering at Jefferson County Fairgrounds for the 10th annual, two-day, Red Rock Threshers Tractor Ride.

Chairman of the tractor ride committee Lawrence Roose of Pella anticipates 240 tractors to participate this year, including local Jefferson County residents.

?We have anywhere from 230 to 275 tractors on our annual rides,? said Roose. ?This year?s ride is a little bit far from Pella, so I think we?ll have about 240.?

Red Rock Threshers is a club in Pella and draws members from around the region.

?We do threshing, corn picking and plowing demonstrations throughout the season,? said Roose. ?We go on tours twice a year and have meetings the first Thursday of the month. We do a variety of things.

?Many older farmers like to restore tractors they grew up on,? he said, explaining the reason for tractors rides and shows. ?As equipment improved, we bought the newer models for efficiency, but kept our older models. These have been lovingly restored and one way to show them off is these tractor rides. Many participate in parades, too.?

Roose favors driving his 1957 John Deere 720, though he also owns a 1950 John Deere 620 and a 1948 Farmall.

?I bought that ?57 John Deere when I started farming in 1974,? said Roose. ?I used it many years, but not anymore. When my wife accompanies me on tractor rides, she drives the 1950 John Deere. It was her dad?s tractor when he was farming.?

Thursday evening is registration for all drivers and tractors at the fairgrounds.

A drivers? meeting is 7:30 a.m. Friday, and the ride will take off at 8 a.m. The route goes through Libertyville and a stop for a coffee break is scheduled in Douds at the park. Continuing on, the tractor ride will stop at the Van Buren County Fair and have lunch in Keosauqua, take an afternoon break in Stockport then return to Fairfield for overnight, having driven 78 miles.

Supper will be available for purchase from the Jefferson County Pork Producers in the activity building at the fairgrounds that night.

The next morning, Saturday, after the 7:30 a.m. drivers? meeting, the tractors once again will leave Fairfield at 8 a.m., going to Lockridge for a morning break then lunch at the park in Brighton. The 51-mile ride the second day also returns the drivers to Fairfield in the afternoon.

Tractors are assigned to one of four speed groups: 16 mph, 14 mph, 12 mph and 10 mph.

?We go slow enough, because that?s how the tractors run, but people we pass can enjoy them,? said Roose. ?And then when we stop in towns along the way and park in parks for breaks, residents like to come by and take a look and swap stories.?

Each year, a committee plans out a different route for the annual tractor ride.