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Sponsored jointly by most of the farm implement dealers in Jackson county and the Jackson County Farm Bureau, a first trac tor operators’ contest held at the Jackson County Fair on Thurs day afternoon seemed to appeal to the interest of some 600 spec tators who sat through the sun shine to see this event completed. This event held for the first time, was in the nature of a con test designed to give tractor opera tors an opportunity to demonstrate their individual skills in opera ting tractor and two-wheeled trailer with ease and safety. Specifically, the course as laid out consisted of an inspection of the tractor itself, checking of the water and oil level and other service practices, starting the tractor motor and starting the tractor. Then each operator drove a certain course laid out in the grandstand area. The job con sisted of backing into a deep shed, hitching up to a manure spreader and driving an obstacle course, driving between two posts 20 feet apart in one direction, passing the second post and backing through between these posts in the other direction and placing the spreader in another shed, calculated to as similate a nine foot barn door. The third part consisted of mak ing a sharp turn into a 11 foot lane, through a 14 foot gate. This seemed to be the hardest job of all. Only three of the 8 men tak ing part were able to make this. The fourth part was to place the spreader back into the deep shed and unhitch, then proceed to an other area and align and belt the tractor to a feed mill and run the feed mill a few seconds. Contests of this nature are to be regarded in the same light as a showmanship contest with live stock. The operator demonstrates his knowledge of some of the daily service operations of a farm tractor, together with his skill in handling his tractor and imple ment properly and safely. Regu lations for scoring events of this kind have been developed in re cent years by agricultural engi neers and promoted by the oil companies. Drivers taking part were scored in all areas according to a spe cial scoring system in which cer tain points off are scored for vari ous skill and safety violations. Tractor operators who took part represented most of the farm machinery dealers who had ex hibits at the county fair. Winners Listed Placing first was Robert Brewer of Driftwood township, who was operating an Oliver Tractor for the Cordes Hardware Co. of Sey mour, whose score was 130. Placing second was George Dar lage of Brownstown township, who drove a Case tractor for Sielker Machine Shop of Seymour. His score was 250. Placing third was Bob Gillaspy of Brownstown, who drove a Ford tractor for Plummer Sales and Service of Brownstown. His score was 265. Merle Ramp of Brownstown township, who drove a Co-Op tractor for the Jackson County Farm Bureau Cooperative Asso ciation, was fourth. His score was 280. Edwin Bode of Redding town ship, driving a John Deere trac tor for Browning Brothers of Seymour, was fifth. His score was 400. Joe Ballard of Brownstown township operated a Case tractor for Bowling Motor Co. His score was 435. Jack Norris, operating a Minneapolis-Moline tractor for Friendly Sales and Service of Sey mour, scored 465 and Don Lucas of Jackson township, operating an International tractor for Timper man Sales and Service of Sey mour, scored 535. The committee who arranged and supervised this event were William Bobb, Omer Owens, Har old Brackemyre and William Keithley, all members of the Fair Association, Farm Bureau mem bers Emil Dowling, Herman Hackman, Ralph Holtman, Edgar Hackman, Edgar Stahl, Russell Cross, Lynn Hinnefeld, and W. P. Stall. Assisting the committee on Thursday afternoon was F. R. Willsey, Farm Safety Specialist and a member of the Department of Agricultural Extension of Pur due University.
Newspaper Details
Seymour Daily Tribune
Seymour, Indiana, US
Wed, Aug 16, 1950
Page 10
Full Page
Clipped by
Ross A.
USA 24 Jun 2026
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