Tractors that had their heyday between the early to mid 20th century were on display at the Jackson County Fairgrounds east of Brownstown this past weekend.
The 13th annual Jackson County Antique Machinery show was held Friday and Saturday and the event featured vintage farming equipment, flea markets, food and tractor enthusiasts coming together to share their passion with each other.
Children competed in a pedal pull contest and took rides in a barrel train around the fairgrounds.
The Jackson County Antique Machinery Association Inc. organizes the event each year and plans to hold a swap meet Nov. 5.
Melvin Bishop, a director of the association, said there were approximately 60 tractors and 90 engines displayed this year.
Every year, a tractor brand is featured as a theme for each edition of the show.
Allis-Chalmers, a brand known for its orange tractors until the company dissolved in the late 1990s after financial hardships, was the featured brand this year.
Jason Clodfelter of Salem brought two Allis-Chalmers tractors, one from 1961 and another from 1964.
He attended the show a year ago as a spectator and decided to bring his tractors to the show since Allis-Chalmers was the featured brand.
Clodfelter said he has been restoring tractors for two years and is a lifelong fan of the brand.
His love for orange tractors came from the fact that his grandfather was an Allis-Chalmers salesman when he was growing up.
Since picking up the hobby of restoring tractors, Clodfelter said he learns something new every day — whether it’s about his tractors or the process or restoring them.
Clodfelter said Allis-Chalmers tractors come in three shades of orange: Persian Orange 1, Persian Orange 2 and Corporate Orange.
In some instances, equipment would be yellow because it was for use by state and county highway departments.
While Allis-Chalmers equipment can be considered collectors items since they aren’t made anymore, Clodfelter said he knows people that still use them today.
He said he suspects there are more Allis-Chalmers equipment in farms and homes in the area because there used to be a dealership in Brownstown.
Cortland resident Eugene Kruse brought two tractors that were made by Massey-Harris, a brand that hasn’t been in existence since the 1950s.
Massey-Harris merged with Ferguson Company in 1953 to create Massey Ferguson Limited, a farm equipment company that is still in operation.
Kruse said he remembered his dad using a Massey-Harris tractor when he was six years old and he was interested in having one like it when he retired.
“Older people are interested in this because these are the tractors that we learned to drive on,” Kruse said.
He traveled eight hours to Joplin, Missouri, to buy a 1951 tractor that he said is very similar to the one he remembered from his childhood.
Ray Thornton, a self-described tinkerer from Madison, owned perhaps the most unique and modern machinery on the show grounds.
He had two tractors he built himself with the brand name of RT, the result of his initials.
Thornton said he built the tractors just for the fun of it and they typically draw a lot of attention at shows because of how different they are.
Building the tractors involved taking axles, engines, transmissions and other miscellaneous machinery parts, assembling them onto a frame and molding a grill so it would fit onto the front of it.
For his current project, Thornton said he was in search of a Ford Model T hood.
While Thornton said he normally goes to a decent amount of farm machinery shows, he said he doesn’t plan on going to as many this year because of soaring gasoline prices in recent months.