Mt Pesant Iowa show question.

I was there yesterday for as long as I could do the walking, and keep my eyes open. What a great show.

I could not help but wonder over the years if old tractors would still be popular. I do not recal there ever being as many tractors as this year.

Does anyone have a head count of the tractors on display?

I'm not sure the crowd was as big as I have seen, but there was still alot of folks there. They seem to be progressing with improvments to the grounds as well.

For me it makes a long day, wish I could take a two day visit so I could realy enjoy it.

I asked the little lady to give me a piggy back ride, but it made walking more difficult with a broken rib.

It makes me wonder how many of you folks I walked past during my stay. Perhaps next year we can set aside a certian time to meet at a certian place--my suggestion would be a place we can sit down and chat. It would be interesting to put a face on the names here. Peronaly I'm ugly, and my moma dresses me a little funny.

I'm sure everyone enjoyed the show. The folks put in alot of hard work for our enjoyment.

I was there yesterday as well, first time I had been there in many many years since I was a kid. Big change from what I remembered. the grounds seemed smaller, but that might have been more a factor of their just being a lot more there. Was actually there two days this time, and it was nice since we could look without rushing too much. Yeah, there were a LOT of tractors this year, far more then we remembered.

It really is a heck of a show, with a huge amount to see, and if your bringing kids it really is a good show. The new steam carousel was really neat to see and we were really impressed by all the R&V engines there. And of course, their steam section was as always a nice lineup, the folks willing to maintain, haul and display those beasts deserve a big thanks.

The only complaints dad and I had were the massive lines on saturday even to get something to eat even after 2 and that very few of the tractors and traction engines had any sort of information about the machine. only a few had any sort of tag with make, model, owner or year it seemed, let alone interesting data. There were a number of tractors there that I know were special models, but had no idea what they were.

The other complaint was we were slightly disappointed in the variety of off brand pre war gas tractors, which are a favorite with us. The ones there though were great to see and there were some really interesting ones, but were some very notable absences. I suppose having the featured tractor being JD might have hurt since everyone brought those, but I have to admit it was an impressive sea of green.

All in all, a good way to spend two days, and I'd like to go back next year, i really had missed going. Dad even suggested taking tractors next year.

I usualy have problems explaining why we must leave at 3 AM, and walk into the grounds at 6. We then grab breakfast, and avoid any activity for food or drink from 11 - 2:30.

It makes more sence to the newcomers after they see what is going down. At 6 AM you can park for free across the street from the main enterance, and in case you purchase something, you can make a trip to the car.

We always pack extra jackets, cloths, sunscreen, a cooler full of pop, snacks etc just in case it is simpler than waiting in line etc.

Now when I read this, I think back when I told everyone I burn my chimney out at 7PM the third Monday of the month when the firemen have their meeting. Alot of folks said that was a smart idea, and were going to do the same thing ---wait a munite here, what if we all had chimey fires at the same time?.......Same thing with the perfect spot, free parking perhaps. So everyone disregard the free parking thing!

Another tip was my ex bet me she could get us in the cab of steam train to take a movie. Mother nature had treated her well, was cute as a button, had the capabilitiy of making almost any man make a fool of hiself. She winked at me, undone the top two buttons---we got the best movie possible riding up front like that. And to think she only had to ask once!

I heard there were 750 registered tractors.

I have lived in Mt Pleasant all my 54 years. It used to be when I showed as a kid, it was the 1936 models and older only. 1971 was the first year I showed, and there was maybe 50 tractors, total. As the hobby has grown, so have the numbers. The rule is now, they must be 50 years old, which puts the cutoff at 1950. Tractor rides have also increased the numbers. Lots of guys that never owned a tractor now have one or two, to ride, have been bit by the bug, and are looking for another. Awful lot of nice tractors out there!

Wouldn't the cut off date be 1960?