Convoy of classics
Parade of antique tractors draws crowdsBy JOE GORMAN Tribune Chronicle
Article Photos
BAZETTA - At one time, they worked the fields. Thursday, they worked the roads of Trumbull County.
Forty antique tractors paraded Thursday from Charlanne Farms, 2785 Warren Burton Road in Southington to the Ali Baba Grotto on Perkins Jones Road in Bazetta for the Trumbull County Antique Tractor Club Show. The show gets underway Saturday.
Club members and others flocked to the grotto early to grab a good seat to watch the parade, which was escorted on its 10-mile route by Trumbull County sheriff's deputies. The trek took about an hour and 13 minutes at what one club member estimated was an average speed of 10 mph.
Drivers gave the parade rave reviews.
''Perfect,'' said Sam Plott, driver of the lead tractor and nephew of Charles Plott, owner of Charlanne Farms and the tractors. ''There were no hangups, no trouble. There were people all over watching us.''
Spectators with cameras lined both sides of the roadway along the route.
Charles Plott said, ''Fantastic. They're all here,'' as he directed incoming tractors to parking spots.
He said some tractors that had steel wheels were transported on trucks or trailers to avoid damaging them, but for the most part, almost every vehicle in the parade was a tractor.
He was astride a Massey-Ferguson tractor and most of the vehicles were Masseys.
''My grandfather sold them,'' he said.
Mark Cooper Jr. of Southington said the ride was ''pretty good. It was fun. The traffic wasn't too bad.''
His fiancee, Angela Elston, rode with him and said she enjoyed herself.
''It's different,'' she said.
Donna Tricker of Kinsman was parking a Massey-Ferguson 35 Deluxe.
''It was a nice ride. There was no problems,'' she said.
Earlier, club member Jack Crawford fretted that there might not be enough riders. There were.
''It's a big undertaking. A huge one,'' Crawford said.
Fred Smith and his brother Gene, both of Kinsman, showed up just to look at the tractors.
''I remember when we used them all the time,'' said Fred Smith, who was a truck driver for 41 years.
Gene Smith said he remembered his father's Fordson tractor, which had steel wheels and had to be wound up to start.
Those arriving early brought chairs or blankets and tracked the process of the procession via cellular phone. A man on a cell phone was heard to say ''this is quite a sight here'' as the tractors began pulling onto Perkins Jones Road.
