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Arkansas Valley Flywheelers
Historian's Corner
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History of Our Club In 1988 half a dozen farm equipment history buffs decided they wanted to display their small engines and farm equipment at the Chaffee County Fair. They felt it would be an excellent location to generate interest in their hobby and that idea proved to be fruitful. Shortly after this endeavor they formed a club called "Arkansas Valley Flywheelers". In the winter of 1992 they built their own tractor pulling sled and started having tractor pulls to generate income to further promote their antique engines and farm equipment. By that time a designated location and buildings were established at the current Chaffee County Fairgrounds. The club has continued to display antique engines, equipment, and improve the grounds so we can continue to generate interest in our hobby and educate the younger generation about antique farming history. In recent years our club has generated surplus cash and have made additional improvements to the building, track and display area.
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Interesting
Tid Bits ! We interviewed club members who were involved in the filming of a Disney movie in the early 1990’s and plan to publish that history in an up-coming newsletter. This month we thought we would share some of the witty comments we heard at the Fair. The most common remarks from spectators viewing the antiques in the Mercantile fell into three main categories. Please read on !!!!!! A Tale of Two Tractors “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness…” begins Charles Dickens’ classic novel, A Tale of Two Cities. These lines popped into my mind as I sat down to write the story of two tractors that have been a part of the Flywheelers’ club activities for many years. Carroll Cox tells me that Dan Ringling rode to Idaho with him years ago to bring home a 1938 Oliver 80 Standard that Carroll had purchased. It was a hard tractor to drive, Carroll reports, because it had a right-foot clutch. If you weren’t concentrating on that fact all the time, you could run the thing off a ramp or a trailer far too easily. All the way home from Idaho, Dan tried to talk Carroll out of the Oliver, but Carroll didn’t want to sell. Dan kept trying, and several years later, when Dan offered to trade his CC Case and some cash for the Oliver, Carroll agreed. So Dan finally got his Oliver 80. Meanwhile, DJ Miles bought a 1947 John Deere B from a local tractor dealer, and Dan and DJ started a friendly rivalry at the Flywheeler pulls. They reportedly swapped wins, with one winning this weeks’ pull and the other winning the next. Finally, at a pull at Salida, they decided to get serious. They agreed that if DJ’s ‘B’ beat the Oliver, Dan would paint his rear wheels yellow. If Dan’s Oliver beat the John Deere, DJ would paint the front wheels of the ‘B’ red. Dan won. DJ dutifully painted his front wheels red. Although the agreement allowed DJ to repaint his John Deere the proper colors again at the end of the season, he says that he was doing so well with the ‘B’ he was afraid to change anything for fear he’d jinx his luck. So the wheels are red to this day. Some time before Dan Ringling moved to Pennsylvania, he sold his Oliver 80 to Bob Gilley. And in January of this year, DJ Miles sold his John Deere ‘B’ to Steve Cochran. Steve says he’s painting those wheels yellow first chance he gets. One more thing. Carroll says that while he still owned the Oliver, he needed to have it pull-started one time, and he forgot for an instant that he had a right-foot clutch and ran right into the back end of the tractor that was pulling him. Guess who that was. You’re right. It was DJ Miles on his John Deere B. Sue Cochran, Club Historian January of 2010 Club members have been very helpful in bringing photos
and newspaper clippings for the Historian’s box, but I need help with old newsletters. The first newsletter came out
late in 1990. In the early years, they were sporadic. I had planned to just list the issues I’m missing, but I can’t
tell how many I should have. Does anyone have old copies they would donate? Does anyone have a complete set I could borrow
to copy issues that I don’t have yet? Call Sue at 276-0577. From July 1991 newsletter: "Now you have the fair schedule. Only written excuses signed by your doctor or your mother will be accepted for not coming." |
“Tall Tale” to Tell Back in the early 1990’s, a couple of scouts from Walt Disney Pictures were in Pueblo looking for props for a film they were planning to shoot in Colorado. Someone in an antique shop suggested they talk to Wes Stratman about locating some old machinery. Read on ! |
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