PULL OF THE PLOW

PALMER — Humorist and author Bill Bryson once quipped that farmers are so tough that, “There are only three things that can kill a farmer: lightning, rolling over in a tractor and old age.”

Perhaps the only thing that enjoys more longevity through decades of hard toil is the farmer’s tractor. The appreciation for the family farm workhorse continues in Southcentral in the Antique Power Club of Alaska, which shows and works vintage tractors around the state.

On Saturday, the aging collections of iron, gasoline and gears were hard at work again plowing about 60 acres of Palmer area farmland.

About 30 of the club’s 100-plus members turned out for the group’s annual Plow Day, said president Denny Purviance. He put his 1937 Case and 1947 H Farmall tractors to work.

“A majority of our members have a farm background and a lot of them, like myself, are a little bit older,” he said. “The tractors you see us collecting now and driving now are probably tractors we used in farming days.”

In fact, Purviance grew up on a farm in Iowa and a 1937 Case “is what I learned to drive on,” he said.

Seeing all the antique tractors working his fields brought back memories for farmer John Hett, who said he’s been working the land in the Valley for “30-some years.”

“Oh yes, I grew up on some of those tractors,” Hett said, adding he is thankful for the club’s efforts to kick-start the growing season. “It was very nice, a good thing.”

Plow Day is as fun for Antique Power Club members as it is helpful for the farmer, Purviance said.

“Not only do we have antique tractors, we have antique plows,” he said. “We actually plowed the field for him, and even before we left he was already planting the ground. … That’s a lot of work, and we appreciate him for allowing us to do it. It gives us a chance to use our equipment, to go out and hear those engines under load, feel that power and smell the dirt. It’s a good fellowship time, everybody’s helping everybody.”

Like automobile enthusiasts, tractor collectors also break down into their factions of preference, Purviance said.

“You know how with cars they like to brag about which one is best, Ford or Chevy? We do the same, red vs. green — green being John Deere and red being Farmall,” he said. “I’m a red guy, Farmall.”

Although Plow Day allows the tractor club to put its engines to hard labor, the machines are active in the summer months, Purviance said. Along with participating in area parades, the club will host a tractor pull at this year’s Colony Days celebration, and a pull at the Alaska State Fair. The visibility, it is hoped, will help generate interest in antique tractors in younger generations.

“Today, you have a lot of technology and you have air-conditioned cabs and all kinds of things,” he said. “We didn’t have those kinds of things when I was farming. Basically, most of the tractors we have in our club are what I would call small-farm equipment.”

Mostly, tractors represent down-to-earth, solid American values, he said.

“Most of us came to Alaska from someplace in the Midwest,” Purviance said. “I guess I’m impressed with the club because of the people. They’re honest, hard-working, I’ll-help-you-out kind-of people.”

And their tractors work as hard as they do, he added. “They really are good machines. You think that a 1937 tractor can still go out and do what it did in 1937 is pretty amazing. That’s 73 years. They were made well, were tough.”

Contact Greg Johnson at greg.johnson@frontiersman.com or 352-2269.