ALL ABOUT TRACTORS

BY PAUL WALLEM 

The first Farm Progress Show (1953) drew 150,000 visitors. There were over 100 exhibitors. The 1963 Show, where we introduced the Farmall 706 and 806, was held at Morton, Ill., and drew an attendance of 365,000 with 270 exhibitors. (This year’s 2023 show had 620 exhibits).

Many of you have attended one or more Farm Progress Shows. I was responsible for the IH new tractor introduction at the 1963 show. Let me describe the intense preparation we went through back then, which I am told is much the same at shows all these years later.

If you’ve attended a Farm Progress Show, you’ve seen the elaborate displays inside large tents and outside, where the large equipment is on display, and the numerous employees working each exhibit. Out in the demonstration fields, lines of guests watch tillage, forage and harvesting equipment working.

This year, the Farm Progress Show celebrated its 70th anniversary. This year is also the 100th anniversary of Farmall tractors and the 60th anniversary of the Farmall 706 and 806.

Jim Yorty’s farm near Morton was the site of the 1963 show. Our IH district office at Peoria, Ill., announced the new 706 and 806 to the farming public. It was a three-day show, just as it still is, and we started preparing for it weeks in advance.

Well before the opening day, our demonstration machines had been delivered to the site. Before the show, our field team started working in the field, preparing to demonstrate tillage and forage equipment as well as combines.

We chose the theme “More Power to You.” One week in advance, we started building a fenced-in arena for spectators. Gravel was banked all the way around so people in the back could see over those standing in front. A roof was built for guest rain protection.

A balloon was rented to float over the IH exhibit site. 706 and 806 signs were prepared on four sides of the basket. A large tent stood inside for seminars about the new models. These were conducted in between arena shows.

A tractor square dance team started practicing several days ahead to draw attention. We had “borrowed” two experienced team drivers from a neighboring district that had created the team for county fair performances. They were teaching the two new drivers. We had prepared four Farmall 544 tractors with faces on the hoods.

Tuesday was opening day. The field crew ran demonstrations, and guests were all over the grounds. We ran our arena show every two hours, starting with Dolph Hewitt and the WGN Sage Riders Band. They were followed by the tractor square dance team. Hewitt’s band played square dance music for the tractor team, and the crowd loved it.

Following their act, we brought the two new models into the arena and described them.

The crowds were far bigger than we expected. A new tractor announcement is a big event on the farm. These 706/806 models replaced the five-year-old 460 and 560, along with a significant jump in horsepower. All three days we had the opportunity to talk to customers about them.

What spectators didn’t see was the intense preparation period before and during the event. We called in all the IH territory managers from throughout Illinois. The team also included three members of the district service department and two from the parts department. We “borrowed” the two experienced tractor square dance drivers. Altogether, we committed 22 to the event, from two weeks before till two days after it closed. Our primary objective was to introduce the new Farmall 706 and 806.

I clearly recall an incident that occurred the day before the show opened. Our IH vice president in charge of U.S. farm equipment sales drove down from Chicago to see what we planned for the event. He asked whether the balloon was filled with hydrogen or helium. I had no idea, so we talked to the team leader in charge of the balloon. I got a quick lesson in the difference when he said it was hydrogen. Our vice president had a fit because it was so flammable. The team leader was aware that helium is much safer but that it is much more expensive. Our vice

president directed me to raise the balloon much higher than planned for safety. I have never forgotten the difference between the two. (Remember the Graf Zeppelin disaster of 1937? That was a hydrogen explosion).

We worked long hours before, during, and after this event. Our efforts were well received, and the 706 and 806 are still popular collector models.

This year’s 2023 Farm Progress Show was much bigger, with far more exhibitors. However, after attending 17 of these events over the years, they are still as strenuous as before, involving more preparation but drawing enthusiastic crowds worldwide.

Paul Wallem was raised on an Illinois dairy farm. He spent 13 years with corporate IH on domestic and foreign assignments. He resigned to own and operate two IH dealerships. He is the author of THE BREAKUP of IH and SUCCESSES & INDUSTRY FIRSTS of IH. See all his books on www.PaulWallem.com. E-mail comments to pwallem@aol.com.