Wrenching Tales
By Cindy Ladage

The June 24 Red Power Round Up at the La Porte, Ind., fairgrounds offered a media and preview day. While all the Farmall Red tractors were not yet in place, there was already a vast array of International Harvesters for visitors to view.

At the end of the day, the weather turned nasty, with the tornado siren going off and a storm pounding the area and most of Chicagoland. The storm left most of the city in the dark overnight, although the fairgrounds had electricity in portions.

Undaunted, collectors kept pouring into town the next day and the weather held off as visitors flocked to see what the 21st Round Up had to offer.

Clyde Berkshire of Royal Center, Ind., was pivotal in the show’s development. This year, for the first time, a large collection of IH autobuggy and autowagons were gathered at one spot. “I was chairman of this project,” Clyde shared. “We’ve never had a congregation before.“

Autobuggies and autowagons, precursors to IH’s trucks, came from as far away as California, Texas, Arizona, Ohio, Florida, Pennsylvania, Iowa, Illinois, New York, Virginia, Canada and Michigan. “We worked on this for over six months,“ Tom Maudlin said. “They came from near and far and before this, most of the owners had never met.”

“They started building them from1907 to 1915,” Clyde shared. “They built them in Akron, Ohio, and some in Chicago. There are just a little over 200 left in the world.”

Another neat display at this year’s Red Power Round Up was the pre-1939 tent that Howard Raymond and others created to look like an old dealership tent. Several unique IH items were found throughout the show, such as the 1918 IH mowing cultivator.

Another unusual sight was the Farmall on stilts; a kit that could be used to raise a tractor for various uses was also on-site. A Farmall 300 was on display with attachable tracks – this tractor looked like it was ready to go to work!

While there were old tractors, there was also a section featuring the 1960 and newer tractors: Muscle tractors. Sherry Schaefer of Heritage Iron was set up in this section.

Dennis & Sallie Meisner of Red Power magazine were also set up in one of the two exhibitor buildings where vendors were selling literature, memorabilia and other items. Outside was a flea market with primarily parts for collectors to find just what they needed to finish up their IH projects.

Besides the amazing array of IH tractors and attachments, another section at the show included engines.

One great draw was Pioneer Land, a permanent site at the LaPorte County Fairgrounds. These buildings served as areas for artisans to set up, and a working quilt group was housed in one, completing an IH quilt. In Pioneer Land, volunteers also worked over a campfire making ham and beans for the Wednesday evening supper.

The Red Power Round Up brought a great crowd – even Miss America 2009, Katie Stam, from Seymour, Ind. Max Armstrong and Orion Samuelson were also in attendance at this year’s show.

Plans are already under way for Red Power 2011. Next year’s show will be held in Albert Lea, Minn., at the Freeborn County Fairgrounds. The dates are June 23-25. Log on to http://ihcc15.com/2011-national-red- power-roundup for details.

Readers with questions or comments for Cindy Ladage may write to her in care of this publication.