Tractors on display at Wood Duck Festival

• Wood Duck Festival

Beth rickers/daily globe Joyce Kanten polishes up her 1938 Farmall in preparation for the gas engine show and parade Saturday at the Fulda Wood Duck Festival.

Talk about it

FULDA — When her husband gave her a tractor for her birthday a few years back, Joyce Kanten was initially anything but thrilled. But now, the 1938 F20 Farmall is her pride and joy, second only to her grandchildren.

“It came from a farm near Wilmont. It was in the grove, and they couldn’t get it running,” she said. “David brought it home and spent two hours getting it running. I said, ‘If I’m going to have a tractor, it’s going to be IH (International Harvester),’ so he sandblasted it all down and got it back to red and got all the decals for it.”

On Saturday, Joyce was standing with her tractor outside the Fulda Depot, rag and can of polish in her hand, trying to get the implement looking its best. The 1938 — along with a few others in the Kantens’ collection — was on display for the gas engine show that was part of the community’s Wood Duck Festival over the weekend.

“It’s ugly,” she said, wrinkling her nose at the tractor’s dusty state. “It’s been in the shed all winter, so it’s all dirty. It doesn’t get out of the shed very often.”

“I used to pull the hay crimper with it,” added husband David. “But I’ve got nicer tractors for that now.”

The Kantens have seven tractors in all, if you count the lawnmower, David said, and are partial to the McCormick Deering Farmall, made by International Harvester from the 1920s to 1970s.

“When I started collecting them, you could get them for cheap, plus my dad farmed with an H Farmall and an F20,” explained David, referring to models that were made in the 1930s and ’40s.

With their penchant for Farmall, the Kantens, who live a bit south of Fulda, are active members of the local Prairie Reapers club and have also been involved in national tractor shows. Joyce’s tractor made the journey to the national International Harvester show in Tennessee a couple of years ago, and the couple just concluded a four-year stint of working at the international events.

After those four years of intense involvement on the national level, the Kantens are now content to show off their tractors closer to home. They also planned to drive the machines through the Wood Duck Parade later in the day.

“I wish I knew how to drive it,” lamented Joyce as she continued to coax a shine from the red paint.

“They’re hard driving,” explained Dave, who generally takes the wheel of Joyce’s birthday present while she drives one of his tractors.

“He has a hard time driving it even,” added Joyce.

Dave went off to fetch another tractor to display while Joyce continued to explain their devotion to the Farmall brand.

“If it’s not red, leave it in the shed,” she said, quoting a phrase familiar to Farmall devotees. “My granddaughter, Olivia, always adds, ‘If it’s green, you mow, spend it or you sell it.’ We’re looking for a Farmall C for her. We haven’t come across it yet, but she will get her tractor.”

Tags: wood duck festival, news, tractors, display