Memories of a Tractor  © 2010 Gary Udstrand

One of the earliest (and only memories) that I have of my Grandpa was riding on a tractor with him. I was four years old and to me he was larger than life.  With me sitting alongside we made a couple of laps around the farmyard.  I can still smell the great belches of smoke and taste the raw diesel fuel that were the remnants of  the roaring engine. It was a great day and I still see the Yellow tractor with its name spread across the side, Minneapolis Moline. To this day these tractors are near and dear to me.

This past summer my wife and I took the kids to the Wright County fair, a pretty small event but it was fun none the less. As we wandered towards the back of the fairground imagine my surprise when I saw literally *hundreds* of Minneapolis Moline tractors. There were models from virtually every year (if not every) and many one of a kind and other oddities. WOW!

I took tons of pictures and found myself wishing very much that I knew the exact year and model of Grandpa’s old Moline so that I could get a picture of myself with the tractor. Of the shots I took this one reminded me most of my Grandpa for some reason. For all I know this tractor is way newer and maybe not even close to the same model but I can’t help but think of that day so many years ago when I look at this image.