How many people have bought a tractor...

[tractorbetty]

Wow - we have family around Canfield, OH, and I went to that fair many moons ago. If I recall, the tractors were more antique tractors and components, more or less a historical display. Very neat! /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

We sometimes display at local fairs and ag-related events, depending upon our schedule, and we do get leads from it. If you think of it, early fall (in addition to the Spring) is a VERY busy time for tractor dealers and setting up a booth display and manning it for a few days may not be the best bang for the buck.

 

[alvanko]

I bought my Yanmar after seeing it at the Medina County Fair this year. I had to rescue it from the kids climbing all over it. It just caught my eye and I went down and heard it run after the fair ended and now it's in my yard. Most people who looked at it didn't know what it was. I think I got a fair deal on what may be my last tractor. Them again, maybe not.

 

[RedDog]

County fair. I never have purchased one, but have and still do look at them. We always have JD, Kubota, NH, MF and Cub Cadet. No Kioti /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif


RedDog

 

[crk133]

the iowa state fair has about everything u could ever ask for...........including tractors /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[Farmwithjunk]

I've always been a big fan of county fairs. Some of the best memories from my youth were of time spent at our county 4H fair. That was the highlight of the summer for me.

We (My wife and I) still go to the county fairs where she grew up, where I grew up, and where we now live. In fact, I'm still active on the fair board in our home county. All the years our kids were involved in 4H, we were very much involved ourselves. 4H and FFA are, in my opinion, two of the greatest things a young person can ever become involved in.

Sometime in the mid 1980's, the focus on agriculture started to disappear at my "home town fair". It's beginning to return somewhat as the county starts to grow again. City folks who are 1 or 2 generations removed from the farm are returning to start their own "mini-farms". The size and scale of equipment popular now is roughly the same thing that was popular when I was a kid. (Tractors in the 30 to 80 HP range)

The county where my wife grew up is, and probably always will be "very rural". Their fair still has several equipment dealers, a tractor pull, and a large agricultural presence.

Our current home county is a fast growing area of the state. It's always had a lot of AG related business, but now there's a resurgence of sorts taking place. We're about 45 minutes drive from Louisville Kentucky. The folks that LEFT the country 20 years ago, for "big city life" are now returning to re-establish themselves (and their kids) in what they had growing up. SO.... Our county fair was starting to dwindle down to a trickle of AG related displays, but in the last 4 or 5 years, they're on the up-swing.

We just got (on Nov. 1st) a LARGE John Deere dealership that opened a new "superstore". I'm expecting them to have a large presence at next years fair.

You've no doubt heard of the TV show "Growing up Gatti"? Well, if there's ever a show about MY life, it'll be "Growing up Green". The only way I'd buy a tractor that I saw at the county fair is IF and WHEN I spotted a Deere at the fair!

And by the way, I'm starting to look at buying that new tractor! I'm looking at 75 to 90 HP, cab, 4WD, and loader....GREEN of course!

 

[MikePA]

Fairs change, just like any other business, to meet the need of the people who attend them. If tractors and ag equipment are what you want to see, there are still many venues where this happens. Perhaps they aren't called fairs anymore, perhaps they are called farm days, like Empire Farm Days in New York state. My wife and I drove about 6 hours to attend and at least I thought it was worth it. /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif For some reason, my wife thought there'd be horse related activities/displays there. Imagine her surprise when there weren't. We didn't go back the next year. Every display activity had something to do with farming. Plus we got to meet a number of TBNers.

 

[N80]

I haven't been to our State Fair in years, but the last time I went there was still a lot of Ag/country living type stuff. Buildings full of cows, chickens, horses etc and a good many tractors. Canning and pie contests, quilts.

But, if memory serves, these were all big ag tractors. Great fun to look at but not of much consumer interest to the average weekend warrior or hobby farmer.

It seems to me, however, that with the suburbanization of the county/state fair, that CUT type tractors would be a popular item of interest, along with the mowers, etc.

 

[daTeacha]

You Ohio guys need to make it to the Wayne County Fair next fall. It is a <font color="red">real </font> county fair. The 4H competition is probably the biggest thing, but the shows and equipment dealers are here in force. You can find several dealers with quite a lot of their stock on site plus a lot of old iron for show. If you're into pulling, you can choose between stock, modified, unlimited, toy, horse, and truck pulls. There are also very serious shows for horses, cattle, hogs, sheep, goats, and so on. It's better than the State fair, really. Just doesn't have a butter cow. /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

 

[wolc123]

just bought a jd 4120 I saw at county fair. They were only dealer there. Also looked at kub, nh at local dealers but prices were not competitive with the fair special on the jd.

 

[tractor127]

Thanks for all the replies guys /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif