Tractor enthusiasts will demonstrate the plowing of a field in a celebration of traditional farming
When it comes to machinery, there are folks who gravitate towards classic cars or trucks, towards trains or airplanes or in the case of a group of local enthusiasts, a fondness for tractors. Their goal is to preserve old tractors and farming implements for education, fun and history.
About four years ago, Ted Dlugosch of Yorktown, came up with the idea of hosting Plow Day in DeWitt County where local farmers and tractor enthusiasts could help out a fellow farmer by plowing fields using vintage and antique tractors and plows.
“We had been to other Plow Days in other parts of the state, but there was not one in this vicinity. So, we thought we would try it here,” Dlugosch said.
With the blessing of a local farmer in the Yorktown area, the group arrives and sets up for a day of plowing. “We like to just get out there and play in the dirt,” Marvin Soester, Dlugosch’s partner in the scheme, said.
All the equipment is antique. The newest tractor represented was from around 1972 and the oldest was from around the 1940s. “The only rule is you can’t have more than four bottom discs. We do it the old-fashioned way,” Soester said.
Besides sponsoring the upcoming Plow Day, the group also participates at Western Days with a display of the vintage and antique tractors at the school bus barn. “We now have a hard surface for people to be able to look at the tractors, especially for the older ones who might be in a wheelchair or have a walker,” Duglosch said.
Soester added that one time a young man showed up with his grandfather in a wheelchair. “He brought him over to look at my tractor and asked if I could turn it on. He wanted to hear that sound he remembered from his childhood. It also lets us show the younger generation about farming.” The two said that it may be a niche area, but that there are a lot of people with old tractors and plows in the area. They started with around six tractors participating in Plow Day and last year had improved up to around 20.
“We don’t have a budget or anything. We just tell people word of mouth what we do,” Duglosch said.
With today’s tractors, the process is often completed with the help of a computer and tracking devices. When early pioneers came to DeWitt County, they were still plowing by walking behind mules or horses. In the Thomaston and Burns Station areas there were mule and horse farms. By the 1860s, Texas was the number one state for raising mules. From simple pointed sticks used by ancient peoples to prepare the soil for planting, to more advanced implements moved by human and beast of burden power alike, to today’s tractors and plows that can cost thousands of dollars, the farmer has relied on special implements to help prepare soil for seed planting and cultivation.
As of 2022, DeWitt County has over 1,500 farms working over more than 400,000 acres. “We have great people working with us and the landowner and leasing farmer have been really kind to work with us,” Dlugosch said, adding, “We can be a substantial help to the farmer because we are actually plowing the field,” For the Plow Day, there will be all makes and models. “There will be old John Deeres, Fergusons, Farmalls, Cases, any kind,” Soester said.
“We might even have what you might call a parade tractor,” Dlugosch added. “The ones that look really spruced up for driving in a parade.”
This year Plow Day will be on Saturday, September 20 beginning at 9 a.m. The location of the field is on Hwy. 119 about five miles north of Yorktown. “We invite anyone interested in turning some dirt or watching old tractors do their job to come out,” Dlugosch said.
The two men added that they hope younger people will come out to see the tractors and the process. “We aren’t just showing off our old tractors, we are plowing a field to ready it for planting. I don’t think people really stop to realize where their food is coming from. These farmers are making their food,” Dlugoch said.
