Big Bud Rolling Into Illinois Farm Show

www.agrinews-pubs.com
James Henry
2010-01-27

GIFFORD, Ill. — A whopping 27 feet long, 20 feet wide and 14 feet tall, Big Bud truly is one big tractor.

The mammoth piece of machinery will be on display at the Midwest Ag Expo-Illinois, which will be held Jan. 27-28 at Gordyville USA near Gifford.

Dubbed the “World’s Largest Farm Tractor,” Big Bud 747, officially named 16-V 747, was built by Ron Harmon and employees of the Northern Manufacturing Co. in 1977.

It was made for a family of cotton farmers in California, where it was used for 11 years for deep ripping. It later was purchased by a Florida farm for the same purpose.

In 1997, it was bought by a family in Montana, where the custom-made tractor now is used to pull an 80-foot cultivator. It cultivates one acre per minute at speeds up to 8 miles per hour.

The tractor has been a very popular attraction at previous events in Illinois. It was exhibited at the Historic Farm Days in Penfield in July and the Half Century of Progress IV in Rantoul in August.

The Gordyville USA event will showcase the latest in tractors and other farm machinery, agriculture technology and precision farming, as well as seed, livestock and forage equipment, trucks and trailers, lawn and garden tools, financial institutions, agriculture groups and antique tractors.

“We are very excited to offer an event that provides valuable information for agricultural producers in all areas of farming — from marketing strategy to in-field techniques to equipment acquisition,” said Gary Manke, executive vice president of the Midwest Equipment Dealers Association, which manages the Midwest Ag Expo-Illinois.

“It provides farmers with the tools to help them make use of the best management technologies in precision agriculture. It really gets down to the nitty-gritty of crop production decision making.”

About 9,000 people are expected to attend the farm show. This will be the 16th year of the event.

“If producers are looking to make decisions for the coming year, you will most likely find the answer at this farm show,” Manke said. “New innovations are being unveiled by most exhibitors, making this a don’t-miss event.”

About 190 exhibitors — including equipment dealers, financial services, insurance providers and publications such as Illinois AgriNews — will be at the event.

Agriculture producers pretty much will be able to find “anything in the industry,” Manke noted.

Expo hours are 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Wednesday and 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Thursday. Admission and parking are free.

The Gifford facility features 144,000 square feet of space, all heated and under one roof. It is owned by Gordon Hannagan, who has worked as an auctioneer for many decades.

Gordyville USA is located 5 miles east of Rantoul and 1 mile west of Gifford on U.S. Route 136. It is about 20 miles northeast of Champaign.

Headquartered in Madison, Wis., MEDA was formed in 1991 with the merger of the Illinois Retail Farm Equipment Association and the Wisconsin Farm Equipment Association.

The group serves members in the farm, industrial, outdoor power equipment, dairy and farmstead mechanization industries.


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