Reporter meets nemesis at tractor show
By BARRY HALVORSON news@leader-news.com

L-N Photo by Barry Halvorson Tractor Tinkering Making some last minute adjustments to their 1937 John Deere A model tractor, Bob Malone and Cliff Cook get ready for last Saturday's tractor pull, one of the preliminary events of this year's Wharton County Youth Fair. From the Tomball area, Cook said his grandson has become the team's pull driver, but couldn't make last weekend's competition leaving it to the "old guys" to drive.

Walking around the Wharton County Youth Fair grounds on Saturday, little did I realize I would soon come face-to-face with my all-time nemesis, and it isn't even a person.

Wandering around the tractor show, I came face to face with an Oliver 880 model diesel tractor, the same tractor that years ago ran over my 13-yearold backside in a farm accident, one of the few contests lost during my youth.

Despite the physical trauma, having survived the incident became one of my favorite memories, giving me a story to tell for the rest of my life.

And while most people don't share my specific memory, it is memories that have prompted some to restore the old tractors on display at the show while inspiring others to soup them up for the pull competition.

Jared Hagel's pride and joy is his Oliver 770 model from 1958, making it 33 years older than the 17 year old Industrial High School student. Working as a mechanic at Victoria Auto Company, Hagel decided he wanted to restore a tractor and picked the one his granddad installed under a corn harvester. He's since purchased and is restoring a 1936 model Oliver.

"Oliver isn't one of the biggest names, but there were a lot of them in this area," Hagel said. "In Victoria, the first tractor dealer was an Oliver and my great-grandpa bought the first one in 1938. Our family's used Olivers since then and we've probably bought 30 of them over the years. So there's a real connection there for the family."

While Hagel's tractors were for showing, Glen Korenek was there to along with his children, nephews and others to pull. Along with his brother, Bruce Korenek, the El Campo resident entered an International Farm-All in the competition.

"Our uncle (Bennie Olsovsky) used it on his farm for years and kept it in good shape," Korenek said. "He gave it to us and said we ought to use it for pulling. This is only our second pull, but we're starting to really get into it."

Korenek said his interest in tractors is natural for someone who grew up farming. And when it comes to tractors, more power is usually what it is all about.

"You go to your first pull and you're hooked," he said. "It's exciting. And even more exciting when you start competing. Right now, we're all about building a 'hotter' tractor and pulling is going to be a bigger part of what we do."

Driving in from Tomball to compete, Cliff Cook said he enters five or six pulls a year. He's part of a team that includes his brother-in-law Bob Malone and a grandson the two are grooming for the future.

Tractor pulling has become an expensive hobby for Cook, who said he's also restored four tractors, all John Deere A models.

"We've got pictures of Daddy on his Deere A," he said. "He always believed in Deeres so that's what I grew up with and continue to use. We've got four show tractors we've restored and then our pulling tractor, which we originally bought for parts for the others, but set up to pull."

He said Deeres are a good pick for restoration work for their popularity and quality of construction.

"Most of the tractor is made of cast iron," he said. "The hood and gas tank are sheet metal, but you can find replicas pretty easy. And Bob and I go to the big swap meet for tractors every summer in Portland, Indiana. If you need something for a tractor, that's the place to go."