monthly newsletter - Strathcona Vintage Tractor Association

STRATHCONA VINTAGE TRACTOR ASSOCIATION
NEWSLETTER
June, July & August - 2016
Well, our club is up and rolling with our annual activities again, this being our
12th season of operation. Looks like another busy schedule and there are lots of
events and activities to keep you busy should you choose to participate. Read
ahead and make note of important dates and times.
GENERAL MEETING SCHEDULE - We continue to follow our 3rd Wednesday of each month schedule
again this year. Meetings are held at the Ardrossan Memorial Hall which is located just east of the new
Ardrossan Rec Center alongside Range Road 222. Meetings start up at 7:00 PM and in addition to the
usual agenda items, we have our regular 50/50 cash draw and hopefully some sort of a presentation on a
topic of interest for those in attendance. OUR NEXT GENERAL MEETING WILL BE ON WEDNESDAY,
JUNE 15 . After that, remaining dates will be July 20, August 17, September 21, and October 19. We
take the winter months off from general meetings starting in November and resume meetings next spring
starting in March, 2017.
NEW EXECUTIVE CHOSEN AT AGM - At our 2016 Annual General Meeting held on Wednesday, April
20, those in attendance selected individuals to fill positions on our 2016-17 executive group. These
individuals have one extra meeting every month and they are involved with a lot of the planning and
general decision-making necessary for us to move through the season and keep busy. Because of a
growing family at home, Karina Trudel has stepped down from her duties as a director. We will miss her
a great deal but she will still be carrying out some of the things she was involved with before but now as a
regular club member. A big thank-you goes out to her for all the things she has organized for us as a
director over the past few years.
Meanwhile, returning to the group are Vice-President Ellis Kumpula, Treasurer Sten Nielsen, Secretary
Val Shillinglaw, and directors Leo Bilodeau, Bob Beveridge, and Rae MacMillan. Two club members are
new to the group, these include Bob Swizinski and George Schmidt. Mike Ballash stays on for another
term as Past-President. We have been unable to fill the president's spot since Mike stepped down last
spring, this is one thing that we must try to get done as soon as possible but right now it appears as if we
don't have any takers willing to step up for the position.
GENERAL MEETING PRESENTATION ON MAY 18 - At our regularly-scheduled monthly meeting on
May 18 we had a special presentation before our regular agenda items by David Makowsky. David is the
head of Communications and External Relations with Alberta Tourism's Ukrainian Cultural Village. His
topic was "Ukrainian Cultural Heritage Village: Putting Ukrainian-Canadians on the map". David's
presentation touched on Ukrainian immigration to Canada that commenced 125 years ago, how Ukrainian
culture has evolved in Canada over the past 125 years, and the role of the Ukrainian Cultural Heritage
Village in preserving and presenting this history and culture to audiences around the world.
A big SVTA thank you to David and his co-worker Karen Johnsrud who organized all of this for us.
Meeting presentations are interesting and informative for those in attendance and this one was certainly
well received by club members. We are doing our best to return the favour when our club will have a
display out at the village on Sunday, June 26 as part of their annual Vintage Day event. More
information about that will be emailed out in advance of June 26 for club members to register their
tractors if they plan to attend.
MEMBERSHIP - At this time, our membership numbers are hoovering very close to our counts of
between 115 and 120 over the past several years. This includes regular adult members, lifetime
members (those 75+ years of age), honorary members and junior members (14 to 18 years of age).
Some former members have rejoined the club this year, those being Brad Fleck, Ken Sorobey, and Lance
Sorobey, all of Sherwood Park. Longtime club member Ray Schmidt is now a lifetimer this year. New
adult members added to the roster so far include Herb Resch (Lamont), Mike Lakusta (Edmonton), Earl
Hosler (Lamont), Doug Hoffman (Edmonton) and Ken Engman (Star). Two new Junior members have
joined up, Ryan Hood (Gibbons) and Quentin Janus (Edmonton). Welcome to the club everyone, we're
happy to have you on board and we hope to see you out for meetings and club activities.
MEMBERSHIP RENEWALS - Our renewals have moved along quite well this year, but remember that
memberships lapse 90 days after our year end so the official expiry date when membership stops is at
the end of June. After that date, club privileges (including our 3rd party liability insurance coverage) no
longer applies to you. If you are planning to renew but have not yet done so, you can get that done at
our general meetings or you can mail in a $35.00 cheque made out to SVTA to the following address.
Strathcona Vintage Tractor Association
Box 3072 - Sherwood Park, AB.
T8H 2T1
** If you are not planning to renew your membership this year, please let us know by return email using
mike1946@telus.net or phone 780-467-6973 (daytime calls). This makes things a lot easier for those
who keep membership lists and saves us eventually chasing people down to see whether or not they are
rejoining the club.
THE FORDSON TRACTOR MODELS F & N - Henry Ford was raised on a small farm and knew of
farming's toil. Once his Model T car was a success, he turned his attention to developing tractors to
ease the burden of the farmer. The Fordson model F evolved from Ford's early tractor experiments and
from a British program in World War I which focused on importing all available tractors to increase food
production in Britain. Features of the Model F included a unit frame (where the engine, transmission,
and axle castings comprised the frame), a low weight of 2700 pounds and a low cost of around $400.
One of the issues with the F was its suspect and at times troublesome black box ignition system that the
Ford Motor Company had used for many years on their cars.
The Model F was built in the USA and Ireland from 1918 until 1928 when production stopped in the US.
Production continued in Ireland when the tractor was modernized somewhat and renamed the Model N
balanced, and had more power. During this time, a row-crop version of the N called the Fordson
All-Around was exported to the United States. Production of the N continued until 1946. The N's 267
cubic inch engine produced 29 belt horsepower. It weighed in at 3600 pounds and had a 3-speed
transmission.
An interesting fact about the Fordson name is that when production began on the model F, a "Ford"
tractor already was being made by a different company. Because Henry couldn't use his own surname
for the brand, a shortened form of "Ford and Son" (Fordson) was the next best thing.
ARDROSSAN RURAL SAFETY EVENT (Saturday, May 7) - Our club participated in the Ardrossan
Recreation and Agricultural Society's first annual Rural Safety Event on Saturday, May 7 at the new Rec
Center on May 7. A number of interesting groups had displays and information booths in the west arena
including our own club. Leo Bilodeau was our contact person and organized things for us along with
help from club members George Schmidt, Rae MacMillan, Wayne Sloat, and Mike Ballash. Leo's friend
Larry Finstad also helped out at the event and was part of the work crew.
Our display included club banners and signs along with Rae's Kubota acreage loader and rototiller tractor,
a yard mower, our club's small IH and JD pedal tractors along with our kid's yard mower-size miniature
Oliver pedal tractor and pulling sled. We handed out information sheets on our August tractor pull and
general information about our club. Wayne Sloat's video set up showed club activities from former pulls,
vintage farming, and other events which he has gathered in his video collection over the years. Thanks
to all of these guys for taking on this project. It is through events like this that our club gets valuable
exposure in the community while providing information about the Bremner farm and our club's activities.
Other booths at the show included the Alberta Canine Safety Council, Strathcona County Citizens on
Patrol, Alberta Wild Bee Information, Alberta Government General Safety Information, Strathcona County
Emergency Services, Strathcona County Transportation and Agricultural Services, Strathcona County
Urban Agriculture, Ardrossan Recreation and Agricultural Society, Alberta Volunteer Amphibian
Monitoring Program, Alberta Septic Groundwater Program, Strathcona County Bookmobile, Wildlife
Management & Conservation, Strathcona County Rural High-Speed Internet Towers Program, Bushman
Animal Damage Control, Rebel Heart Cistern Water Services, and Wyes Guys Small Engine and
Equipment.
ALLIS CHALMERS 'ORANGE" - Two different versions seem to be told about how or why Allis Chalmers
tractors ended up being an orange colour. The first one is that A-C boss Harry Merritt was on a business
trip in the late 1920's when he spotted some wild poppies in a California field. He was so taken by the
striking colour that he picked a bunch, took it back to the factory with him, and said that from now on all
Allis Chalmers tractors would be that colour. The less-romantic version is that A-C produced a new tractor
for the United Tractors and Farm Equipment Cooperative, and their colour was already orange. Allis
Chalmers simply changed its own colour (which was then dark green) to the orange version. Take your
pick, both versions are interesting with one being slightly more romantic than the other.
TRACTOR PULL COMMITTEE - Our 2016 tractor pull organizing committee has been meeting once
every month at Sten Nielsen's place. They are getting things organized and in place for our August 27 &
28 pull and show at the Bremner site. There are 13 club members who have signed up in this group and
most of them have at least one major responsibility to organize for the pull weekend. Thanks to all of
these members for taking the extra time so that our pull runs smoothly again like it has for the past
number of years. Sign up sheets for pull volunteer duty will be available for the first time at the next
general meeting on June 15.If you have any questions about anything pull related or would like to
volunteer, contact Ellis Kumpula at (780) 922-6120 or Bob Beveridge at (780) 467-1513.
MEMBERS-ONLY FUN PULL #1 (Saturday June 18 & Sunday, June 19) - We will have our first fun
pull of the year scheduled at the Bremner site on Saturday, June 18 and continuing into Sunday, June 19
at Bremner. The Saturday fun pull will start in the afternoon after we finish up at the Ardrossan Parade
and Picnic event earlier that day. We will continue the weekend fun pull on Sunday, things should kick off
sometime around mid-morning on the second day. On Sunday, we will have a barbeque lunch for all
participants. Members can participate on either day or both days if they wish. You have to be a
member to do any tractor pulling.
SOME COUNTRY HUMOUR - Two old-timers who lived in the Bremner area years ago were discussing
crop failures one afternoon at the local general store. Of course, one crop failure story led to another,
each one being a little worse than the one before. Finally, farmer Brown said, "Well let me tell you about
the crop failure in the summer of 1898. The corn crop was so bad that year that we boiled up some corn
for supper and our family ate twenty acres in one meal."
POSITIVE VS NEGATIVE GROUND - The information in this article has been gleaned from a discussion
forum on the internet. Over the years there has been a lot of discussion over the reasons or advantages
for electrical systems being designed as positive or negative ground. Historically, positive ground was
used many years ago on many cars, tractors, boats, and other vehicles. Actually, it still is used in some
special applications even today such as in some military marine equipment. In North America, negative
ground gained popularity about the same time that 12-volt electrical systems started showing up in the
automotive industry in the mid 1950's. In today's cars, trucks, tractors and other equipment, negative
ground is most commonly used. Apparently corrosion of components and chassis themselves can differ
between the two systems depending on the metals used and the environment in which the system is
installed. Some people believe that corrosion is reduced when using a positive ground system but that
has never been proven.
In the early 1900s, there were two schools of thought when it came to wiring and ground systems. That is
based on two competing theories and neither has ever been proved as being correct. These were the
"Hole Theory" and the "Electron Theory". Without going into details of each, the Hole Theory favors a
positive ground system while the Electron Theory favors a negative ground system. The reality is that
nobody knows for sure in what direction electrons flow. Diagrams and schematics often show electrons
flowing from positive to negative although that is basically a guess. The truth is that one system is no
better or worse than the other. Once semi-conductors like transistors came into use, a "standard" needed
to be chosen. Negative ground was the choce and as a result, most equipment today uses negative
ground and therefore most electronic accessories in the marketplace are made for negative grounding.
Most older North American tractors that we are familiar with used generators to charge the battery in
positive ground systems. If your vintage tractor is upgraded with a modern automotive 12-volt alternator,
your system would likely be negative ground. With a generator, you can use either positive or negative
ground as long as the generator is polarized and the mechanical current regulator in the system is
convertible so as to be used either way. If the regulator is marked "neg-pos ground" then all is fine. If it is
marked "positive ground" it will likely not work properly in a negative ground system. For those that want
12-volt alternators but still insist on positive ground, most alternators can be converted to positive ground.
Most 12-volt alternators can also be converted for 6-volt system use and 6-volt generators can be
converted into 12-volt ones by someone with the necessary skills. Regardless of the voltage or the
grounding category they use, many vintage tractor owners prefer the older-style braided ground strap
seen in the photo.
BIRDHOUSE DONATION - Our friend and club supporter Ron Paseika from Edmonton (phone
780-473-5032 or email redbarnhouses@yahoo.ca) has again donated one of his heritage birdhouses to
us for our "Birdhouse Toonie Raffle" at our August tractor pull and show at Bremner. Ron donates one of
these every year and we benefit from his generosity, usually raising about $300 from the weekend raffle.
Ron will again be set up in the big silent auction tent and his wares will be on display and for sale. We
send out a hearty thank-you to Ron for supporting us every year for this endeavour.
BREMNER FARMSITE MAINTENANCE - Our farm maintenance group has been busy keeping the grass
cut and trimmed up, it's always nice to drive by and see Bremner looking neat and tidy. They usually
meet out at the farm on a weekday every 2-3 weeks and two hours usually gets most of the work done.
Some members show up with their own mowers and other equipment to speed up the day's work which is
certainly appreciated. Members of the group include George Schmidt, Helmuth Ritter, Gord McLaren, Al
Rice, Tom Speedie, and Mike Ballash. The group also does maintenance and repair work on our
equipment that we use on the site.
JOSEPHBURG FARM-SMART SAFETY EVENT FOR SCHOOL KIDS (Thursday, May 26) - This event
was held for the third time and is organized by the Josephburg Ag Society with major corporate
sponsorship being provided by Pembina Pipelines and Shell Canada. This year, grades 4 & 5 school
children from Ardrossan Elementary School arrived in the morning and followed a schedule where they
visited a number of presentations in the Moyer Recreation Center arena. Visiting each station on a timed
rotation schedule, the children received valuable safety information from individuals with expertise in
specific areas of farm and rural safety.
This year, in addition to our own SVTA presentation on "Safety for Tractor PTO's, Mowers, and Grain
Bins", the kids also visited presentations on booths covering Large Animal Safety (Fort Saskatchewan 4H
Beef Club), Hearing Hazards (Pembina Pipelines), Inside Fire Protection and Wildfire Protection
(Strathcona County Emergency Services), Electrical Safety (Fortis), ATV safety (Mudd Safety Ltd), Train
Awareness (CNR Police), and Skin & Chemical Hazards (Shell Canada). A big thank you goes out to
SVTA club members Ellis Kumpula, Bob Swizinski, and Leo Bilodeau for once again providing valuable
information for children in our community about rural farm safety. Thanks also goes out to Deereland in
Fort Saskatchewan for supplying a John Deere 1550 mower along with a 3032 loader tractor for us to use
in our safety demonstrations.
ROADSIDE CLEANUP FUNDRAISER (Saturday, May 28) - Our route assignment this year was further
east than usual, but for the first time it was a single stretch so it made the job somewhat easier for the
groups to be in touch with one another. We did a ten-mile stretch immediately north of Highway 16
alongside Range Road 212, cleaning up both ditches along the way. Volunteers were divided into five
groups, each being responsible for a two-mile section. Five team captains with their pickup trucks were
each assigned a work crew and the job was finished up before the noon hour. Captains this year were
Roman Sadauskas, Bob Swizinski, Matt Janus, Stan Podulsky, and Mark Bailey . Thanks to them and
the other 15 individuals (including a few family and friends) that showed up to get this 12th edition of the
fundraiser completed. A special thank-you goes out to Roman Sadauskas who coordinated everything
for us with the county and also picked up and returned all the equipment. The exact amount raised is not
known yet for sure but it is usually in the $1100 range which we always put to good use for our club
activities and projects.
UPCOMING EVENTS - Below are several planned activities that our club will be participating in over the
next three months. Specific information will be emailed out before each one with details and start times,
etc. If you are receiving this newsletter by postal mail and do not receive current email updates, make
note of the dates and use the phone numbers below for more information.
1) UFA FARMER'S DAY SHOW @ FORT SASKATCHEWAN (Friday, June 10) - Ellis (780) 922-6120
2) RURAL LIVING DAYS EVENT @ FULTONVALE (Saturday, June 11) - Val (780) 922-4159
3) ARDROSSAN PARADE & PICNIC (Saturday, June 18) - Rae (780) 922-3560
4) SVTA MEMBERS FUN PULL #1 (Saturday, June 18 after the Ardrossan Parade & Sunday, June 19) Roman (780) 999-1228
5) UKRAINIAN CULTURAL VILLAGE VINTAGE DAY EVENT (Sunday, June 26) - Bob (780) 467-1513
6) CANADA DAY PARADES (Friday, July 1)
- Sherwood Park - Mike (780) 467-6973
- Fort Saskatchewan - Lou (780) 998-9894
7) SVTA ROAD TOUR (Saturday, August 13) - Rae (780) 922-3560
8) SVTA MEMBERS FUN PULL #2 (Sunday, August 14) - Roman (780) 999-1228
HARROLD TRACTOR EVENTS WEBSITE - Below is a web link to the Harrold family website which lists
information about all of the major tractor pulls and events in Alberta for 2016. The first section briefly lists
all events as they occur by date, and then if you require more information on any specific one, keep
scrolling down to the one you wish to read about or click on it in the first section and you will be provided
with more information with phone contacts, etc. You might have to type or cut/paste this link into your
computer's address bar to find the site .... http://www.oldengine.org/members/harrold/event.htm
MORE COUNTRY HUMOUR - It seems that a senior partner in a large country law firm had been having
difficulty with one of his newly-hired college graduates from a well known university. The partner said,
"You're thirty-five minutes late again Johnston, don't you know what time we start work in this office?"
Johnston replied, "No sir, everyone is already hard at it when I get here."
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So that's the tractor club news for June and July. We hope to see you out at
some of the upcoming events listed above and at our next general meetings on
June 15 and July 20. Until then, Happy Tractoring, and remember.... "Nothing is
worse for a college boy living away from home than when a letter from his mother
arrives and it contains nothing but news and love."