Antique tractor pull, car show held

PHILLIPS — The Price County Fairground was the place to be one a warm, sunny weekend where the crowds enjoyed two days of tractors, car shows and all kinds of antiques.

“Yes, it was a very nice weekend,” said Marvin Karpinski, a co-organizer of the Price County Antique & Tractor Expo on July 20-21. The event is put together annually by the Price County Antique Association.

Willow Weiss and her grandfather Al Weiss, both of Dresser, were in Phillips for the first time to compete in the antique tractor pull. Willow, who just turned 21, has been competing for three years but has been around tractors for as long as she can remember.

I do this for fun,” Willow said. “I work on tractors with my grandpa for fun.”

Weiss got every last inch out of her 1945 Allis-Chalmers antique tractor during her four events in the tractor pull competition. The tractor's motor never slowed and only the spinning tires brought Weiss to a stop after nearly reaching the end of the course.

“I think I did pretty good,” she said.

She has the 1945 tractor in perfect running condition and is now rebuilding another one.

Al Weiss has been restoring antique and classic tractors for over 32 years. He got into tractor pulling about 17 years ago. He said the tractor pull bug first got to his daughter, and now he is pulling with his granddaughter. The appeal of of the tractor pulls is a little bit of everything, he said.

“You meet a lot of nice people, we have a lot of fun competition, even between us,” Al Weiss said. “It's not just about the trophies.”

As for their first time at the Phillips event, the two were pleased with the weather and the track condition.

“That's a good start,” he said. “And it's not super hot out. It's just a beautiful day.”

While the tractor pull crowd found shady spots next to the buildings along the track, the kids had plenty to do with the Phillips Children's Museum and the "Orange Blossom Special" kiddie train.

Stephanie Franson, 15, of Phillips, waited for kids to load the single occupant cars to pull them with a train engine made from a riding mower and a lot of creative wood and metal work. She pulled the kids for a ride all over the fairgrounds.

There are many antique displays going back more than a century inside the barns. There were also visiting exhibits such as the belt driven shingle saw that was brought in from Eagle by Bob and Cindy Steinke. The saw was made by Perkins & Co. of Grand Rapids, Michigan during the late 19th, or early 20th century.

The expo continued into Sunday with a vintage car show along with all of the antique displays, food vendors.