We recently asked our readers to send us photos of their tractors. Why? Because a tractor is the quintessential piece of farm equipment. We’ve all got our favorite color: green, red, orange, blue, etc. Country musicians even write songs dedicated to their favorite brands.
For this special Love My Tractor photo contest, we wanted to see their tractors in all their glory. Is it a simple garden tractor, a subcompact or a compact? Is it an ancient dinosaur still pulling its weight or a shiny new beast equipped with all the latest accessories?
Our amateur photographers took some great shots, and we enjoyed spending an afternoon looking at pictures of tractors. We narrowed our choices to 17 finalists, with Shem Krey’s 1949 8N Ford Tractor coming out on top in the Love My Tractor contest. We hope you enjoy the following photos!
Winner
“My father purchased a 1949 8N Ford Tractor secondhand in 1969 for me and my brothers to clear 3 acres of fields and plant vegetables at our homestead. We grew crops for many years to provide fresh food for our large family. Charles Vanetti restored the tractor in 2013. It has become an iconic symbol of our family’s heritage that we are all stewards of this earth and blessed with God’s gifts in each harvest.” —Shem Krey, Belmont, MA
Honorable Mentions
“I am entering my rare 1954 Porsche diesel tractor. It does a great job. I hope you love it as much as my family does.” —Lane Ludington, Eugene, OR
“This is our beloved ‘Elvira’ who is helping us fulfill our lifelong dream of building our sustainable homestead in Stetson, Maine. This was by far the best investment in our future. We love our little workhorse!” —Heather Low & Scott Travers, Coventry, RI
“My Mahindra 1626 HST does a wonderful job for us on our small hobby farm. This photo was taken right after seed bed preparation of a fall cover crop forage of oats and winter rye. It will be tilled in next spring as green manure. The tilled patch is our ‘big’ vegetable garden.” —Brian Komejan, Kinross, MI
“The photo is of our goats, Bo and Daisy. They love the tractor. They rub their backs on the bucket.” —Terri Moellers, Hampton, MN
“I love my John Deere.” —Sandy Silver, Bakersville, NC
“I purchased this Ford 8N with the intent to make some money on it. My Dad quickly got it purring like a kitten so I cleaned it up and lacquered it to bring out the patina. I parked it in front of my barn and took several pictures so I could list it for sale. The first comment on the Facebook ad was how great it looked in front of the barn. I agreed with them, so I decided to not sell it and to just enjoy it as a yard art and use it as a photo prop.” —Brian Hill, Peculiar, MO
“This is a picture of my husband, Richard Stafford, on his pride and joy 1929 Farmall and 2 bottom plow IH. This picture was taken at Rock Creek tractor show at the Anderson farm.” —Carmelita Stafford, Ogilvie, MN
“Outstanding in its field.” —Lyn McDaniel, Alexandria, OH
“Orange looks good with white.” —Geoffrey Gayne, Aurora, SD
“Located in black dirt farm country of Pine Island, NY, Orange County, Hudson Valley.” —Kathleen Kurdyla, Pine Island, NY
“Attached is a photo of my husband using his model K-18-44 Tuff-bilt tractor to remove one of this winter’s snowfalls from our driveway. It works like a dream whether it is grading the driveway, removing snow, working up the garden or planting wildlife food plots. It is called ‘The Little Tractor That Can’ and is made in the United States. It is his favorite ‘farm toy.'” —Tom and Shellee Muilenberg, Unionville, MO
“It’s a 1939 John Deere L. Dad bought it new on Nov 6, 1940, and used it almost 50 years to maintain the homestead and help to feed his family. Now its mostly parade duty.” —Bert Zehringer, Henrico, VA
“Old Blue Ford tractor.” —Natalee Wright, Columbia City, IN
“I love my tractor! A week ago I looked up from reading to see that it had become light outside and we were blessed with a beautiful hoarfrost. After a few minutes of deliberation, I grabbed my camera and bundled up for the weather. As you can see by the photo, our tractor is a year-round workhorse. Cannot even imagine life on our little mini hobby farm without it! She may be an old girl, but worth her weight in gold.” —Julie Simmonds, Kentucky
“All around good tractor.” —Lynn Palichuk, Beauvallon, AB Canada
“I found this 1967 432 Commercial Gravely lawn tractor in Guernsey County, Ohio! I say this with great excitement because I was looking for a heavy duty, rear-mounted motor lawn tractor that would pull these hills in southeastern Ohio. After assembling and restoring this massive machine over the winter, I can’t wait until spring arrives so that I can use my Gravely.” —Ron Hittle, Cambridge, OH
