The Future of Our Great Hobby - PLEASE READ!!!

I’ve enjoyed the tractor hobby for a long time. I was 15yrs old when I bought my first tractor (’39 JD H) and I was already a member of the Oregon Two-cylinder Club. At that time, I was one of the youngest guys involved. Fast forward to the present – I’m now 32yrs old and I’m still one of the youngest guys involved. When I’m at shows, pulls, auctions, and other events, I see a lot of grey hair. In my area, I can only think of a handful of young people who are involved with antique tractors. I’m sure this is similar in other regions of the country. Here’s the thing, I would LOVE to see this wonderful hobby passed from generation to generation before these folks pass away completely. I would also like to see more young people involved that would not only secure a future for the hobby, but give the youth of today a tangible hobby again, rather than waste their time in front of a computer playing games.

I am currently working on a project to address this concern. My idea is to create a reality TV show that is centered on young people and tractors. The idea is to show modern use for old machines (such as tractor pulling), auctions, “retrieval missions” (the thrill of the hunt), and maybe a little restoration. It must be presented in a hip, cool, pop culture sort of way. I would also like to include an educational aspect to the show with physics or psychology. Imagine American Chopper meets Myth Busters – the cool, funny entertainment mixed with a little real world knowledge. I would like to draw young people in who are not from an agricultural background. The idea is to create the same excitement in young people that we have enjoyed for years.

I have seen the tractor shows on RFDTV. They are BORING for young people and I ended up canceling the channel because I couldn’t watch them anymore.

A little background about who I am:

My name is Zack Peterson. I live in the Portland area of Oregon. I did not grow up on a farm but did grow up outside of town. I have a degree in Mechanical Engineering, am a certified Auctioneer, and recently I’ve been certified by Monster.com’s Making It Count program as a Motivational Speaker. I was obsessed with John Deere growing up, but have grown very partial to Minneapolis Moline. My dad and I have a great collection of Moline tractors. I find so much joy in this hobby that I can’t even begin to describe it. My wife sometimes thinks I’m crazy because of the lengths I’m willing to go for these old machines. We would like to have children soon and would love for them to have the opportunities within this great hobby that I have had.

I, along with my friends, believe we have a lot to offer the community. You might have heard these names – Jake Winn, Mark Parker, and Bryan Koskela. Together we gallivant across the land going to auctions, shows, looking for tractors and we have an unprecedented amount of knowledge of old tractors for people our age – all brands.

My goal is to have a pilot TV show to pitch to a major network before June 1st.

I would like a few things from the tractor community:

How many young people (say less than 35 yrs old) can you think of that are involved with tractors?

What are your thoughts about a show like this?

Are there other projects out there to pull young people into this hobby? (no pun intended)

Thank you to those who took the time to read this,

Zack

sounds like my kinda show to watch.keep us posted.RICK

You know what...those old gray haired guys grew up on those tractors.It would be great to get young folks involved,but they never will be to the extent of the old gray haired guys.The ones who will continue the old tractor tradition are the ones whose dad have been heavily involved with restoring/collecting old tractors.

I agree completely. Used to watch RFD TV but that got old quick - this is the only place I can be entertained during the winter!

By the way, our 12 year old daughter likes to go to tractor pulls and SAYS she would like to pull in a couple of years but that could change as she "matures".

I wish you luck with your endeavor.
It'll be a tough sell, the generations behind me, 30's and younger, have almost no connection with the "family farm" that was so common when I was a kid.
They'll never understand what they missed out on, either.

I'm not trying to be negative but it still sounds that way. It seems that most of those young people that aren't already in the hobby would rather turn that old tractor into cash the easy way by taking it to the scrap yard or selling parts off it on ebay instead of the more fun but harder way of rebuilding it no matter it's condition or the costs involved. It's a good idea you have but you're fighting an uphill battle. Good luck with it. ...Randy

I wish you luck on your endevour. I an 31 and tractor pull and do the tractor show thing here in Nebraska. Last summer I did the great Nebraska tractor drive and I agree with you most of the people where older individuals. When I tractor pull I do see a few more younger guys there (30 or younger) but it just depends on the pull. I have a buddy I run around with and pull and do other stuff with and one of the 1st things he told me when we 1st met was he glad to meet someone interested in tractors that was his same age. I wish you all the luck in the world ad hope you can create an awareness for this unique and interesting hobby. If you need any help from someone your age dont be afraid to ask.

Good Luck!

Welp, have you ever been at a high school on tractor day??? There are antique tractors brand new tractors everything in between and every day those tractors are a day older..the kids that drive them to school will be hooked on tractors and antique tractors..lots of young people enjoy antique tractors, show and pulling

Zack,
I can relate, the tractor bug bit me when I was 35, I’m now in my late forties. My wife thinks I’m nuts, but she supports me 100%.
A few years ago I pitched a news piece to CBS in SF, they picked up the piece and aired it in the mornings on the local SF (KPIX) news show (The Silicon Valley Job Watcher). I also pitched the concept to NBC and ABC, but they were reluctant. My advice would be to continue your research and have all your ducks in a row when you get ready to deliver the presentation. Have statistical and demographic data available and practice your pitch with an audience of friends and family.
Don’t be discouraged if you are shown the door. Half the battle is getting in the door.

Good Luck,
Andy

To get the younger generation involved you need to go to the people, in most cases they wont come to you. You need to get families involved to be able to keep the hobby alive in the future. People would rather watch paint dry then go and watch a bunch of older guys with older tractors,pull,show,ect,etc.and that's why you need the family involvement. ( Yes I'm one of those older guys before someone goes off the deep end here.) Another thing I see is so many clubs are stuck on this 1957 and older to be part of there ( hobby )club. Well the younger generation didn't grow up with those tractors so the years they like and grew up with aren't allowed in the antique clubs and events. I know some younger generation in my area that would like to get into the hobby along with there families. They can't because of the age of there tractors are too new for the antiques. ( Only 40-45 years old.) What I'm saying is....you can't take away part of there generation and then expect them to cling to your generation.

Zack,

I hope you'll be able to come up with a successful plan. I don't know one single young person who any interest in anything related to farming. I have eight grandchildren ranging in age from 19 down to 8. If something doesn't have a keyboard or display unit on it, they're not interested.

I've coached little league baseball for many years. All of the kids I coach are suburbanites. I have a team party on my farm at the end of each season. The boys and their families come to the parties, but they're really only interested in roasting hot dogs and riding some dirt bikes that I have.

That's just my perspective. Probably others have had entirely different experiences.

Tom in TN

I understand what you are saying. I am 31 years old and enjoy the tractor hobby very much. One of the things I most enjoy is those old white haired guys your are referring to. I believe I have more friends my grandpa's age than my own. If you want to speak to truely genuine good guys, you go to an antique tractor event and strike up a conversation with a tractor owner that is an antique himself.

My particular interest is the antique pulling. I can understand why most people find no interest. To watch an old tractor putt down the track at 2 or 3 mph is not real exciting. My wife claims that it is more of a social event than a competition.

The other unfortunate thing that I see happening is just like you see ruin everything else - money. The hobby has gotten so popular that the high dollar guys are making it hard for the youngster with no money. It is very rare to find a deal at an auction anymore. It is pretty hard for a young guy to go to an auction and pick up an A JD or M IH for $500 because the fat cat standing next who has his house paid for, collecting a corporate pension and his social security is will to pay three times that amount. The same thing that ruined muscle cars is ruining tractors - not only the money put these purist. The young high schooler tries to do a back yard restoration and shows up at the local show to have the purest pick apart his work. Muscle cars have become a rich mans game, lets hope tractors don't end up that way.

I agree, we need to get young people involved. Last year the club I belong to started a Under 21 Club. We had over 20 young people join and show items at our summer show. Our fall show was rained out( over 6" rain first night of a 3 day show, showgrounds flooded) so we didn't get to find out how many would have shown up for the show, but the interest was good and we are going to try to expand it this year. Check us out at
ae-ta.com
Chris

i'm not too worried about whether or not we will have collectors in the future. when the younger generation matures and gets the kids out of the nest and the body gets too cranky to handle 18 holes of golf a day they will be looking for a more mundane hobby,like collecting and restoring.

what concerns me is the avalability of something collectible. in fifty years will electronically controlled parts be available for the new tractors coming out today? or will the tractors we collect today be re-restored and the present new ones be junked.jim

Go to any show and take a look at the demographics. 50 display tractors have been brought to the show by 15 collectors. Average age of the collectors will be in the 60's.
Take a look at the people walking the rows looking at the tractors. It's people in their 50's+. Many are have a tough time getting to the show or around the antique show with canes, walkers and electric riders.
The majority of the fare paying persons attending are 10-55 year olds. They are around the midway,trailer park/camping,beer tent,tractor/atv pulls,car/truck show, music, dancing, women's crafts, buffet dinner, fireman's breakfast and trinket vendors.
To keep our local fair and two cylinder shows going.There was not enough gate revenue or food booth income to pay. The show was going broke.
We can't change people's minds and tell them what they want to travel to and spend money/time on.
To get people to attend the shows. We had to offer something for every member of the family from age 5 to 80, male and female.
How many wives, children, daughters-inlaw, grand children want to attend just an antique tractor show. And antique equipment only.
The last generation to farm was Grandpa & Grandma. The kids and grandkids live in town or maybe on a rural estate.
The pre-teens,teens and their parents want their idea of fun and excitement.

Yup, the local field days where my club shows tractors has been wanting to get rid of the antique tractors for a number of years now. The one and only reason why they are still allowed to show there is because of the club president being on the board of directors of the field days.

The rest of the board sees them as a waste of space and a security/lawsuit concern for them, since the vast majority of the attendees don't give a hoot about the antiques.

If its not blowing smoke, or blowing up, most people don't want to see it. It always amazes me how most of the public doesn't even know what they are looking at. They think a 105hp Case IH is in the same league as a John Deere 7810 just because they are in the same weight class for example, then are quick to think Case IH sucks. Every time I sit in the stands at a pull I hear the most rediculous things from an audience of people who don't know anything about tractors.

By far, the most popular event field days have ever done is a demolition derby. Tens of thousands will flock to the grounds to see stuff smashed up.

I've been jerking around with old tractors, cars, trucks, boats, etc. for almost 50 years now. I don't have any gray hair so maybe I don't fit the profile of some of the comments made.

My take on this is - no matter what you do, different things appeal to different people. From what I've seen, tractor meets were a heck of a lot more interesting years ago when groups were smaller but more hands-on types got involved. Many did it because they liked tractors, and didn't really care who else got involved. I know several like that now who never go to shows. They just stay home and fool around with their own stuff.

I think it was a lot more fun when you could buy an old two-cylinder Deere from the 30s for $50 or $100 bucks and maybe bring it to a local backyard meet somewhere where another 10 people might show up. But,that's me. Like I said, not everybody likes the same.

Same goes with tractor pulling. It was a lot more fun 30-40 years ago with out-of-field tractors and home-made sleds to pull.

I'll add that not everybody has to be from a generation that used something, to be interested. My wife loves wood-cooking yet she did not grow up with it. I like Model T Fords yet I grew up with cars from the 40s and newer.

I'm too much of a purist I guess,to think that this is a good idea. It's a hobby. Something for ametures who enjoy it. I saw what happened to the toy tractor collecting hobby when it became over saturated. People buying as an INVESTMENT. New reproductions driving down the value of originals and custom builts. No thanks,keep the commercialization of collecting to the automobile world. I'd rather be around old farmers at shows than some smart a$$ed know it all "collector".

I like the idea if your show but,

The people that are interested in old antique stuff

grew up using it
their parents used it
their grandparents used it

Think about muscle cars or Elvis.

When that generation dies off the interest goes with it. Kids growing up today dont have much interest in Elvis for example and wouldnt give a nickel for a his memorabilia.

Muscle cars are hot now because the people that grew up with them have money to spend on them now. Will our kids or grandchildren go wild for a 57 Chevy?


The interest will always be there but it will dwindle over time as the generations change.