Nebraska Tractor Test Lab

Have you ever visited a facility and thought to yourself "why don't more people visit this place?" I am at one of those hidden treasures right now. Located at the Nebraska University is a very important facility that has had an impact on every farm equipment manufacturer in the US and even overseas. The Nebraska Tractor Test Lab opened in 1919 and has been testing tractors ever since.

The Lester Larson Tractor Museum is housed in the original building where the first tests were held. Lester was the manager of the facility from 1946 to 1975. Every tractor that was tested has a file at this museum. Included in each file is the actual test, manuals and sales literature that had to be provided by the company submitting the tractor for testing. Every instrument that was used in early testing is on display at this museum as well as several tractors.

This weekend the museum held an open house to celebrate 90 years of tractor testing. There was a tractor parade, food, ice cream churned from a JD stationary engine, the test units were on display, a turbine powered pulling tractor and of course the museum was open. The weather was fantastic and the hospitality was fantastic.

I'll be spending another day doing research for upcoming stories and spending time with some of the workers and retirees. There is a treasure trove of information sitting in a block building in the middle of campus and I really have to wonder "will they let me have an office here?"

Red Power Roundup

They went that'a way!
It's been 11 years since I've been to an IH winter show but but I had better not wait that long again, and neither should you.

It was a sea of red and black in Grand Rapids, MI over the weekend. After arriving at the airport, I caught a hotel shuttle back to the Crown Plaza. The driver asked if I was in town for the IH convention and I said "yes". He leaned over and whispered to me "Don't say John Deere around them." I laughed because it was obvious he had already made that mistake.

I had a nice visit with many of the collectors whom I had never met. And it's always great to visit with Dennis and Sallie of the Red Power magazine as we share thoughts and ideas for providing the best magazines we can to the tractor enthusiasts.

Up until this past year, my literature collection has only consisted of the Meadow Green colors. However, I've had to expand my search for other colors providing a rainbow of flavor to my literature room. This show caused me to rob the ATM machine twice! When it was all said and done, I had acquired 27 pounds of literature that had to be shipped home.

The banquet is the grand finale of the event. Machinery Pete played the role of guest speaker as he talked about auction prices and where he thinks equipment values are at this time. He brought up the subject of tractors from the 60s and 70s and said the interest in that equipment was causing prices to rise and he thought that series of tractors was the wave of the future in collecting. As I sat there smiling, the man sitting next to me leaned over and asked "Did you pay him to say that?" Nope, but I'm sure glad that he validated what I've been saying for the last year. That leaves one direction for Heritage Iron.....UP!

The next issue of HI features the V8 Internationals. While I was in Grand Rapids, I interviewed the engineer who worked in the engine plant for IH. He had quite a few noteworthy comments. Check out the next issue to read all about it.

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!

Where has the year gone?! 2009 has surely been a memorable one. For me it has been the year that would determine the future of Heritage Iron and thanks to all of you, the future looks great. For the farmers in this area, it will be their most memorable harvest. Just days before Christmas there were still combines in the field trying to gather the 2009 crop before 2010 arrived.

We have quite a few irons in the fire here at Heritage Iron. One of our projects that we're very excited about is a series of Heritage Iron "muscle tractor" toys. We'll have more info available at a later date but at this time, it appears the first toy will be available in September. We're also working on a muscle tractor calendar for 2011 featuring the great photography of Super T. In addition, we've been working on some good stories over the winter months. Just recently I had the great fortune to spend a few days with Jon Kinzenbaw. Look for a Kinze story in the near future.

If you happen to be driving south on I-65, 3 miles before crossing the KY line into Louisville, KY, be sure to take a look at our new billboard advertising Heritage Iron. You don't see a billboard very often with a 5020 or a 1568 tractor on it. We thought it would be a great attention getter for those going to the National Farm Machinery Show in February.

A new year will be here in a few days and we hope that "your" new year is filled with health, wealth, happiness and an earlier harvest than 2009.

Harvest Time

Things have been busy here at 3-Point Ink headquarters as usual. I finally caved in and hired an assistant to help at the Nokomis office 3 days a week. Erika comes from a farm background and in a short time has already whipped this office into shape. She has permission to give me orders because someone needs to.

Both Oliver Heritage and Heritage Iron are in the mail for the month so we're feeling a little bit of relief but it won't last long. The deadlines creep up quick. Heritage Iron was a fun issue to write this time because it finally has a Meadow Green model on it. It's our 6th issue, which means we have survived the first year. Yeeha! Time for a celebration!

It's harvest time but in the area, it's going to be a very late one. Farmers are chomping at the bit but the late spring and heavy rains in this area have them in the hold mode.

I have to share a little humor. Since I moved the office to the main street in downtown Nokomis, I put up a nice sign out from with a colorful "Brutus" picture and our 3-Point Ink logo. For whatever reason, the locals now thing I'm running a tattoo parlor! Oh the things you can hear sitting close to the coffee drinkers table in a small town.

Heritage Iron is really taking off and after one year, it has passed Oliver Heritage in subscriptions and that magazine is now 6 years old. And much to my surprise, Oliver Heritage still continues to grow. Guess we must be doing something right. I love this job!

Time Flies!

Where in the world is the summer going?! It's been a busy one and I've been running back and forth between tractor pulls, shows and the office. I haven't even bothered to unhook the camper because I'm in it more than I am my house.

I hope you're all making your plans to head to the Half Century of Progress show in Rantoul, IL later this month. It's going to be a big one and Heritage Iron will have a "muscle tractor corral" as part of our display. He sure to stop by and say HI. We'll have several "cover" tractors in our corral and a few others you haven't seen yet.

Issue No. 5 is in the mail so you can expect it at any time now. Our next issue is going to feature the Oliver 2255, the last tractor to bare the Oliver nameplate.

Have a safe rest of the season!

Coming soon to a mailbox near you.....

It's about time for another issue of Heritage Iron to arrive in your mailbox. It is printed and will drop into the deep hole of the USPS by the 1st. If you're not a subscriber to Heritage Iron, it will now be available in Tractor Supply Stores and should arrive there about the middle of the month.

I'm beginning to wonder if it will ever stop raining here. While the farmers are sitting around watching it rain would be a great time to get the magazine, however, it will probably arrive the day it's dry enough to get back in the field. I've seen wet springs before but I've never seen it last quite this long.

Even though you haven't received issue #4 yet, we're at work on issue #5. The cover/centerfold of that issue will be a MM G-1000. The continuing story of M&W will feature the Little Red Wagon. We have a lot planned for future issues and I can't hardly wait to get started on the next one. If you have suggestions for articles or equipment you would like to see us cover, please let us know. We'll be doing quite a bit of traveling this summer and maybe we'll make it to your neighborhood. Have a safe planting season!

Mile High!

Mile High represents my previous location and also how high my feet have been off the ground the last 2 days. On Sunday I flew out to Denver to attend the Niche Magazine Conference. It was quite a trip and involved unloading from the original plane a couple times due to bad weather, making an emergency landing due to an electrical fire, watching fireman walk up and down the aisles while we had to stay on the plane, waiting for a new plane, missing a connecting flight and on and on. I really wondered if I would ever get there. I tried to cancel the whole trip but they wouldn't give me my luggage back. I rarely make an uneventful trip.

However, the trials and tribulations of the trip all paid off. There are half a dozen awards given out at this conference to niche publishers. One of those is the "Best New Niche Launch" and went to a new publication. In order to qualify, you had to send several copies of your publication along with your business plan, promotional material, etc. We had done that earlier this year just to see how we might fare against the competition.

This conference is attended by over 150 niche magazine publishers and editors. Many of those publications are bridal magazines, lifestyle, business and computing mags and many other high end magazines. Tractor magazines weren't quite "understood" out there. Most comments were "Who collects tractors? How much can you possibly write about a tractor?" They really didn't get it. But in the grand scheme of things, the judges understood.

On the last evening of the conference, the awards are handed out to the lucky recipients. It is the highlight of the event. I had learned earlier that we were a finalist but that's all I knew. I stood in the back of the room not expecting to hear my name and then the words "Heritage Iron" were ringing in my ears. I gasped, jumped in the air and don't have a clue what happened next. The next 5 minutes is a total blur. I don't even know how the trophy got in my hand. I was in complete shock!

Last year I attended this conference with Oliver Heritage. I had someone from the panel judge my magazine and he told me it was HORRIBLE! I went home with my tail between my legs, convinced I didn't have any business in the publishing business. But I took what I learned from that conference, applied it to Heritage Iron and now we're the BEST NEW MAGAZINE OF THE YEAR!!! Woohoo!!!

It has been an unbelievable 48 hours and I'm not sure my feet are on the ground yet. I have talked so much that I've lost my voice. Thank goodness you can still hear me on the keyboard.

I met some great people in the publishing world and although they weren't quite sure about a "tractor girl", I showed them that Heritage iron means business. And we won!!!! Now I have to get busy on the next project because I learned even more this conference. Besides, there are a few more awards that I'd like to set on the shelf next year.