Iowa Speedway let farmers ride in style with WHO Great Tractor Ride

Behind the grandstands of the Iowa Speedway were nearly 400 tractors gathered for the WHO Great Iowa Tractor Ride, and each one of them told a story.

Parked near the back of the second fleet was a bright red Farmall H tractor with two brothers wrangling over who gets to sit in the seat. The older brother towered over the younger brother, who sat on the edge trying to stretch his legs to reach the pedal. Great-grandfather Wesley Herberg watched from the next tractor over.

Underneath the shadow from Herberg’s cap was a slight grin, the kind farmers don’t voluntarily show when a camera is pointed at them. Seeing his great-grandkids horsing around on the tractor that has been in his family for as long as he has been alive was a profoundly existential experience.

Even more so after he won the Corncob Trophy, an award given to entrants with the most generations of family members participating in the tractor ride. Herberg rode along with his son-in-law and grandson in tractors this past Monday. His daughter and great-grandsons also tagged along for the festivities.

“We had four generations there,” the 82-year-old said. “The tractor that my grandson has I gave to him because my dad bought that tractor new in 1942. Before he died, he said, ‘You want that H?’ I said ya. ‘I’ll sell it to ya for $100.’ OK … My dad, I and my grandson are the only three that’s ever owned that tractor.”

Herberg, of Clinton, Minn., said he was born the same year his dad bought the tractor, which means they’re the same age. Over the years, Herberg and the family have repainted the tractor and given it new sets of tires when it needed them. He was proud to see it displayed alongside the hundreds of other tractors at the racetrack.

“I’ve done the ride three times,” he said. “My son-in-law, my daughter, my grandson and his wife were just so appreciative. We had been planning this since the last ride. They’ve all got jobs so they had to ask for their vacation … They were very appreciative and had a lot of fun. They said it was worth it.”

The WHO Great Iowa Tractor Ride split tractors into about seven groups for three days of rides. The first-day route was 80 miles and took them through Mingo, Baxter and Laurel; the second day was 67 miles and had stops in Sully, Pella and Reasnor; the third day was 50 miles and took tractors to Grinnell.

It was a tight schedule, but it a great experience, Herberg said.

“It was great meeting these other people and seeing the way they got their tractors fixed up,” he said. “I talked to a guy from Pennsylvania. There was another from California. They come from all over. Those guys are professionals and they have everything they need with them. Us tractor riders are kind of a different breed.”