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Winterfest '95

1/7 Derrik Albertelli, Chris Barton, Chris Baylis, Brian Jones

Tractorfest '95 began with some swamp ice tractoring and a high January temperature of 47 degrees. When Derrik mentioned that the sun was coming out from behind the clouds, we knew that we were going to experience some difficulties. There was an inch of water on top of the thin ice but it was safe enough to walk on in some places, so we figured it ought to be able to hold a tractor. After about two minutes, a rear wheel fell through the ice during some brush removal. Several attempts to drive the tractor out of the hole ended with a broken pull start rope. We lifted the tractor out with the aid of a plank and pushed it to safer ice. While we walked on the ice we could hear it crack excessively and see it bend. A quick mid swamp repair of the pull start got us tractoring again. Then a front wheel fell through the ice and abruptly stopped forward motion. Barton was ejected from his shotgun position and received a shock when he touched his wet hand on the spark plug. After a few more narrow escapes from breaking through, we tractored toward the other end of the swamp. On the way the rear end fell through the ice. We had to get the tractor out fast to prevent it from sliding backwards and completely capsizing. The ice at the edge of the hole was not safe enough to walk on, so we attached the come-along to the only accessible tree. While we pulled and lifted the tractor out of the hole, Brian arrived and had great difficulty walking across the ice. By the time he made it to our location, he was wet up to his knees. Once the tractor was out, we couldn't turn back to the yard because the massive hole was in the way. We had one option: to finish crossing the swamp and make a road trip home. We crossed the swamp, traveled along the backhoe path, and went through the hole in the highway fence. On the other side of the fence a thick field of small pine trees was encountered which gave us some excellent tree wrecking. Then we bent a section of highway fence over to cross into the new development off of Wheeler road. We road tractored to Wheeler road which brought us to South Bolton road. Barton found a basketball and dribbled it while riding on the tractor. After descending a small hill in neutral, we arrived in the yard to concluded this stunning fest.

1/12 Chris Barton, Jeff Budzinski, Matt Ciampaglia, Jeff Hnatio, Matt Hnatio, Brian Jones, Ian Macfarlane, Christine Ricard

School was canceled today to celebrate the 12th day of the new year. Of course we took full advantage of the situation and had a Tractorfest. The fest began by melting the ice in the rear hubs with a propane torch. The recent snowfall resulted in tractor sledding conditions, so we hooked up a rope and went onto the swamp. We were able to do some trail blazing because the ice was safe, but the lack of traction prevented us from leveling the swamp. We did manage to break the oak bumper while making contact with a tree. The tractor broke through the ice only once and Brian fell from his shotgun position. Most everyone took a turn at the sled, while Chris held onto the rope and slid on his feet. Matt C. bailed from shotgun as we drove over a stump and bounced the right side of the tractor into the air. Then we loaded up the tractor with snowballs for a drive by snowball fight. It was enjoyed most by Jeff B., who used a sled as a shovel to throw snow at those on the tractor. We returned to the tractor after a lunch break for some more tractor sledding. Brian added the toboggan to the tractor sledding experience, but during a yard lap the tractor ran out of gas and wouldn't start up again. Chris towed the tractor to the woodshed with his truck to finish off the fest.

2/4 Jeff Budzinski, Brian Jones, Ian Macfarlane, Matt Vitale

I got a phone call from Ian inquiring about the possibility of a Tractorfest in today's blizzard conditions. We thought sure its only snow, so we had a Tractorfest for the first time in a snowstorm. We tractor sledded the whole fest which was entertaining for sledders as well as the passengers watching the action. At times the wind and snow was so intense there was zero visibility. Traction in the driveways was limited, so we used the road. During this time the tractor was quite an attraction to motorists. Brian observed one guy drive by and said, "you could tell he thought it [the tractor] was cool". We even exchanged conversation with someone who asked us what it was. After some more exhausting tractoring and Brian's turn driving, we began to experience a loss of power. It was possible that some water got into the fuel line. Matt and Jeff departed so the rest of us parked the tractor and went car sledding. We car sledded up and down the road with Ian driving and Brian and I sledding. After a couple of lengths of the straightaway, Brian crashed and I lost my sled and slid on my back. Then for no apparent reason to us, Ian stopped the car. I looked to the oncoming lane and saw the Bolton stealth. After giving Bago'doughnuts and his sidekick ossifer asswipe some crap, we got the standard procedure of a slap on the wrist and Ian's mom was notified over the stealth phone. The threat of ticketing Ian for "driving to endanger" turned out to be a bluff. We had enough excitement for the day so we adjourned the fest.

2/14 Derrik Albertelli, John Allison, Chris Barton, Vanessa Bartsch, Kevin Blanding, Jeff Budzinski, Lisa Chiulli, Matt Ciampaglia, John Crafts, Breet Freedman, Jeff Hnatio, Matt Hnatio, Brian Jones, Brian Law, Ian Macfarlane, Steve Moreira, Greg Previte, Christine Ricard, Mike Stevenson, Pat Sweeney, Matt Vitale

Todays fest began with a snowball fight which set the atmosphere for the afternoon. Once the tractor was started, we hooked up some ropes and tractor sledded to the road. The steep snow banks provided excellent terrain and those who were fortunate got the opportunity to be dumped out of the dump body when driving up them. While ascending one snowbank, the right front tire contacted the muffler and broke it off. Then we ventured to the swamp for some swamp ice tractoring. On the way the front wheels bounced into the air while driving over a snow bank. The small amount of snow on the ice did not effect traction, yet it provided good tractor sledding and chunks of snow for a painful drive ball snowball fight. Those on the tractor were at a greater disadvantage than usual because they were out numbered five to one. A wheel would periodically fall through the ice leaving a maze of holes to avoid. Then Matt Hnatio set some tractor traps by covering the holes with snow so that they were not visible. The traps made more difficulties the tractor team. Matt Vitale took over the driving and displayed good form by making clean shifts and avoiding traps until he drove into one and then immediately backed into another. Jones drove for a brief period and Ian took over for the remainder of the fest. Ian did not drive so well and he often jammed the gears while stuck in deep snow. After two hours of pummeling each other with the icy snow, we were fatigued and adjourned the fest.

2/24 Kevin Blanding, Jeff Budzinski, Missy Motew, Matt Polizotto

Today's fest opened with some yard laps to dry the wet V belts. There was not much ice on the swamp, so we went to the woods. After ascending the steep hill, we bajaed through a rocky area and bottomed out the differential on some ledge. We lifted the tractor off and a snowball fight began. Our bare hands became cold fast, so we descended to the road. It was a thrilling trip that included some fishtails in the snow while dodging trees.

3/1 Jeff Budzinski, Andy Jones, Brian Jones, Ian Macfarlane, Missy Motew, Greg Previte

Tonight the Jazz band got a gold medal at the central district jazz fest, so we celebrated with a Tractorfest. On the first pullstart pull the handle broke off. Then the rope got missing in the pullstart while manually recoiling it. The rope was retrieved with the aid of a flashlight, a screwdriver, and needle nose pliers. Then Brian tied a knot at the end of the rope to prevent it from being recoiled. It still wouldn't start, so we had to de-flood the head and clean the spark plug. Then it started but ran out of gas. We had to de-flood and clean the spark plug a second time to get the motor running. The festivities began with some tractor sledding on the ice covered snow. Then I drove over a snow bank at full speed and surprised everyone by getting the tractor airborne for the first time. Jeff was ejected from the dump body on the landing. Then we paused to contemplate the historic moment. Brian had a couple close calls while on the sled. He almost got whip turned into the side of the house and almost got sent into the pond during another whip turn. Then we jumped the snow bank again. Missy fell from her shotgun position while airborne because I did not navigate the jump accurately, but like usual no one was hurt.

3/12 Derrik Albertelli, Vanessa Bartsch, Derek Boyer, Jeff Budzinski, Meghan Halio, Kristen Hayes, Jeff Hnatio, Andy Jones, Brian Jones, John Lindstedt, Jay Mueller, Christine Ricard

We bent the steering rod while driving up a snow bank at the beginning of today's fest, so we went to the barn for some tractor repair. The transmission was lowered to tighten the belts and the steering rod was bent to a usable position. A lap around the pond ended when the motor blew up which brought a premature end to Tractorfest '95. Then John decided to drive his dump truck in the woods in true Tractorfest fashion. Once the cab was packed with passengers, the dump body was used to seat the rest of us. A dump truck has never rolled so strong as John showed exceptional skills while driving the large vehicle along the narrow trail. We went halfway to the turnaround and descended back to the yard. A bit of frisbee capped off the year.