Discovered while at my long-time companion's family reunion in Radville, Saskatchewan.

Throughout the weekend, next to the rodeo, there was a tractor show of old, pre-1945 tractors. The kind with big flywheels, metal tires with spikes instead of rubber. Lots of old Massey Fergusons, International Harvesters, but especially John Deere's (there had been a dealership in town since forever.)

At the end of the weekend, a long platform was dragged out and balanced on a fulcruum of railroad ties. The platform was about as big as a flatbed truck (about 15 feet) and sat on top of the railroad ties like a giant, flat teeter-totter. One by one, the old guys in overalls, rubber boots and Co-op baseball caps would fire up their old tractors and drive them one at a time towards the teeter-totter. Once on the platform, the object was to balance the tractor right in the middle so that both ends of the platform were off the ground. It required the most delicate application of brake, clutch and gas. The tractor had to move smoothly, without any jerks or hesitation in order to achieve perfect balance -- a feat that displayed both the skill of the owner as a driver and antique tractor-mechanic. The winner was a white-haired 70-year old who eased a 1915 John Deere into the centre of the platform with a sublime effortlessness.

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