Tired Iron Show Held Last Weekend

This is the view from behind the wheel of a beautifully restored Ford tractor on Friday at the Tired Iron of the Ozarks show in Gentry.

GENTRY — Once again the put, put, put of old hit-and-miss engines could be heard, saws buzzed as logs were reduced to timbers and planed to finished lumber, and the clanking of hammers on red-hot iron turned shapeless metal into works of art and useful tools. Tractors, with their unique engine sounds, could be heard each day.

True, that happens each spring and fall at the Tired Iron of the Ozarks’ shows, and this year’s show was no different. But the show gave opportunity for club members to once again gather and show their old engines and tractors. And, most importantly, the show again offered opportunity to the many visitors to see the old machines at work which usually set quietly in museums or rusting in junk yards or on farmsteads.

The show, held at the club’s own showgrounds on the southwest edge of Gentry last weekend, April 14-16, was the 25th such annual spring show. And it was a busy weekend with lots of people coming and going to see the old engines and machines come alive again.

The old tractors, in their unique manufacturer’s colors, were lined up for showing and paraded past spectators during the Tired Iron club’s Parade of Power held at noon each day. Information on each tractor was shared over a public address system as the old workhorses were driven by the stands.

A field was plowed on Friday with a 1941 John Deere H tractor pulling a single plow.

Other engines and farm equipment were shown and demonstrated over the weekend as well, with explanations of how the now-antiques were once used on local farms.

In addition to the regular demonstrations on Friday and Sunday, the Blacksmith Organization of Arkansas was there, showing the metal-working art, on Saturday in the blacksmith shop — outfitted much the same as small-town blacksmiths were a century ago.

And, in the home furnishings building, sewing machines and other antique household goods and machines were shown and demonstrated.

Easter morning church services were held Sunday on the grounds for club members and show visitors.

And now the showgrounds are back quiet again, at least until the next show, set for this fall.

More information on the club, its meetings and its shows is available at www.tiredironoftheozarks.org.

Photo by Randy Moll

Robert Swanson of West Fork works on his 1 1/4 HP hit and miss engine on Friday at the Tired Iron of the Ozarks show in Gentry. The show featured a wide variety of old engines and machines.

Jamie Smilie of Inola, Okla., demonstrates cutting logs down to boards and timber at the Tired Iron of the Ozarks sawmill on Friday at the club’s Gentry showgrounds.

Orville Bartley of Gentry drives a tractor, formerly used by the U.S. Air Force to move airplanes on carrier decks and at airstrips, during the Parade of Power on Friday at the Tired Iron of the Ozarks spring show.

Old Glory was held high from the bucket of a front-end loader on a tractor on Friday, April 14, at the Tired Iron of the Ozarks show in Gentry.

Steve Low of Gentry demonstrated working with iron in the blacksmith shop on Friday at the Tired Iron of the Ozarks show in Gentry.

Photos by Randy Moll Larry McGarrah of Berryville, part of the Front Porch Gospel group, played his guitar and sang at the Tired Iron of the Ozarks show on Friday.

Kaitlyn Ruttan, 2, of Bella Vista, sits in the seat of a lawnmower at the show on Friday.