Farmer, tractor, tractorcade

How Dean Miller’s hobby became a Kalona attraction

By Cheryl Allen
Posted 6/7/23

“It’s a parade, not a race,” Dean Miller says.  

On Saturday, June 10, tractors of all ages, sizes, and colors will roll through the streets of Kalona, starting off from …

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Farmer, tractor, tractorcade

How Dean Miller’s hobby became a Kalona attraction

Posted

“It’s a parade, not a race,” Dean Miller says. 

On Saturday, June 10, tractors of all ages, sizes, and colors will roll through the streets of Kalona, starting off from Sinclair Tractor at 5 p.m. and ending at the KCTC lot.  Miller estimates each tractor will cover the route in about an hour.  

 “Some of the older tractors can’t go real fast,” he says.  “They can only go three, four, or five miles an hour, really.  We’ll go slow so that they can keep up.”

The Kalona Tractorcade is now in its fourth year, but it was never something Miller set out to create.  It came about as a response to the Mayor’s Classic Car Cruise begun in 2020 by Kalona Mayor Mark Robe; people turned to Miller and asked, “Why can’t we have a tractor parade out there also?”  

He suspects the reason folks turned to him to create a tractorcade in Kalona is because he had some experience organizing such a thing; he helped organize the River Junction Tractor Ride before the Eastern Iowa Sledheads, a snowmobile club in Riverside, took it over.

With the City’s approval, Miller got the Kalona Tractorcade started.  The first year 75 tractors showed up; the second year, about 100.  Last year numbers fell because a tractor parade was held in Washington the same day, a scheduling issue Miller was careful not to repeat this year.

Organizing a tractor parade takes some work.  

“There are a lot of things that people have to do to get things lined up that people don’t realize,” Miller says.  “I’ve contacted Sinclair [Tractor] since we’re starting there.  I’ve contacted Pleasantview, I’ve contacted the city.  I’ve contacted the fire department, because they’re going to lead us, and the Washington [County] Sheriff’s Department, Kalona Chamber, KCTC for the lot, and the caterer.”

Once Miller has the date and route approved by city officials and has made arrangements for loading and unloading tractors, accommodations on the roadways, and food and drinks, his work is not done.  Next, he has to publicize the event by having flyers printed and media outlets notified.  Even then, last minute things may come up that need to be worked around or dealt with, such as unexpected road closures or inclement weather.

In the end, there are “a lot of little things that you have to get lined up and figured out,” he says.

There are no fees to participate in Kalona’s tractor parade.  Part of the reason for this is that the event is no-frills: there are no t-shirts or meals provided to participants like there might be at larger events.  

Another part of the reason is that Miller has no expenses; the City of Kalona picks up the tab on advertising, and partner Sinclair Tractor took care of lining up the Great Bluegrass Herons to provide entertainment at the KCTC lot at the end of the parade.

The Kalona Tractorcade may be what tractor aficionados consider a bargain, but as Miller knows, participating in a tractor ride isn’t cheap and easy.  

“It’s an expensive hobby, just like all hobbies are,” Miller says.  

He would know.  His June calendar is packed with tractor milage, starting on June 3 in Washington with the Tractor/Ridiculous Parade, the Kalona Tractorcade on June 10, the WMT Tractorcade on June 11, and the WHO Tractor Ride on June 18-21.  He’ll drive hundreds of miles, both hauling his tractor to the events, and on the actual multi-day tractor rides.  He’ll travel as far north as West Union, IA, and as far west as Marshalltown.  

“People ask me, ‘Are there a lot of tractor rides around?’ Well, it depends on how far you want to go,” Miller says.  

He means that in both senses: how far are you willing to travel to get to the ride?  And how long a tractor ride are you looking for?  The WMT and WHO Tractorcades, for example, include two days each of 70-80 mile rides, and a third day of 35 to 40 miles.

Not everyone is up for all that distance, but for Miller, the payoff is worth it.  At large rides that attract 400 tractors, he catches up with people he hasn’t seen in a year.  He also has a chance to “see some country that I have never seen, and I’ll probably never seen again,” he says.

He’s reluctant to admit it, but for the last decade the retired dairy farmer has been a tractor collector.  He has a strong predilection for vintage tractors made by J.I. Case and Company, one of the country’s oldest tractor builders. 

“This is the brand that I basically grew up on,” he explains.  

He points to one of his tractors and says, “This is the same style of everything that I grew up on.  The first tractor I ever learned to drive was a Case VAC.   Dad had one like this, and he said I wasn’t quite big enough to drive it, a Case DC.”

Those older tractors are part of the appeal of watching a tractor parade.  

“I know that the people at Pleasantview enjoy it especially.  Some of the guys say, ‘Oh, I used to farm with that tractor,’” Miller says.

Miller has taken tractors from his collection, which includes balers, cultivators, and plows, to various tractor shows in the Midwest.  A photo he took of a tractor in winter, the bright orange vehicle popping against the white snow, even made it into a calendar.

It may be “expensive and time consuming,” but assembling, maintaining, and showing a tractor collection also serves a public purpose.  The history of American farming is preserved in those vehicles, a history older generations enjoy remembering and younger generations have an opportunity to appreciate.

The Kalona Tractorcade takes place Saturday, June 10 at 5 p.m. beginning at Sinclair Tractor and ending at the KCTC parking lot in Kalona, where participants and spectators can enjoy food and music by The Great Bluegrass Herons.   Contact Dean Miller with questions, 319-936-8557.