Tri-State Old Iron Tractor Ride
- Trinity Gruenberg
- 22 minutes ago
- 2 min read
by Trinity Gruenberg
The Tri-State Old Iron Association (TSOIA) held its 19th annual tractor ride from July 10-12. Robert (Bob) and Linda Sudbeck from Eagle Bend loaded up their Cockshutt 30 tractor and traveled to Yankton, SD, located on the South Dakota/Nebraska border, for a two-day ride through Bob’s childhood home.
Sudbeck had long wished to participate in this ride, inspired by his cousin Ron Kast and his wife Diane, who have participated in all 19 rides. Now that Sudbeck is retired from trucking, he was finally able to join in.
“It was going home for me,” Sudbeck said with a smile.
The Sudbeck family left Yankton in March of 1956 and moved to Bertha, where Sudbeck was raised with Cockshutt tractors and has remained a lifelong enthusiast.
“I was born in 1946. My father bought a No. 3 Co-op in 1947,” he recalled.
Sudbeck owns five Cockshutt tractors and belongs to the international Cockshutt Club. His collection includes two 50s (one of which is a deluxe model), a 40 that he uses for work, a 20 that his grandson uses for raking, and the 30 that he chose for the ride.
The 30 sat in the woods for 25 years before Sudbeck purchased it in the summer of 2015. He had the engine running by Easter Sunday the following year and fully restored the tractor.
He chose the 30 because it is the same model as the No. 3 Co-op his father owned, making it a nostalgic choice for a sentimental trip.
Sudbeck prefers the Cockshutt colors over the orange Co-op colors.
While the TSOIA ride takes place annually in the same area, a different route is chosen each year. This year’s route conveniently turned out to be a tour of places significant to Sudbeck’s upbringing.
The Sudbecks departed from Eagle Bend at 5 a.m. on July 10 and arrived at the staging grounds at Paddle Wheel Point in Yankton...
