ountry C Friday, March 19, 2021
cres A Focusing on Today’s Rural Environment
Volume 8, Edition 20
PHOTO BY DANNA SABOLIK
Gaye and Paul Martin stand in front of the silo that is topped with a Model B John Deere tractor. Paul repaired the old tractor and installed a platform structure on which the tractor sits.
A tractor
where?
The story behind a local landmark
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BY DANNA SABOLIK | STAFF WRITER
ROVE CITY – When Paul Martin gets a wild idea, most people know that a protest is a waste of breath. Martin has a number of adjectives he jokingly uses to describe himself, such as harebrained, ambitious, stubborn and determined. So, when he had an idea in 2002 to put an old tractor on top of a silo, most knew not to question him. “I was going to do it,” Paul said. “It was just something I knew I could do and I wanted to, so I figured it out and did it.” His now-wife, Gaye, was his fiancé at the time, and remembers those summer weeks Paul deconstructed and later reconstructed a tractor on top of a silo. “I knew not to ask about it
too much,” Gaye said. “He’d figure it out. Paul always does.” Today, it is a local landmark of sorts along Highway 12, a busy road that runs from Minneapolis to South Dakota. “It’s been known to turn a few heads, yes,” Paul said. Paul and Gaye were enjoying a summer evening on the farm when Paul was inspired with the idea to put a tractor on top of the old unused silo in the yard. “It was just sitting empty, and I could see the bolts that held the dome on,” Paul said. “I figured it wouldn’t be that hard to take it off, and a tractor would look pretty cool up there.” As luck would have it, Paul spotted an old Model B John Deere tractor in his neighbor’s
tree line and asked if he could buy it. The neighbor was confused, and said it did not run and would need a lot of fixing up. “I told him I didn’t need it to run, and he looked at me like I was crazy,” Paul said. “He wanted to know what I wanted it for and I told him I was going to put it up on the silo.” Then, the neighbor was really scratching his head. But, Paul walked away with a tractor that needed a little cleaning up and paint and knew his vision was falling into place. For the next week, Paul took the tractor apart, cleaned it, painted it green and yellow and planned how to get it on top of the silo. His friend, Curtis Wendt, moved grain bins when he was not farming and had access to a crane.
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“Most of it was figured out after that,” Paul said. “I asked Curtis for his help and he laughed at me for probably 10 minutes.” Paul remembers Wendt thinking he was asking for help moving grain bins and telling him, “When the phone rings
Working land and sky Lake Wakanda
and I see it’s from you, I never know what it’s going to be.” Paul found an old metal fertilizer lid at the co-op and asked if he could use it for a platform. The owner was glad to be rid of the trash and gave it to Paul for free.
Martin page 3
“People used to ask me why I did it and I’d tell them sometimes, I had a hard time finding my way home,” Paul said. “But it really wasn’t to show off, it was do-able and I wanted to do it. “ - Paul Martin 10 What’s this?
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Brahms vs. Barten Duluth
12 Family farming like years ago New Munich
8
A moving occupation Paynesville
17 Hungry for horsepower Eden Valley 23 Country Cooking
24 A tale of two grandpas Diane Leukam column 25 Growing up on a pony farm Starbuck 29 Animals we love