(Photo credit: HeadOvMetal)
Is it just in Texas where John Deere tractors (not lawn tractors, the big ones) are commonplace on the roadways? In the larger cities it isn’t too often of a sighting, but throughout the thousands of miles I’ve driven all over Texas I have seen it time and time again. We’re not talking roadside lawn crews who are just using the shoulder to get to the next patch of grass. I mean a dude (usually older) driving his big-ol’ John Deere down the road. Sometimes he’s hauling something, which has always made me wonder why he didn’t just use his truck, but usually he isn’t.
Where are these journeymen going?
Whenever I pass one, I always look for his trailer to see if he was working nearby and was just taking a short trip somewhere. But I have never seen it. I suppose it can be like the old Vince Gill song where his wife has taken his car keys to discuss (violently) him and his buddies being “just some good ol’ boys, a makin’ noise” so he uses his John Deere to get to the Honky Tonk. But it’s usually in the middle of the day so that seems unlikely.
Having spent a bit of time on these tractors, they’re not the most comfortable things so that can’t be it. The vibration makes you feel like your glutes are asleep, and pushing the clutch constantly can actually give your left leg a substantial workout. Not to mention how these things are even street legal. True they have seat belts, which incidentally the manual advises that if you have the roll-bar up to buckle-up, but if you do not you’re not supposed to be buckled-in, I’m assuming so you can jump clear. But other than those, there is no semblance of street worthiness.
My favorite part about all of this is that nobody honks at them while they’re going 20 mph on the highway. It’s like the Old Man on the Deere has a certain amount of gravitas that all Texas drivers have learned to respect. I love it.
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Having driven through an immeasurable amount of small towns, cities and villages in the great state of Texas, I’ve noticed a few tractors along the way as well. So I felt moved to answer: Texas definitely does not have the corner, or anywhere close on this unique type of transportation: I feel this lucky title belongs indefinitely to the Midwest. Having grown up in the smallest city in Indiana, it was commonplace to see these men (only in our case, men, women and sometimes children) driving John Deere’s up and down the roadways. The mode of transportation is actually so popular in Indiana, i.e. Farm Country (I believe Texas is known more for steers and …..) that there are actual Tractor Days at most rural high schools, where students are encouraged to ride and race their Big Green Machines to and from their respective educational institutions. I don’t think there is necessarily gravitas lended toward this sight while driving as instead the likelier case: Texans are more oblivious to their surroundings then necessarily respectful of this truly Midwestern institution.