Tractor

o View Ag Expo photos for purchase! Katrina Smith of Clear Spring pulls for a distance of 265.76 feet with a Massey Ferguson farm tractor Monday in the under 100 horse power youth class during the Don Schwartz Memorial Farm Tractor Pull at the Washington County Ag Expo & Fair.

MONT ALTO, Pa. -- The Mont Alto Fire Co. will host its first truck and tractor pull Saturday night at the carnival grounds off Pa. 997. Company President Charlie Baker said organizers are hoping for a big crowd to generate income for the department. Planning has been under way for eight months. Classes are 1850 Mini Rod, 4000 Small Block 4x4 Trucks, 8000 Street Diesel 4x4, 13000 Farm Stock and 8500 Mod Turbo. The event starts at 6 p.m. Admission costs $10 for adults and $5 for children ages 8 to 12. Some bleacher seating will be available, but Baker said spectators might want to bring lawn chairs.

FFA students at Clear Spring High School drove tractors to school Friday. Leading the procession was 10th-grader Elliott Reid on a 1971 Massey Ferguson lawn tractor, followed by 11th-grader Brett Hendershot on a 1954 Massey Harris tractor. Both tractors belong to Hendershot's family.

The Washington County Antique Tractor Club is offering a $1,000 scholarship to a deserving senior. Information about qualifications and scholarship applications are available at high school guidance counselors’ offices or at the club website at www.wcatc.org . Mail completed applications to Brian Hoffman, 10821 Anderson Drive, Williamsport MD 21795. Applications must be received by April 30.

Antique tractor show planned at Valley Mall An antique tractor show will be held at Valley Mall from March 19 to 25. Antique tractors and farm equipment will be on display, presented by the Washington County Antique Tractor Club. The Hagerstown area club is comprised of a group of men, women and youths interested in preserving the history of farm tractors, farm equipment and to share knowledge with anyone who is interested in learning more about the history of farming in the county.

Officials on Monday morning discovered that a tractor hit Lincolnshire Elementary School, slightly pushing in a wall, a Washington County Sheriff's Department spokesman said Tuesday. Some bricks on the school at 17545 Lincolnshire Road also were broken, Lt. Tim Baker said. The tractor owned by L.W. Wolfe Enterprises was left at the school Saturday with some other equipment and was parked in a school parking lot, Baker said. At 6:43 a.m. Monday, a construction company worker discovered that the Ford 340B broom tractor had struck the school, according to the sheriff's department.

CHARLES TOWN, W.Va. - A professional lawn tractor valued at $18,000 was stolen from South Jefferson Park in Summit Point, according to the Jefferson County Sheriff's Department. The Steiner 430 Max tractor is the same type of lawn mower that is used to mow grass on golf courses and major league baseball fields, Sgt. Sam Harmon said. Between 8:30 p.m. Wednesday and 8 a.m. Thursday, a storage shed at the park in Summit Point was forcibly entered and the tractor, its mowing deck and a scoop attachment stolen, said Harmon.

By GREG SIMMONS / Staff Writer photo: MARLA BROSE / staff photographer Mark Rohrer's John Deere 4955 rumbled at the starting line. Black smoke spewed from its smoke stack, and the engine roared. The whine of the turbo was ear-piercing. Then the green tractor bolted down the dirt track, dragging a 30,000-pound sled for 250 feet, the smell of burnt diesel fuel hanging in the air. The Washington County Tractor Pullers Club sponsored a tractor pull Wednesday night at the Washington County Ag Expo.

By GREG SIMMONS / Staff Writer photo: YVETTE MAY / staff photographer Excerpts from a 50-question written exam on tractor driving: Question No. 6: If a machine travels at 5 miles per hour and covers a 6-foot swath, assuming no lost time during turning, what is the field capacity? A . 3.6 acres B . 5.8 acres C . 7.2 acres Question No. 14: (True or False) The power take-off shaft from the tractor to the driven machine should not be operated unless all shields are in place.

Westbound Interstate 70 near Frederick was closed for about 10 hours following a tractor-trailer rollover that occurred Wednesday night, Maryland State Police said. A tractor-trailer carrying fertilizer overturned on the ramp at 8:55 p.m. Wednesday, state police said in a news release.  The driver and the passenger in the tractor-trailer were taken to Frederick Memorial Hospital, the release said. Westbound I-70 was closed until shortly after 7 a.m. Thursday, when one lane reopened.

The Franklin County (Pa.) Department of Emergency Services is seeking local businesses affected by a tractor-trailer fire Thursday that closed Interstate 81 in Dauphin County, Pa., for several days. Due to the crash and fire last week, Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett declared a state of disaster. He is consulting with the director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency to determine if there is a need for a federal declaration, according to a news release. If a federal declaration is made, there might be federal funds available to offset uninsured business losses due to the incident.

Two tractor-trailer cabs were reported to be on fire Sunday morning in a FedEx service center parking lot southwest of Hagerstown, according to Washington County Emergency Services officials. No injuries were reported, a 911 supervisor said. The fires were reported at about 11:25 a.m. Sunday, another 911 supervisor said. The incident occurred in a parking lot off Transportation Circle, which is off Greencastle Pike, the 911 supervisor said.

Traffic was snarled in the southbound lanes of Interstate 81 near the Marlowe-Falling Waters exit Tuesday morning while workers repaired a jersey wall that was struck by a tractor-trailer at about 4:30 a.m., a Berkeley County Emergency Services supervisor said. The supervisor said about 350 feet of the wall was damaged. Southbound I-81 was closed for about two hours until the tractor-trailer was towed from the scene. One southbound lane remained closed while the wall was being repaired.

Eastbound Interstate 70 at Exit 3 to Md. 144 (Main Street) in Hancock was closed for about six hours Tuesday morning due to an accident involving a tractor-trailer, a supervisor for Washington County Emergency Services said. Police responded to the accident shortly after 6:45 a.m. Tuesday. The eastbound lanes reopened at about 12:40 p.m., the supervisor said. No one was injured in the accident, according to the supervisor.  

A Martinsburg woman died Tuesday morning when the vehicle she was driving struck the rear of a tractor-trailer on Interstate 81, according to the Berkeley County Sheriff's Office. Barbara J. Haarman, age and address not given, was pronounced dead at the scene of the 3 a.m. accident, the sheriff's office said in a news release. She  sustained multiple injuries, including head trauma, the release said. Haarman was driving a 2000 Ford station wagon north when it struck the rear of the tractor-trailer driven by David Bernhardt of Fayetteville, Pa., deputies said.

Interstate 68 was closed in both directions at Sideling Hill in far western Washington County for about an hour Monday following to a tractor-trailer fire and oil spill, authorities said. The transmission blew on a tractor-trailer heading east on the interstate, a supervisor for Washington County Emergency Services said. No one was injured, an emergency services supervisor said. Police responded at around 7:40 a.m. Monday morning. One eastbound lane remained closed late Monday morning at Exit 74 (Md. 903/Mountain Road)

The Easter Bunny made the first full pull March 17 at the Washington County Farm Bureau Pedal Tractor Pull at Valley Mall.  In the 4-7 age group, Matthew Baker took first place, followed by Darby Bittle, Kaleb Long and Madalyn Hutzell. Age group 8-11 winners were, tied for first place, Mikinzie Smallwood, Camden McCall, Nathan Baker and Raimondo Schianodicola, followed by Benjamin Rivera, Matthew Hutzell and Billy Weigle. Thanks to Theron Reed, Chris Baker and Eli Galyor for their help.  Another tractor pull will be held in July at the Washington County Agricultural Education Center.  For more information about the Washington County Farm Bureau, call David Herbst at 240-527-9622 or send an email to dlh21783@hotmail.com.

The 4-H Tractor Club members and parents recently met for the 60th annual awards banquet at the Chambersburg Church of the Brethren.  The family style dinner was planned to recognize project club winners and to complete the annual winter program. This was the last meeting of the year.  Cyrus Lehman, club president, made an introduction and then Roger Dice, program director, made a few comments. A ribbon was given to each member to determine how he or she did in their project book.  Dale Martin taught the first-year group and awarded Bryce Ocker first place.

A Hagerstown man was charged with pointing a shotgun out of the window of a car at a tractor-trailer on Interstate 81 early Tuesday in what Maryland State Police are describing as a road rage incident. Brandon Scott Castle, 20, of Hagerstown, was charged with first-degree assault and reckless endangerment in the incident. He was a passenger in a car driven by Alan Vincent Saunders, 21, of Hagerstown, state police said in a press release. Saunders was not charged. The driver of the tractor trailer told officers he was traveling north on I-81 south of U.S. 40 when the car pulled up next to him in the fast lane, the front passenger window was rolled down, and a shotgun pointed at the window on the driver's side of the tractor, state police said.