Gas-powered tractors revolutionized farming in the 19th century. Then, they made life easier for those earning a living off the land. Today — at least for some — tractors make it a little more entertaining.

Just ask Bill Blough.

“My son, who lives in Cranberry Township … brought home a Sunday magazine one weekend about a group of farmers from Nemaha, Iowa — the Farmall Promenade — dancing with tractors,” recalls Blough, founder and former president of the Roof Garden Tractor Buddies in Somerset County. “I’m the goofy guy who said we should square dance on tractors here, and it just sort of fell together after that.”

A lifelong farmer, Blough turned to his colleagues, rallying a motley crew of farmers in the county curious enough to try most anything once. And when “once” proved too fun to stop, the newly formed Tractor Buddies decided to share the hobby with the community, performing at local festivals and the county fair. The 14-member group kicks up its wheels roughly a dozen times a year, including an annual performance at the Pennsylvania Farm Show.

Dressing the part

Since square dancing traditionally involves couples, some men will play the women’s roles and dress the part.

“We put eight tractors out there — some of the guys wear skirts and dresses — and we have a lot of fun doing it,” explains Blough, who has performed with the group at the Farm Show for 13 years. “We’re what the Pennsylvania Cable Network puts on television.”

The exact number of Farm Show “dancers” changes from year to year. One year, the Tractor Buddies danced with a club from Selinsgrove, a performance that sent
16 tractors into the Farm Show arena. While the Tractor Buddies have been tearing up the dance floor for more than two decades, it’s been even longer for Blough, who has done traditional square dancing and ridden tractors since he was a boy at 4-H gatherings.

“Right now, we have seven members under 28 years of age, and everything is going strong,” explains Allen Rhoads, a member of Somerset Rural Electric Cooperative (REC) and vice president of the Tractor Buddies. “It amazes me that we’ve got a group of people under 30 years old who are wanting to do something that we’ve been doing for 21 years. They like what we’re doing, and they’re very good at it.”

Brandon Rhoads, 26 (no known relation to Allen Rhoads), loves how different the activity is from anything he’s ever heard of. A tractor aficionado with “too many” of his own, he learned how to square dance just so he could ride with the group.

“My mom and dad wouldn’t let me square dance on the tractor unless I took square dance lessons on foot,” says the twenty-something, also a Somerset REC member and owner of May Hill Rhoads Farm. “There’s not [another] group that does it in the state — there used to be, but they disbanded. It’s different; it’s unique. It’s not something you see everywhere you go.”
 

Tractor dancers perform inside a 100-foot circle, so the Tractor Buddies use narrow front-end tractors to ensure they can move with precision. Otherwise, there are no restrictions on the make or model of the tractors they use. Allen Rhoads has 15 different tractors he likes to show off, his favorite being a Cockshutt 20. But truly, he says, the tractors are just one part of the overall experience.

“Being with friends — that’s what it’s all about,” the 77-year-old enthusiast says. “In the summer, we get together every week and practice for about an hour and a half. Our wives bring food in, and we sit down to eat and talk for two hours.”

Serious fun

While the tractors move in sync, there’s no choreography here. Similar to traditional square dancers, tractor square dancers follow nothing more than the caller’s improvised directions.

“That’s the beauty of it; it’s just a matter of listening and doing what the caller tells you to do,” says the elder Rhoads, a retired cattle and dairy farmer in Jenner Township. “We can teach someone to square dance, but we can’t teach someone to drive a tractor, so we absolutely demand they know how to drive [one].”

Blough, who dances a female role with his John Deere 3010 diesel, says he can’t overstate the importance of tractor safety. The retired 4-H leader has the scars to prove it; his right hand was replaced with a prosthetic hook after he lost it in a farming accident when he was 21.

It’s a tale he regularly recounts. On Dec. 16, 1968, the power take-off shaft of a manure spreader was frozen to its shield, Blough says. His gloves, wet from wintry weather, immediately froze to the spinning shaft and pulled his hand into the tractor, resulting in a seven-week stay at Somerset Hospital and multiple surgeries.

“I tell everyone to stop and think and be cautious and conscious every minute,” he says. “Nothing beats the real thing and once you have an accident, you can’t go back.”

Thankfully, the tale has a happy ending. Not only was Blough able to go back to work on the farm, but he also married his nurse, the former Dorothy Jane Hoover. And it clearly didn’t take away his affection for tractors.

“Some people still ask, ‘How can you dance with only one hand?’ ” he says with a chuckle. “Well, I farmed all those years with one hand!”

The Tractor Buddies will perform Wednesday, Jan. 10, at this year’s Farm Show. If you miss them there, you can still see them perform at events throughout Somerset County during the summer and early fall.

The group is sponsored in part by the Allied Milk Producers’ Cooperative, of which Somerset REC Board Secretary/Treasurer Lowell Friedline serves as secretary. To learn more about the Tractor Buddies, visit roofgardentractorbuddies.com.