Ask any gearhead what his favourite brand is, and you’ll get a straight answer.
In the pits at any motorsport event, the discussion inevitably gets around to the “best” machine.
“John Deere!” Or “Craftsman,” or even “Cub Cadet!”
This is no ordinary race with garden-variety racing machines. This is the Water Valley Days sixth annual lawn-tractor race.
The chatter in the pits quickly turns to engines which, in lawn tractors, are mostly provided by Briggs & Stratton (B&S) and Tecumseh. There was the odd murmur of “Honda,” but there were no foreign exotics to be seen in this year’s Water Valley lineup.
“I’ve done in a couple of Tecumsehs over the years,” relates Cochrane’s Marty Deeves, five-time champion of the Water Valley Days lawn tractor event. He successfully defended his title in the modified class Aug. 10, on the 150-metre gravel track around Trail’s End Restaurant and Lounge at the corner of Hwy 579 and Laveck Lane. “I’ve had better luck with the Briggs and Stratton.”
Riding a 1980’s White CruiseMatic, Deeves slayed all the Craftsman and Cub Cadet machines he went up against in the modified class. Modifications to his machine include a straight-pipe exhaust, replacing his tractor’s 12-horsepower B&S for a 16-hp unit, and drive-pulley modifications that give him taller final-drive ratios for high top speeds. He can coax his lawn tractor up to 35+ km/h on the straightaway.
At that speed, he could cut an acre of grass in just over seven minutes.
Water Valley’s Dave Withehair brought a highly-modified tractor with a 20-hp B&S motor offset to the driver’s left on a half-inch walnut flexplate to accommodate his drive-pulley modifications. The unit had no cowl, no visible trace of a brand name and a cool alligator head mounted on the right side.
He gave Deeves a good run in the modified class, but couldn’t keep pace over the two laps.
“There are some machines that have parts of different tractors, just to make them go faster,” says Water Valley Days lawn-tractor race organizer Larry Mizera, who won the stock event on his Craftsman with large rear wheels. “As far as the makes, you’ll find all kinds. There’s a variety.
“Some will put bigger tires on. And some will put different-size pulleys on to make them go faster.”
Eighty-three-year-old Sonny Greenwood, racing in his fifth Water Valley Days event, was rocking the 1980’s vintage stock Craftsman with pylon-orange paint, flames and Canadian flag flying off the back. His 12-hp machine was good enough for second place in the stock class, ahead of Mike Mizera’s 19-hp Scotts garden mower.
“You have to make sure you’ve got enough oil,” Greenwood said as he inspected his machine prior to the race.
Steve Lambert’s modified cherry-red machine with the custom seat cover and “deluxe” nameplate on the chopped front cowl caught the eye of racers and fans alike. Not sporting any brand labels, the Cub Cadet-ish custom with the 20-hp B&S and cut, straight-pipe exhaust drew praise in the pits. He gave Deeves a run in the modified event, but couldn’t catch the five-time winner.
In the women’s class, Marlene Mizera’s Maple Leaf-motif stock Craftsman got the better of Paula Mizera’s Sears machine.
To the winner (Deeves) went the trophy, a brand-new manure shovel.
“It’s to shovel all the b.s. after the race,” race-organizer Mizera cracks.
