Allan Jacobs, proprietor of Pedal Tractor Farms, rides one of his vintage car-themed mobility scooters near his Connaught home. Diagnosed with MS at 65, Jacobs' hobby keeps his mind busy while providing a fun way to improve his transportation. - NEWS PHOTO LAUREN THOMSON
lthomson@medicinehatnews.com
Allan Jacobs, owner of Pedal Tractor Farm, uses various items and recycles them into something new that bring joy as well as functionality to his life and the lives of others.
Jacobs grew up on a farm in Manitoba with his large family, where he says his love for pedal tractors was born.
“When I was a kid, the neighbour had a pedal John Deer. We did everything we could to find an excuse to go ride it. There were so many kids that rode it that it wore out to the point where it wouldn’t hardly run,” Jacobs laughed.
In 1968, Jacobs moved to Swift Current and worked for Jim MacIntyre, son of W.J. MacIntyre; keen inventor and builder of mechanical horses. After W.J. passed away, his mechanical horse was left to rust, but was later found by Jacobs and Jim, who worked to repair it. Jacobs rode “Blowtorch” the mechanical horse in the Swift Current parade in 1968. It now resides in a museum in Moose Jaw.
“I’ve done some interesting things,” said Jacobs. “I climbed to the top of the TV tower in Swift Current to weld on the very top section of that tower.”
Jacobs became a journeyman and moved to Medicine Hat in 1973. He got married, started his family and ran a successful welding business, which is now run by one of his daughters and his son.
In the early 2000’s, Jacob’s was inspired by his twin brother Alvin who had built two pedal tractors. Alvin would take them from his home in Vernon, B.C. to the dock in Salmon Arm.
“When we went up there, it was unreal how many people wanted to ride those tractors, so I came back and started building them,” he said.
Jacobs started by building 20 pedal tractors around 2005. He builds them with recycled pieces from things like washers, dryers and jerry cans. The seats are off old farm equipment and the pedals from CCM bikes. Jacobs builds them so they can be easily repaired.
Now with 100 pedal tractors, Jacobs has taken them to schools and carnivals, among other places. He remembered his days at Spectrum Festival, when he would charge just $2 a ride so every kid would have a chance to ride, not worrying about his personal profit and just wanting kids to have fun.
“We were non-stop. We had a whole block and a half. Our problem was the kids would get on it and go all the way to the library and wouldn’t come back, they just drove around up there,” Jacobs laughed. “So we had to go get a guy up there to help (send them back).”
Jacobs says he loves seeing people happily riding his pedal tractors. He once had a man ask him why he had so many, to which he responded “well, I can make 50 kids happy at one time.
“You don’t see any unhappy kids riding a tractor,” said Jacobs. “They want to drive, they want to do it themselves. It’s an experience for them.”
Around Jacobs 65th birthday, he was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. A few years into the diagnosis, it was getting harder to walk, but he still loved getting outside so he started riding a mobility scooter on the trails. He found people weren’t very friendly to him, so about five years ago he started changing the look of his transportation by building shells of vintage cars around his scooters.
“If you take the car down there you can talk to a hundred people! It’s totally different,” said Jacobs.
Jacobs says his illness helped motivate him to create.
“Part of it is, you get thinking about yourself when you’re not well and you really need something to draw your mind away.”
He now has six different electric cars to get himself around. Gene Winfield, Hollywood car designer, even rode one while in Medicine Hat for a car show. Jacobs says he loves his hobby and it helps keep him busy.
“I welded all my life. My mind is still very creative, my body has lost its ability to do things that I’d like to do,” said Jacobs. “I’ve always designed and built stuff that marvelled people.”
