Larry, I found you a set of new tires!!!!

Larry, I think these would do real good on your tractor. More traction, more speed, more first place trophies!!!!!

I got a picture of my new tires but I have got to find it!!

Eric Benton, Southeast Tractor Parts, This will scare all of Larrys competition!!!

Farm Shows

The last day of the Raleigh Farm Show was a good day attendance wise. but a lousy day to have been outside. It snowed, rained and sleeted on us all day long. I got soaking wet loading up the truck to come home. I saw a couple of fender benders on the way home and it was probably because of the slick roads.
Sunday I left to go to the National Farm Machinery show in Louisville KY. It snowed on and off for the whole trip to Ky. I stayed at a hunting cabin a friend has there in Pleasureville KY. The driveway which is a 1 lane road between 2 fences that are barely far enough apart for the road. When a Dodge 2500 series ,long bed, quad cab pickup turns sideways on the slick ice/snow cover road there is verrrrrry little room left between the fences. I did not hit the fence but I think it is only because the fence moved over some!!!
There was 5 or 6 inches of snow on the ground when I got there and it snowed another 8 inches on Monday night. I backed the truck up on Tuesday morning to meet my buddies to go and finish setting the booth up and stuck my truck. They picked me up and I left the truck stuck 2 days before I could get to it to pull it out. When I did get it out I drove it to the front side of the cabin and stuck it again. So my buddies picked me up to go to the show every day. The only day I drove in was on Saturday so I could load the truck to come home. Once I had the weight of the parts and racks I had on display then I did not have any problem getting around in the snow. I left home with 1000 lbs plus my display parts and should have had 1400 lbs in the back of the truck. This was the worst year for weather problems that I have ever had while at Louisville.
However, It was one of the best years for talking to customers and new potential customers.
I met several people I had been shipping part to but had only talked to on the phone. So lousy weather good show!! I handed out 2000 catalogs while at the show. I was so busy I only got to go get ice cream on 2 days instead of every day!!!!

Eric Benton Southeast Tractor Parts,

Raliegh Farm Show Day 3

I am setting in my booth waiting for the show to open and it is a rainy, sleeting and snowy day here at the fairgrounds. I don't know how this will affect the attendance but I think it will be a good bit less than yesterday. Thursday was a real good day. There were a lot of people who were interested in parts. There were also a lot of my customers that came by the booth to talk to me. Some even came to pick up parts I had brought to the show for them. I had expected to see some empty booths here due to the economy, However, every booth is full and I have not found an empty booth anywhere here at the show. At the Sunbelt Expo in Moultrie GA there were a lot of empty booths where displayers cancelled or just did not show up. People have been more upbeat about things than there were in Moultrie in October. I hope today will be a good day also!!!

Eric Benton, Southeast Tractor Parts,

Raleigh Farm Show

Today was the first day of the Raleigh Farm Show. I expected it to be a slow day and I was pleasantly surprised. I was busy for most of the day talking to customers and handing out catalogs. I have a list of parts to find for people when I get home and also talked to several customers I have previously sold parts . One of these customers is going to pickup tires rims and centers this Saturday. The weather was good today, lots of sunshine, lots of snow and ice melted and everyone seemed to be in good spirits about the coming year. Tomorrow should be good and Friday is supposed to be back to a wintry mix.
This is my 1 year anniversary for blogging. I started last year during the show. Some days this is easy to do and sometimes it is almost impossible to do. There have been visitors from all over the states and several other countries. I have some ongoing projects I need to finish to get on here and some new projects I want to do if I can find the time. I will be here for the rest of the week and then at the National Farm Machinery show in KY next week and then home to sell more parts and get ready for another tractor pulling season.

Eric Benton, Southeast Tractor Parts, Working for a living!!!!

NTPDA Tradeshow

I have been a member of the National Tractor Parts Dealer Association since 1989. I have served as a director of the association, and as the vice president and president but this year I am just a member. This is probably the position I am most qualified to serve. All in all it was a good informative meeting. I found some new suppliers that will provide me with some new parts I have been looking for to meet my customers demand. The best "meetings" were in the bar at the end of the day. For some of us , this is more a family reunion to catch up with what is going on with familys and friends. Linda did not go this year and I was asked"Where's Linda?" about 100 times from various people aroound the country.
Friday night I went to the Grand Old Opry at the Ryman Auditorium. They were doing a live radio show while we were there for the 2 hour show. It was a good show. The wood pews (seats) had my butt numb in about 30 minutes. There were singers from the 70s & 80s as well as singers that are current so it was a good mix of country music. And it was interesting to be in a live radio show, especially one I have listened to many Friday and Saturday nights as I was growing up. The rest of the time I spent in the Trade Show looking for deals. I did find a couple of deals and brought them home with me. I had the cab of the pickup full of clutch packs and guage assemblies.

Eric Benton, Southeast Tractor Parts,Always looking for a deal!!!

On the Road!!

I am in Nashville TN attending the National Tractor Parts Dealer Association meeting. It was a 500 mile drive to get here. The interstate I40 is still blocked by a rockslide so I had to bypass around the slide on Hwy 70 from Asheville NC to Newport TN. I saw a lot of snow on the bypass, yards still covered in snow and trees that had blown down or the accumulation of snow had broken them on the side of the road. I also saw creeks and ponds that were frozen over and there was snow on top of the ice. At least the roads were clear. I have spent today in classes on Strategic Planning, Computer programs and Environmental planning. In a hour the trade show opens so I can see what my suppliers have available in new parts for the coming year. It has been a good time talking to friends from across the country.


Eric Benton, Southeast Tractor Parts,always looking for more parts to sell!!!

New Year!!

I hope all of you had a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!!! Here are 3 new pictures to start the year off . Larry if you paint your tractor red you want have to worry about adjusting the valve settings. The other 2 pictures are of a MF 135 I purchased . It runs good ,cranks good, and has power steering. It is just a ugly tractor. I will probably part it out. The engine is a Perkins 3 cylinder 152 cubic in engine.

Eric Benton. Southeast Tractor Parts, New parts for the new year!!