Ron is store manager for Mueller Implement and also owns and operates Fox Country Lawn and Garden, which is a John Deere lawn and garden tractor resale business. When Ron and Jolene, a medical assistant, attended their first tractor pull, " it was just going to be a one time thing!" But Ron pulled three or four times, " and it’s kind of like peanuts, you can’t have just one."

In 2005, their Jim, a union iron worker, and daughter-in-law Maggie, a patient accounts manager, saw how much fun they were having and decided to join too, along with daughters Madeline 7, and Alyssa, 15. 2006 was Madeline’s first year of pulling and she was 5^th in her class for points. ( Anyone who saw the pictures on www.weekendfreedommachines.org knows that she put many of the adult men to shame with her skills!) She operates a John Deere Diesel Hydro, 16 horse garden tractor with an automatic transmission, which Grandpa Ron said is probably the hardest tractor in the fleet to drive because of the high torque of the engine.

Garden tractor pulls are set up much like full-sized tractor pulls, but they are divided into class according to horsepower, rather than size. The total weight of the tractor, operator, and safety equipment must equal 1050 pounds in all classes except for the open class category. Garden tractors can be either stock, which is how they were issued from the factory, or modified, depending on the class. The modified tractors have been "souped up" by their owners for more power and better traction. Points are awarded to the tractor, rather than the operator, so team members drive the same tractor for the entire pulling season.

Alyssa drives the 18 horse stock John Deere and was points leader in her class, which was made up mostly of adults.. Madeline says she likes it because," it is fun to drive big tractors." Alyssa said she enjoys it because of the quality time she gets to spend with her family. She said, " No matter how I do, they are going to tell me I did good!" Daughter-in-law Maggie pulls also, and said the pulling tractors "are like garden tractors on steroids!"

The Fox Country Pulling Team also includes two non-family members: Angel Glicco and Dan Esser, and the team pulls mostly at sanctioned events, but they also put on a great exhibition at the Little G Expo in Dyersville, Iowa each August, where they pull just for fun and also enjoy driving in the parades. If you have seen any of their distinctive tractors, you know immediately that they are part of the Fox Country group.

In addition to the pulling tractors, they also have an enviable John Deere garden tractor collection that includes: an 80 dump cart, 1963, 1964, and 1965 110's, 2 round fendered 112's, 2 square fendered 110's, a Model 60, Model 70, and Model 100. They have a green 120 and a green 140H3. In the "Custom Color" or "Patio" line they have: a blue 110, an orange 112, a red 112, a blue 112 hydraulic lift, an orange 120, and a yellow 140 H1. Rounding out their collection is a 212 manual lift, a 214 electric lift, a 216 hydraulic lift, a 330, a 420, and a 430.

For personal use they have 2- 455's ( one is all-wheel steer), a 3235 fairway mower, a 935 front mount mower, blower, and cab, and a 955 compact with mower, loader, backhoe, and broom.

Jolene said that due to all the pullers, " it takes 2 Ford F350 crew cab trucks and two 24 foot enclosed trailers to get us to a pull or the Expo. We are lucky we live on 10 acres and have a barn and a shop. To keep the pullers going, we purchased our own sled and built a track. Four years ago, at the Little G Expo, a nice gentleman came up to us wanting us to buy his pulling sled, and now we own it! He has since offered to buy it back, but we are not selling. Really nice sleds are hard to come by, and we got lucky getting this one!"

In addition to their collection and the pulling tractors, they also have 30 other John Deere garden tractors / mowers for sale along with miscellaneous parts and attachments.

Ron and Jolene also have 2 older married daughters and six more grandchildren. Crystal and husband Aaron have 2 daughters: Sydney, 9 and Katie who is 5. Daughter Tammy and husband Shane have 2 boys and 2 girls: Austin ( who passed away 3 years ago), Devin, 11, and twins Jocelyn and Jillian, who are 7. The twins and Madeline were all born on a Memorial Day weekend two days apart, so it was a busy, and memorable weekend for Grandma and Grandpa Fuchs. Both Crystal and Tammy and their families live in nearby Brodhead, Wisconsin, and Jim and his family live only half a mile down the road from Ron and Jolene, so they all get together often. All the kids except Katie are in school and doing well. Jolene said their daughters and their families haven’t been bitten with the collecting or pulling bug yet, but they do make a great cheering section!

As if all this wasn’t enough to make me want to stay there for a weekend, they also have dirt bikes, four -wheelers, and snowmobiles. Jolene said it is " like playing in a sandbox, but on a bigger scale! Needless to say, the grandkids all love to come to our house and visit."

You can contact Ron and Jolene at foxcountry@tds.net.