Stolen Tractor Creates More Work For Bixby Farmer

Someone has stolen a little tractor that does a big job at Carmichael’s Pumpkin Patch in Bixby. The owner said now that it’s gone, it’s going to make his job a lot tougher.

Carmichael's Pumpkin Patch is not open just yet, but it will be in a few weeks, and owner Don Carmichael said having his tractor stolen could not have come at a worse time.

“We've got great big huge piles of pumpkins and the kids climb all over them and they take pictures with them,” Carmichael said.

He owns Carmichael's Produce and said he's an old-school farmer.

“It just takes a lot of hard work and a lot of long hours. I work seven days a week,” he said.

Carmichael grows a little of everything; watermelons, peaches, potatoes, tomatoes and even big turtles.

Then, of course, he's the man behind Carmichael's Pumpkin Patch - a long-standing tradition in his neck of the woods.

Carmichael said, “We've been doing that for 35 years and we've got about four generations of kids that have been coming to the pumpkin patch.”

Getting the pumpkin patch ready for the thousands of visitors each fall takes a lot of work; much of which is done with his little John Deere tractor.

“It's a small tractor that we use for everything,” he said.

It was stolen sometime on Tuesday, and Carmichael said the timing couldn't be more off, “We're about to get busy in pumpkins.”

He has other tractors, but this one was his go-to piece of equipment. It has a front-end loader and is small enough to haul pumpkins around the patch during peak times.

“It's kind of like this...you just can't hardly be without it,” he said.

Carmichael said he has insurance and it will cover some of the cost to buy another, but not all.

He hopes it's found before he has to buy another one in the next few days or, better yet, a message to the person who took it.

“Just bring it back and park it where you got it,” he said.

Anyone with information about the missing tractor should call the Tulsa County Sheriff's Office.

As for the Pumpkin Patch, it opens September 26th.