The Iowa Hawkeyes football team is driven by more than the players and coaches, with a legion of fans ready for the game.

Hawkeye Headquarters and Local 4 spoke with some tailgaters ahead of the season opener, who this year started bringing a big piece of farm equipment to the pregame festivities.

“Win or lose, we’ve never lost a tailgate,” said Matt Kuster. “We’re coming here to support the Hawkeyes no matter what.”

On game day in Hawkeyes country, it’s a “place to celebrate,” McKenna Thatcher said. “Everybody is finally united as one.”

The action starts before fans take their seats.

“Serving the french fries, serving the food and keeping the people entertained,” said Dick Gallagher. 

But forget the back of pickups, for this tailgating group.

“These are friends of mine,” Thatcher said. “It’s amazing that they would do something like this and bring it here. That they could fit it here.”

This year their party begins… when the harvester arrives.

“What’s more Iowa than a combine, right?” Kuster said.

“Tailgating up here for 30 years and a good friend of mine’s son decided to do something a little different,” Gallagher said.

While no longer fit for a farm, new life as a tailgate utility vehicle and symbol of its past. 

“Whether you grew up on a farm or not, you know what a combine is and you realize that connection,” Kuster said. “It’s special. You just have to look around and watch people walk by and kind of go, ‘Oh my God, that’s a combine.'”

“Iowa’s where America needs farmers. That ANF,” Gallager  said. “This is a good example of why we need that.”

And it’s built for a party.

“It’s an old Case International combine, so it used to be red and they got it all black,” Kuster said. “Where the grain hopper is is actually a dance floor.”

Kicking off it’s first tailgate, it’s a quick attraction.

“Pretty special you know,” Kuster said. “We’ve seen people sneakily taking pictures of it and people asking out right if they could take pictures.”

And they plan to take it on the road to Indianapolis when they say the Hawkeyes make the Big Ten Championship. 

Follow Shawn Loging on Twitter and Facebook.

For more Hawkeye coverage, follow @AdamJRossow and @HawkeyeHQ on Twitter and Facebook — and Hawkeye Headquarters on OurQuadCities.com all season.