In February, Stephen Eubank launched Scottsdale Tractor, which his website claims is the area’s “biggest and wildest nonstop party tour.” Inspired by a successful tractor party tour in Nashville, Scottsdale Tractor takes guests on a 1-mile sightseeing excursion around the Valley’s buzziest party district on a tractor-pulled wagon that's nicknamed "Big Sexy."
But Scottsdale police aren't enamored with "Big Sexy." They've cited the business five times since March. Eubanks faces four misdemeanor traffic charges — failure to produce a proper livery permit, operating without proper commercial insurance, operation of a vehicle contrary to law and operating without a valid commercial driver's license — and a misdemeanor criminal charge of permitting consumption of alcohol on an off-sale premises.
Eubank, however, claims he’s being harassed by the Scottsdale Police Department and accused the agency of wanting to see his business fail. Additionally, Eubank says the Arizona Department of Transportation gave him permission to run his business.
“I just went through three months of hell,” Eubank said. “Scottsdale police are dicks and are known for harassing. They’re picking and choosing who the hell they want to fuck with.”
Funny farm
Spend an evening in Old Town, and you’re bound to see plenty of oddball vehicles toting drunken revelers. There are bubblegum pink school buses called champagne trains, golf cart joyrides and rolling bars powered by pedaling.One such enterprise, Arizona Party Bike, has been operating in Old Town for nearly a decade. When founder Robert Mayer dreamed up the idea in 2014, it wasn’t legal in Arizona. So, he created legislation and successfully lobbied to allow his company to operate by reclassifying party bikes as motor vehicles.
Now he’s afraid of a dark cloud being cast over the industry if the tractors continue to be stopped by cops while passengers are on board.
“These tractors are going out getting criminal charges and endangering their guests,” Mayer said. “It’s terrible for the industry.”
Eubank has fired back with a new motto for his company: “We don’t pedal, we party!”
Despite Eubank’s enthusiasm, according to ADOT and the police, tractors are not considered motor vehicles in Arizona.
“A farm tractor isn’t seen as a tow vehicle even by the companies that manufacture them. They shouldn’t mix with normal traffic unless they’re in the act of animal farming or production of produce,” said Officer Evan Polasky of Scottsdale police. “That’s what they’re designed for. The instant you are no longer farming, those exceptions cease to exist. It would take new legislation to make this tractor a motor vehicle.”
Polasky also pointed out that passengers on the tractor could be cited for public intoxication or violating open container laws. Unlike party bikes, which have been sanctioned for alcohol consumption, Eubank’s tractors are not subject to the same open container exemption since they are not recognized as legal motor vehicles.
Eubank said he has already spent $160,000 on the business and just wants to offer his farm-inspired sightseeing tours in peace.
Arizona Party Bike patrons pose in front of the vehicle. Founder Robert Mayer created legislation and successfully lobbied to allow his company to operate by reclassifying party bikes as motor vehicles.
Courtesy of Robert Mayer
‘The operation is illegal’
Mayer shared with Phoenix New Times a pair of April emails he exchanged with Polasky concerning Eubanks' operation. In the messages, Polasky does not mince words, writing that “the operation is illegal and not approved” and adding that “ADOT has a similar stance.”“We all agree that the way that this apparatus is being operated is in violation of numerous traffic laws, equipment laws and ADOT administrative commercial laws. The owner is going to be advised of the numerous violations he’s set up for if he continues this type of operation. Unfortunately for him, there are not any loopholes on this one," Polasky added.
In March, Scottsdale police showed up at Eubank's doorstep with a message: Don't take "Big Sexy" back out on the road. But Eubank, with tours already scheduled, ignored the warning. Police stopped the tractor on April 13 as passengers waited and watched from the wagon. Officers later served Eubank with the five charges.
“They gave me all these misdemeanors, saying, ‘You don’t have this, you don’t have that, you don’t have the other thing,’” Eubank said.
Admittedly, Eubank said he didn’t have proper insurance when he was cited. So on April 26, he posted in a Facebook group asking for help obtaining insurance because he was “having trouble with insurance companies accepting my tractor as a vehicle.”
Eubank said he's upgraded his coverage since then — but that didn’t stop police from pulling him over again, he said.
“There’s about to be a huge lawsuit against the city of Scottsdale,” Eubank said. “I’m about to sue the hell out of everybody because I need to know what’s going on. It has been a total circus.”
Stretching the truth
According to the Scottsdale Tractor website, the business has been featured on MTV, though a network spokesperson could not confirm that. The website also says that the company works with the Metro Police Department, although no such department exists in Arizona.It costs $600 — or $60 per person — to rent out the tractor for an hour. The tour covers a 1-mile loop that starts and ends at Giligin’s Bar near Scottsdale Road and Drinkwater Boulevard.
Eubank said that he had recently received conflicting feedback from Scottsdale police and ADOT. “The cops are on my ass even though ADOT said I was doing everything compliant,” he remarked.
He further claimed that ADOT recognizes his tractor as both a tow truck and a limousine. According to a database of ADOT records, Scottsdale Tractor does not hold a permit from ADOT’s Vehicle for Hire Unit.
Although Eubank provided New Times with a photo of his permit on May 4, ADOT spokesperson Bill Lamoreaux said that “the ‘vehicle for hire’ permit is still in process.” Eubank’s claim that ADOT gave him the go-ahead to resume business, Lamoreaux noted, is stretching the truth.
“ADOT did not give him business permission,” Lamoreaux clarified. “We helped him register his tractor and trailer. That’s not to say he’s allowed to operate it as a business. That’s the city’s decision.”
Eubank said he plans to resume bookings on May 12.
