WATERLOO - Get ready. The tractors are coming.

The WHO Radio Great Iowa Tractor Ride will roll into Northeast Iowa this weekend and then tour the area three days. Organizers expect 500 tractors and more than 750 participants.

According to Event Manager Molly Pins, Waterloo will serve as a base.

"The people here have been absolutely fantastic to work with, and we feel like we are going to be right at home," she said in a prepared statement.

Riders will congregate as early as 8 a.m. Sunday at the John Deere Waterloo Works Donald Street site. Organizers will meet that night to review rules of the road.

On Monday, tractors will start at 6:30 a.m. and head toward a lunch stop in Waverly. Eight groups will move out every 30 to 45 minutes to help control traffic. The last tractors will leave John Deere at 11 a.m.

The destination is the Bremer County Fairgrounds in Waverly. The first group should arrive at 10:15 a.m.

"Lunches can be a little crazy," Pins said. "At some points of the day, we'll have one group of tractors leaving just as another group arrives."

Grilled sandwiches will be available from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., and the public is invited.

Monday's route concludes at the Electric Park Ballroom in Waterloo, and once again the tractors will be on display.

The tractorcade will head to Independence on Tuesday following the same schedule. The destination is the Heartland Agribition Center. Groups should return to Electric Park by 6 p.m.

On Wednesday, the route covers about 28 miles around Waterloo, and tractors will be coming and going out of Electric Park from 7:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.

For information, go to www.whoradiotractorride.com.