ALL ABOUT TRACTORS By PAUL WALLEM

 If you were at the Lebanon, Pa., Fairgrounds this past May 21 you saw black smoke – lots of it, along with plenty of noise. This was just one example of a sport – tractor pulls – that is alive and well throughout the world.

I was curious to see which brands pulled at Lebanon. In the 10,500-pound class, these tractors pulled (in order of appearance): International, International, Deere, Deere, International, Deere, Case.

The winner was a Deere 4430 named “JUST GLUED TOGETHER.” You can see the event on YouTube, amongst other events held this spring. Good entertainment and going on all over the country.

During the late 60s, I traveled throughout Europe for International Harvester. There were pulling events going on in the states, but virtually none in Europe. The sport had not caught on there. Recently I looked on YouTube for overseas pulling videos and found a great one at a Danish event, with a lot of entries in the modified class.

Jan Arvidsson is the son of the IH distributor that had all of Sweden when I traveled there. He is a good friend, and president of International Harvester Collectors Club #22. He is also an avid collector of IH trucks and farm equipment. I sent him questions regarding past and present pulling events. Here is his response:

“Tractor pulling became popular here in Europe in the 80s. Before that it was mostly unknown in Europe. It was very popular up until around the Millennium. It’s still going but not on the same level.”

He recommended that Farm World readers visit https://tractorpulling.com to see details about those contests now in Europe.

I did so and was amazed at the modified classes. Pulls are arranged by the ETPC (European Tractor Pulling Committee) and are held in England, France, Denmark, Germany and Belgium. The modified entries at Brande, Denmark, May, 2022 are awesome. Some have two diesels, some three and one has four. If you like smoke, you’ll love that one. Then came the gas turbines, with less smoke but sounding just like a Boeing 747.

Back here in the United States, I see many videos of antique tractor pulls all over the country, Typical entries are JD G, Farmall MTA, Farmall 460, Massey 44, Oliver 88N.  It reminded me of the pulls at our county fair 50 years ago. It looks like antique pulls are alive and well.

As I wrote this, I thought about attendance at pulls. Are more people going to see them? Or less? Or about the same? I went to a very good source to find out.

Sherry Schaefer was a teenager when her dad had a pulling sled. After each pull she towed it back to the starting line. Through their years together they provided the sled to national pulling events. She now owns and publishes Oliver Heritage and Heritage Iron Magazines and attends many pulling contests. I asked her about attendance at these events. Here’s what she said:

“Tractor pulling has changed a lot in the last 30 years so that’s a tough question. On the participation side, it has changed due to the expense of pulling. The high-end pullers have decreased in numbers due to expense and the need for a sponsorship in order to make it somewhat feasible. Spectators from all sides are still remaining loyal and I would not say spectators are decreasing. I would say they are just as well attended as they ever were.”

If you want to spend an afternoon at various pulls, visit YouTube and enter tractor pulls on the search bar. You can spend hours viewing more than 200 videos of recent tractor and truck contests, as well as some blown up engines. Black smoke everywhere.

Paul Wallem was raised on a dairy farm. He spent 13 years with corporate IH on domestic and foreign assignments. He resigned to own and operate two IH dealerships. He is the author of THE BREAKUP of IH and SUCCESSES AND INDUSTRY FIRSTS of IH and others. See his books on www.PaulWallem.com.