Days gone by,,,,,,

Our family pulled an 88 Oliver around Mo, Ks, and OK, back in the late 60s and early to mid 70s. The post below reminded me of the prize money vs. entry fees offered back "in the day." Best I remember your common "brush pull" cost $5 to enter and paid $25, $15, & $10, 3 places, and usually a decent trophy. Some small pulls divvied back 100% of the entry at 50%, 30%, and 20%. A couple I went to only wanted to pay back half the entry pot. I remember one time going to one of those, (accidently, I wouldn't have gone on purpose), and there were only 2 in my class. The entry fee was $10. I won and got back $5, the guy that got 2nd got $3. Occasionally someplace like Platt Co. Fair would have a 1st place starting at $100 and paying down to 5th place with a $10 entry fee. The Missouri State Fair back then paid $250 for first place. I forget the entry fee.

Local pulls back then would put a lot of people in the stands because a good number of folks were farm people. They might not have been farmers as adults but an awful lot of us grew up on farms that our families outgrew and knew what it was to spend endless hours "plowing" beans or other row crops on M Farmalls, or 77 Olivers, or 8N Fords.

When I look through the posted PICs of antique pulls and see the seats in the background, it's pretty easy to understand where the prize money is. It stayed home. We are coming to the close of a way of life that I get pretty nostalgic about. I was kid in the 60s and a beat up older guy now. We're about gone fellas. gm

Yah! getting old just like our toys.

It's a dying sport, us grandpops need to get our grandsons involved to carry on.
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Yes,the number of "OLE FARM BOYZ" is getting slimmer as each day and pull pass.It is fun to see an older gentleman drive his tractor,slowly down the track,one he purchased new,50 - 70 or more yrs ago.Farm people make up only one or two percent of the population today. Tractor pulling has truly grown over the last 30 yrs or so,all around the world,but as with most things,ebb and floe.I find a lot of joy in driving,meeting new friends and sharing some time,a beer and laughs with many old ones. Awaiting March so summer can begin early.

We have some fair pulls here in NH that continue to pack the stands. One pull is on Labor Day starting at 9:00 AM, the other is late Sept. and the pull starts at 4:00 PM Friday afternoon, goes till done at 10:00-11:00, then starts up again the next AM. Most of the other fair pulls are scheduled for Thursday or Friday morning when there are few people on the grounds. I suppose the fair directors don't think anyone wants to watch.

Gary,back in July 1970 I pulled Dads Oliver 1950 in the 15,000 class at our local fair pull..I made two full pulls and so did a 190 XT Allis...On the 3rd pulloff I pulled 115 ft and killed it and the XT pulled 130 ft and killed it...After the pull was over a man from Marshfield,MO came up and said I want your tractor to pull at the very first ever Ozark Empire Fair pull in Springfield,MO..He was the pull chairman...Anyways we didnt have a truck good enough to haul it there so my brother drove it the 100 miles down there in a little over 4 hours..The next afternoon in front of a packed house I made the only full pull to win the 15,000 class...I won a huge trophy and $100 prize money which was unheard of back then..We drove it back home that evening and I still can remember almost the entire town of Walnut Grove,MO standing in their yards as they had heard that screaming little 4-53 Detroit coming for a long time..

Back in those days every little town that had a pull would have a crowd of 1,000 to over 2,000 people...As you said $25 for 1st place was about it at most places...When antique pulling started in the mid 1970's we would have as many as 500 people or more in the stands,especially at the tractor shows.....Today at our local MSTPA pull we are lucky to have 600-800 people and the antique pulls are lucky to have 50-100 spectators...Its usually just the pullers and their family or friends..Theres still plenty of pullers (mostly older) but we just cant get the spectators..With the large farms theres very few kids growing up on farms so theres very few that are even interested in old tractors or tractor pulling....

Heres that good running 88 Oliver puller that Gary and his Dad Arlie pulled many years ago...I can remember it like it was yesterday..Those were sure some fun times...Picture courtesy of Gary..

I remember we would work weeks getting ready for our county fair. I pulled Dad's 4010 in the na 12000 class. Friends took a D21 and a 1030 Case with a blower and pulled in the 13000lb.class. We all drove them in the day before and weighted them. There was a big crowd and first paid $150 and they paid 10 places. Cost $10 to enter. I made 62.50 take home pay then. $75 gross.

How old is he? I'm guessing around 10. I seen a 8 year old pulling a pretty good sized Ford at a show over at Penfield Illinois, he had to bout jump on the clutch with both feet to get it stopped, but he knew what to do and when to do it. Wound up making a very respectful pull. That is a good picture. DP

He was 9 in this pic. He was 8 in this earlier pic.

I remember that pull Blaine. I pulled at Blue Mound, KS. the night before, drove down to Spgfld after that, slept in the truck, (sort of), and left right after the 5500 was over because I was dead tired. Ray Jackson pulled in on one side of us in the night and Carl Barnhart on the other. Barnie was even tireder than we were. He'd spent the previous day at Rayborn Conner's Garage in Green City, MO. getting some wide rubber on his 185 Massey before driving back down to Spgfld. He won the 55 that day and needless to say, that was the last time we ran 16.9's. Thanks for posting both the thoughts and the memories. I can't tell you how much I enjoy the PICs you post since it's gotten so hard for me to get around any more. gm

Merle Snyder from Mapleton,KS had also pulled his 806 IH in Kansas the night before....Around midnight they loaded the 806 up and he crawled under the rear wheels and slept the whole way down to Springfield.....They tied him on with a rope....Everyone had to be at Springfield by 8-9 AM to sign in and start pulling...The pull started and the top 10 in each of the 6 classes went to the mid afternoon session..The 15,000 only had 5-6 entries so I only pulled once..

1206, that's an amazing story - can't imagine a trip like that. But you gotta' do what you gotta' do. Thanks for sharing.