A Tractor Pull With No Pullers

Yesterday afternoon a town about 50 some miles from me had a antique pull scheduled..I have pulled in this town several times and there was always plenty of pullers..Well,much to everyone's surprise not a single tractor showed up to pull..I feel sorry for the people that planned it,the concession people, and for the sled crew as they are great people..They bought 3 hamburgers and went back home..In 58 years of pulling I have never heard of this happening..It could be the future.

Yesterday was kind of the perfect storm..

1-It was very hot and humid..You couldn't drink enough water..
2-The price of fuel is really hurting things..
3-In the past few years several long time pullers have passed or retired due to health-etc.
4-We don't have enough young pullers!
5-After 3 months of rain and cool weather it suddenly quit and got up to 95-100 degrees..
Everyone is racing to get the beans planted, hay cut, and the wheat harvested...Its drying out way to fast.
I had one pulling friend that a week ago had 5000 acres of beans to plant.

Yesterday evening I pulled my 1466 IH at Dover,MO 132 miles to the north...We had 7 classes and only 37 hooks...I counted up nearly 20 pullers missing...Lots were farming, some were broke and waiting on parts ,while others are running a limited schedule because of high fuel prices..There was a decent crowd of spectators.

I was the very first puller down the track and pulled 322 ft..My GPS showed me at 11.7-11.8 mph and the sled said 11.9 mph..I kept the option hook and the distance held up against 6 other tough tractors..One good tractor didnt make it as 2 miles away from home he saw that his puller had a flat rear tire...He went back home with the puller and just came to watch.

That's horrible, but with the price of fuel I can understand people not traveling far to pull. But I know all the prep work, sled rental scheduling and all the work it takes to put on a pull isn't cheap either even though most of the work is done by volunteers. Hope they can afford to have another pull and get a good turnout. A local county fair had an ITPA pull this past weekend and only had about 15 pullers, usually it's about triple that. Hope things get better!

That's SAD! A sign of the times? I see some the results of pulls and the numbers are down. You watch the videos and the fans are pretty thin in the grandstands. Don't know what is going on. Sounds like you made a good call not to turn down your first hook--If you would have and not gone as far and got beat you probably would have heard about it for awhile-we have all seen it happen both ways-stay safe 1206 and GOOD LUCK---Tee

Tee,I'm kind of worried about the future of antique tractor pulling in my area and maybe pulling in general...The interest in it seems to be waning..We've all noticed it for several years even before high fuel prices..The ironic thing is that the very same town had a garden tractor pull yesterday afternoon in the heat and they had 83 hooks...Normal is about 80-100 hooks...The same sled team that has the antique sled also furnished the garden tractor sled...Luckily they only live 12 miles away so going a 24 mile round trip on Saturday didnt cost them tons of fuel...

On Saturday June 11th Lamar,MO just 25 miles away had their first ever MSTPA tractor pull..It was at the huge new Freeman Event Center (Stomping Grounds) that seats nearly 4000 people....They have monster trucks, rodeos,etc there...Anyways they had over 2500 people at the pull...It had 6 classes with 40 hooks...My class wasnt one of them..My farm renter won the tough Pro Stock 4x4 truck class with his 9500 rpm Chevy...They advertised the heck out of the pull and it worked..They also had monster truck rides for the kids and two motocross daredevils were there doing some wild stuff..It seemed to bring in the crowd...They would like to have a Outlaw or PPL pull there in the future..

My town is having a antique tractor pull this coming Saturday afternoon and I'm afraid that it will bomb out....I normally bring 3-4 tractors with 10 hooks but I won't be there..This Friday and Saturday is the 44th annual Adrian,MO Tractor and Steam show which is the largest show in the area..I never miss it..Friday night I'll pull my Oliver 1950 there at 11,000 lbs and Saturday I'm hauling my 1466 IH puller up...When the tractor parade is over after 2 PM I'll head 30 miles east to Clinton,MO for a MSTPA pull at 7 PM that eve...I hope that I draw number one hook again.

Back to the Dover MSTPA pull..Yes,I'm glad that I kept my 1st hook as it was better than I first thought...If you go by 300 ft and it feels good its best to keep it..By the way I said that there was 37 hooks in 7 classes but there was only 32 hooks in 7 classes..One class (6000 Pro Field) only had one entry which has never happened before..That class normally has 5-7 entries...I've noticed nationally that the number of pullers there this year is way down in some classes..Pulling in general may be in for a wild ride in the future.

Yes,I hope that things get better for pulling...Wow,an ITPA pull with only 15 pullers...That isn't good..Some friends pull a 9500 lb Pro Field 4020 John Deere and burnt a piston and liner on June 4th..They may not even be able to get a sleeve made until after pulling season is over...If you break something this year you may be out for the season..I keep an extra piston,sleeve,head gasket,fire rings for my 1466 IH puller...In 26 hooks with a fresh engine I havent hurt anything so far...The 12.5 mph class doesn't put much of a strain on it..

There hasn't been garden tractor pulls here for several years and not many horse pulls either. But a local fair had a horse pull last weekend that had 14 teams from 6 states which was a huge surprise. And I got an award for the oldest tractor at their antique tractor show

Doesn't sound like your cutting back any on your pulling. We will hit pretty much most of the locals this summer, especially if they are money pulls. Trophies don't pay any bills so that makes a difference. We had a good turn out at our pull a couple of weeks ago. A couple of guys came over 240 miles for it. Rain was in the forecast or it probably would have been even bigger.


Tee's new JD puller. He wants to pull some lighter classes this year. Hi Tee!

At the present time I have no plans to cut back on the pulling for 2022...I just hope that gas stays at or under $5.00 per gallon...Its currently $4.55-4.69 here....I plan to be out 1-2 times per weekend until Oct 9th..I'll be 73 on Weds and I may not have many more years left to do something that I've loved doing for 58 years..I lost my brother at age 65 in in 2020..If I blow my 1466 IH puller up I'll just park it and antique pull for the rest of the year..I can hit lots of antique pulls with most being less than 75 miles from home...I have 5 MSTPA pulls that are from 110 to 230 miles away from home located from Buckner,MO to Owensville,MO....That 230 mile pull is in hilly country and will take a bunch of fuel..Only a couple of the antique pulls pay any money here and practically none give trophies...I just hope that we can keep them going..

A young man likes my 1466 IH puller and he would like to buy it at the end of the 2022 pulling season...I'm going to let him drive it at the Pleasant Hill,MO MSTPA pull in July..He lives 70 miles north of me so it would stay in the area which is what I would like to see happen...

We crunched the numbers on fuel expense etc compared to last year if we attended the same pulls. With fuel where it is, we would spend an extra $40-$60 on fuel/food/drinks this summer compared to last year due to inflation. Thats not enough to keep us home. Thankfully there are pulls within 75 miles or less for us to attend. We passed on the the first hook of the season for us last weekend due to the heat.

Ive only been to 1 antique pull so far this year and it was normal, but I have noticed the state and regional level pulls around me haven't had as many pullers this year. I'd say a little more than half the usual numbers.

Is it for sale??? Do you have a number??? I can make weight easier this year-the Wife bought me some E-Lax!!!--See Ya---Tee

We went to a pull in a neighboring town on Saturday. Small turn out of pullers, but the normal track was so wet the grader got stuck in it and had to be relocated to the elevator yard. A number of pullers scratched due to the track change.

Still had enough hooks to put on a 2 hour show. Which was long enough considering the weather that was uncomfortable to say the least.

Have a friends brother who will be pulling in Adrin Friday and maybe Saturday. M Farmall.

Nick Herrell- If you know him there will be a little boy with him named Easton. Tell him Grandpa Bob said hi. Thanks

I'll try and remember to say hi...I'll be pulling my Oliver 1950 at Adrian on Friday evening.