A Tractor Pulling Week Of Highs And Lows

A week ago Saturday the 6000 Ford won the 5000 and 5500 Open classes at Seneca,MO..I was the only entry in the 5500 but the 5000 had several tough tractors.

This past Wednesday my 1466 IH won the 10,500 Hot Stock class at the Missouri State Fair Pull against some tough competition...The key to winning was letting Scott Potter drive my tractor...Scott is an excellent driver...The pull was scheduled for Tuesday but had to be cancelled because of 3.5 inches of rain...They moved lots of dirt to make the pull happen on Weds...The antique pulls were on the east track and I knew several of the pullers..This pull is in Sedalia,MO.

Last night I hooked the MSTPA 10500 Hot Stock class at Oak Grove,MO...I was the last hook in a class of 9 tough tractors...I pulled 320 ft for the longest pull of the evening, but Art Sims made the winning pull at 317 ft..After being at full throttle for about 30-40 ft the horn blew on me....I ran more front end weight here than any pull in 4 years..I cant seem to link the video to here so go to the Ron Cordes Facebook page to see all 9 hooks..Its pretty close to the top...You can also find the videos on The Missouri Truck And Tractor Pulling Fan Page on Facebook...You will have to scroll down a ways to find the videos...If you run across a beautiful 1206 IH puller on this page its my neighbors tractor..He won the 9500 Pro Field class last night with his fuel pressure gauge not showing much pressure..Probably a bad gauge.The 1206 owner hauled my 1466 IH puller to both Sedalia,MO and Oak Grove,MO with his semi and a van trailer..I followed him the 105 miles home and we made it in pretty quick time as John had the hammer down.

Good job 1206--That darn horn!! So from now on are you going to have a hired gun to drive the red one?? Sounds like if the speed limit is 15--you should drive 14! The Ford did good---Tee

Congrats on the wins . Hoping you wear soft plugs in your ears when pulling that Ford.
Binder pilot is NOT wearing a helmet,surprised they let him pull without one.

Thanks..Scott put the helmet on and noticed that no one else had a fire suit or a helmet on..We were pulling under
3-4 different associations rules and no one used them..We were at 12.5 MPH.

Tee,I'll tell you a little story about the MSTPA 12.5 MPH class..It started in 2016 and for the first few years
only 2-3 tractors hit most of the pulls..In 2016 a girl on a 2255 Oliver won it barely being able to run 12.5 mph.
In 2017 a friend won it on a 1066 IH that couldn't run 12.5 mph..The Full Rut 6030 JD showed up and he
could easily run well over 12.5 mph..He dominated it in 2018 and 2019..He moved to another class in 2020
and the tractor sat in 2020 and 2021..

I started pulling this class in mid 2019 and a you could still win some with a tractor that could maybe run 13-14 mph..
In 2020 we only had 6 hooks and I missed the first one because my pump wasnt ready..A 9000 Ford that could only
run 12 mph won the points because he was the only member tractor at that first pull..In 2021 I had a good year and won the
points title with a tractor that could run 14.6 mph..Several other good tractors starting hooking with us but they didnt
make it to all of the pulls.

In early 2022 the owner of the Full Rut tractor passed and it ended up with some friends of his..The driver is 18 years old and he's
pulled MPH classes for years..He's good, never gets a DQ,hasnt missed a hook, and is leading the points race..I'm sure he's running a 16-17 mph gear..
Several other good tractors are now pulling with us so we have 5-10 at every pull..These guys have pulled 12.5 mph tractors for years
with several other groups in mid Missouri..They often hook a Saturday afternoon pull at 9500 and 10500...Then that evening they come
and hook the 10500 MSTPA class.

These guys have found out that the sled is actually set at 13 MPH....These guys are so good that they run right at 12.7-13 MPH and they
are tough to beat...For 2022 I'm geared at about 16.5 mph and try to stay at 12.5 mph but I'm always a little too early when I go full throttle...
Hopefully I'll get the hang of it and drive a little better..One tractor I run against is geared at 18 MPH..Theres probably 2-4 more tractors that
will be joining us in 2023.Its a tough class that gets tougher at most every pull..They make you push the limit at every pull.

Good for you !
Tell me did Scott pull garden tractors in the past ? Just question I was wondering about

Scotts 14 year daughter Emma has pulled 3 garden tractors since she was about 5 years old..When she was 12 she made the move up to a nearly 585 horse 4430 JD 10500 Hot Stock tractor..The garden tractors don't get pulled much anymore..As for Scott I don't what he pulled when he was younger as he used to live in north Missouri...In the past 20 years he pulled 2 John Deere 9500 lb Pro Field tractors but they are gone...Right now he's about finished on putting together a 5.9 Cummins powered 1650 Oliver for the 6000 lb Pro Field class.

I forgot to add that Scotts daughter Emma hooked #2 with her 4430 JD and blew the horn before 100 ft..She wasnt happy...There was a hump in the track at 80 ft and it got her and 2 more pullers DQ'ed for breaking the 12.5 MPH limit....The sled picked up speed there...Scott hooked #5 and took it easy over the hump so the horn wouldn't blow...Emma took the picture of my 1466 just as her Dad went full throttle..When he nailed it the front came up and I knew that it was hooked to the track and was going to go..It was a tricky track as several had to lift to keep from going out of bounds.

When the afternoon session was over I said lets go eat at the Beef Barn and celebrate the win with me buying...Scott wouldn't even let me pay so I guess he's not a hired driver...Scott and Emma are as good as they come..Scott may drive my tractor Saturday evening as I'll be at the estate sale of an antique pulling friend in Kansas that passed over a year ago...It a huge sale and starts at 8:30 AM.

I thought so !

!206--I will give a little fatherly advice--DONT give it hell too soon--and Don't hold back too long--Always read the track perfect and Don't have a shakey hand on the throttle and if you do blow the horn--Give it hell and try to run over the flag man!!!--Any Questions??--GOOD LUCK---Tee

LIKE!!!

Some good advice and no questions Dad...(big grin) Scott will drive it for me Sat evening at Harrisonville,MO as I won't be there.

is that 6000 ford still a selecto speed ?

No,the SOS is long gone...Its got a long tail shaft Cruise-O-Matic with 2 gears and five clutch packs.One gear is 13-14 mph at 6000-6200 rpms and the next gear is around 17-18 mph..It used to run nitrous and pull the 18 mpg gear....I'm the 4th owner.

i want to know more