Tractor Pull to be Feature of Last
Saturday at Fall Festival
by: Karon Weatherman
Antique Tractors are coming to the Hopkins County Fall Festival and everything you think you ever wanted to know about tractor a pulling contest will take place as the Lake Country Antique Tractor Association gears up for the 5th Annual tractor pull at the Regional Civic Center in the air conditioned facilities of the Indoor arena at the Hopkins County Fall Festival on Saturday, September 18th beginning at 10:00 am and lasts until 4:00 pm
The tractors will pull a SLED, which was built by some of the Lake Country Antique Tractor Association (LCATA) members. The sled has an operator. The operator determines the gear ratio for each class and weight of the pulling tractor. For each weight class, the gear ratio is set and will not be changed until the tractor class changes. This gives each tractor puller a fair opportunity during the pulling contest. The smaller the tractor, the slower the gear ratio to pull the weight to the top of the sled. The concrete weights travel to the top of the inclined ramp which transfers the weight to the front pad of the sled. The pad comes in contact with the ground causing friction between the pad and ground. This friction has a drag rating which will eventually determine just how far a tractor can pull the weight. This sled determines the capability of the pulling tractor.
Some things you will see is small Farmall Cubs, Models A, B, and C , a small John Deere Models L, and LA, and H, some larger tractors and some Very large tractors of different brands & colors, some larger tractors and some Very large tractors of different brands & colors pull the sled some 100 plus feet plus modified high horsepower tractors pull the sled some 100 plus feet.
Each tractor must be weighed prior to being entered for the pull. The tractor weight determines the tractor class. A tractor may be entered in one weight class and you may see the operator add additional weights so the same tractor can be entered into another weight class. There are normally twelve or thirteen weight classes. Some of the larger tractors will weigh about 10,000 pounds.
The sled has a hook up team. Different members of the club perform this task. They have final say as to who can hook up to the sled. Certain conditions must be met prior to the pull. One condition is the draw bar height measurement. The drawbar can be no higher than 20 inches high from the ground.
Other members function as safety inspectors, flagmen to start, and flagmen to stop the tractor, announcers, scale operators, record keepers, pull back tractor operators, and the measuring electronics operator. The sled has a device mounted to accurately measure to the 1/10th of an inch the distance the sled has traveled from start to finish.
A safety person will visually look at each pulling tractor prior to and during the pull for signs of fuel leakage, oil leakage, and other things that might become a safety concern during the pull. We keep fire extinguishers readily available just in case.
During the pulling contest, you will probably see some tractors that are not stock antique farm tractors. They are antique tractors, but have something different that is not usually found in normal working farm tractors. These tractors are called modified antique tractors and do not compete with the normal antique farm tractors. These tractors are also crowd teasers and pleasers. These tractors will keep you awake during the show.
Normally during the pulling contest announcers will give some specific information about a tractor or a class of tractors. This is interesting information about antique tractors. To qualify for the Antique Tractor title, the tractors usually were built prior to 1970, the older the better.
Fall Festival gives plaque and ribbons for the winners. Price will be $3.00 for adult and 12 and under is free. For more information call Bobby Neal 903-439-7071 or 903-945-2722.
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