Tractor Pulls

Tractor Pulling is a competitive motor sport in which agricultural tractors pull a drag along a track. The further down the track the drag goes, the more resistance it puts on the tractor pulling it. Power is far more important than speed and a tractor pull might only be a few hundred feet.

There are a variety of different classes in tractor pulling including standard field tractors, modified field tractors, custom built pulling tractors with multiple engines, and more.

The rules of a tractor pull vary from event to event. The governing body for all "official" tractor pulls is the National Tractor Pull Association. Local tractor pulls will have local rules regarding weights and class of the tractors in addition to any site specific rules.

You can see a wide variety of tractor pulls from antique steam powered tractors pulling to modern custom pulling tractors.

This history of tractor pulling goes back to the mid nineteenth century when farmers would compete their work horses for bragging rights of who had the strongest horse. A barn door would be used to hold weights with progressively more weight being added as spectators jumped on the barn door as the horse moved down the track. The pull would stop when the horse could not pull any more.

With the advent of motorized farm equipment and the decline in the use of horses in farm work, tractor pulling first appeared in an early form of what we would recognize to day as the sport. Through the mid twentieth century, tractor pulling be came and organized motor sport and different classes of tractors became the norm. Multi engine, alcohol fueled, or jet propelled tractors were introduced and became very popular.

Today tractor pulling covered a wide variety of "tractors" with the original spirit of field tractors pulling on Sunday and working the field on Monday still being popular. Tractor pulling is very popular in rural areas with just about every festival and fair featuring tractor pulls.

The professional motor sport of tractor pulling is divided into four classes. Stock, modified, pro stock, and super stock. Here are some characteristics of each class of tractor pulling:

• Stock - This class of tractor pulling is for readily available field tractors with no modifications.
• Modified - This class is for tractors with the frame of a tractor with a non tractor engine.
• Pro Stock - Featuring commercial tractors that have a turbocharger. Diesel fuel only.
• Super Stock - This class of tractors is for the custom built pullers. Using menthol of diesel fuel, generating over five thousand horsepower and using more than one turbocharger.
  

The nationally recognized professional tractor pulling season runs from late spring through early summer. Local tractor pulls can be in any season though most tractor pulls take place during the summer months.

Tractor pulling is not just an event confined to North America. Tractor pulls are favorite events around the world with tractor pulling clubs and organizations found in the Netherlands, Australia, the United Kingdom, France and more. The popularity of tractor pulls is no surprise as just about everyone enjoys good family fun and that's what tractor pulls are all about.

If you get RFD TV through your television provider you can watch the tractor pulling nationals through the winter and spring.