AGRICULTURE
Thursday, August 25, 2022
East Oregonian
A7
Mateusz Perkowski/Capital Press
A competitor pulls a truck modified to be a sled at a tractor pull competition at BiZi Farms north of Vancouver, Washington. Tractor pull events have separate classes based on weight, as well
as whether a tractor is a stock model or has been modified to improve its pulling capacity.
Tractors pull generations together
By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI
Capital Press
VANCOUVER, Wash. — Trac-
tor pulling is the rare motorsport
whose competitors needn’t worry
about breaking the speed limit, even
in a school zone.
But to complain about the maxi-
mum speed of 12 mph would be to
miss the point.
When you’re pulling thousands
of pounds across a dirt track, “12
mph does not sound fast, but it takes
an enormous amount of horsepower
to go that fast,” said Zack Peterson,
secretary of the Oregon Tractor
Pullers nonprofit.
Though success at tractor pull-
ing is measured by distance and
weight, it’d be an oversimplifica-
tion to say the contest is only about
raw power.
Harnessing that power takes
knowledge that’s often passed
from generation to generation, like
a family heirloom.
Many tractor pullers teach their
children mechanical skills they
themselves acquired while work-
ing alongside a parent.
“The most important thing is
they’re preserving a part of our agri-
cultural heritage,” said Paul Pfnis-
ter of Keizer, who officiates at the
events. “It’s not just an act of pres-
ervation, it’s an act of training the
next generation.”
UPCOMING TRACTOR PULLS
• Tractor pulling is predominantly a summertime spectacle that can often
be enjoyed at county fairs and other community gatherings. The Oregon
Tractor Pullers nonprofit also typically organizes several events through-
out the season.
The group’s Fall Barbecue Pull is Aug. 27 at BiZi Farms near Vancouver,
Washington. Attendance for spectators is free but competitors are
charged entree fees that vary for members and non-members. For more
information about the organization’s rules, costs, events and pull results,
visit www.oregontractorpullers.org.
• Another opportunity to compete or watch tractor pulling will be at the
Sublimity Harvest Festival, which is Sept. 9-11 in Sublimity. More informa-
tion about the festival can be found online at www.sublimityharvestfest.
com or by calling 503-769-3579.
Mateusz Perkowski/Capital Press
Steve Gleason and his daughter, Cora, rebuilt a 1952 John Deere Model
A tractor together, with which they compete in tractor pull events. The
mechanical skill involved in tractor pulling is often passed down through
the generations.
Connection to ag
Not everyone who enjoys trac-
tor pulling is a farmer, but fans tend
to feel a connection to agriculture
that’s strengthened by the activity.
“It’s usually someone from a
farm background or who’s been
exposed to agriculture,” Peterson
said.
Growers remain well repre-
sented at tractor pulls, which orig-
inated as a way to compare new
machines, he said.
Tractors began greatly increas-
ing in power during the mid-20th
century, sparking curiosity about
their capabilities and rivalries
among their admirers, he said.
Competitive pulling became more
formalized in the 1960s and 1970s
in the Midwest, where the motor-
sport continues to enjoy the greatest
popularity.
In the Northwest, the Sublim-
ity Harvest Festival was among
the earliest organized competitions
when it started nearly 50 years ago.
The festival, which is Sept. 9-11 this
year, now includes monster trucks,
truck pulls, ATV pulls and other
activities, but it originated as solely
a contest between farmers.
“The original event was the trac-
tor pull,” Peterson said.
Nowadays, stock tractors
normally used for field work
continue to participate in contests,
though they’re in a separate cate-
gory from those modified for peak
pulling performance.
On-farm events
Bill Zimmerman, president of
Oregon Tractor Pullers, regularly
hosts events at his fruit and vegeta-
ble operation north of Vancouver.
“I don’t get away for vacation
much, so this is my enjoyable thing
to do,” he said.
For him, it’s more interesting to
find out what can be accomplished
by ordinary machines than by
300-plus-horsepower “hot rod trac-
tors” especially built for the task.
“I’m more into it from the point
of view of how it came from the
factory, and how did it perform,”
Zimmerman said.
Having worked at a tractor deal-
Mateusz Perkowski/Capital Press
A participant pulls a sled with his garden tractor.
ership in the past, he’s nonetheless
impressed with how far people take
the alterations.
“They have tractors putting out
horsepower that we never dreamed
of with those engines,” he said.
Modified tractors are solely
intended for competition and no
longer have much utility for regular
farming, said Joe Shaver, the orga-
nization’s vice president. They’d
overheat or break down with contin-
uous use.
“A car that’s good on the drag
strip, you don’t want to drive to
work every day,” Shaver said. “It’s
the same with tractors.”
Replacing steel parts with those
made of aluminum reduces overall
weight and adding special engine
components increases horsepower.
Such changes can make the trac-
tor more prone to stress damage,
particularly when it’s run hard
during an event.
Boring the cylinders of an
engine block to accommodate
larger pistons, for example, comes
with trade-offs, Peterson said.
“To make it fit, you’re sacrificing
some of the structural integrity and
the cooling,” he said.
Winning combination
Horsepower alone won’t neces-
sarily guarantee a victory, though.
To achieve optimal traction, the
tractor’s weight must be properly
balanced, and the operator must hit
the right gear at the right speed.
“You want the front wheels
barely off the ground” while pull-
ing, Peterson said. “That’s the
perfect weight balance. You’re
maximizing downward force at the
rear end of the tractor.”
The tire pressure must be
adjusted to fit the track, which in
turn is affected by the weather,
soil type and site maintenance.
Accounting for those factors can
be more art than science.
“The conditions are never the
same from day to day and pull to
pull,” he said.
Finding specialized parts for
modified tractors can be diffi-
cult and expensive, Shaver said. If
demand isn’t big enough to warrant
mass production, they may have to
be individually machined.
“It’s not like you’re just going to
go to the auto parts store and pick
this up,” he said.
Restored tractors
In some cases, tractors have been
lovingly restored for top dollar by
collectors who wouldn’t dream of
an extreme mechanical overhaul.
They usually compete against other
stock tractors at weights and speeds
that won’t risk undue wear and tear.
“Hey, I can take it out and play
with it,” Shaver said.
“It’s something to do with your
old tractor,” Peterson said.
A serious contender looking to
compete at the highest weight and
speed, on the other hand, may spend
$50,000 on a tractor.
Owners t y pically reduce
expenses by modifying the
machines themselves as much as
possible, since paying someone else
for labor “gets really expensive,” he
said.
Special sleds
The weighted sleds that attach to
tractors are also custom-built, since
they’re designed to increase friction
with the ground as they’re pulled.
As a sled is pulled down the
track, heavy-duty chains draw
the weight box closer to the front.
With each passing foot, the sled’s
front pan presses harder against the
ground, eventually forcing the trac-
tor to stop.
Mark Valentine, a retired farmer
who lives in Royal City, Washing-
ton, built two sleds to accommodate
tractor pullers in the area.
“The demand for a sled was
tremendous and there was no one
to build it,” he said.
Valentine saved money by doing
the work himself and hunting for
used parts at scrapyards, but the
price of some components was still
steep.
For his most recent project, he
spent $3,000 on the chain that pulls
the weight box, which he considers
an investment in reliability.
“The sled can’t break down. The
tractors can,” he said. “If you bring
a sled and break down at the begin-
ning, everybody’s looking at you
like, Why did you even come?”
Sled costs are a major consider-
ation for tractor pull organizers. A
sufficient number of competitors
must pay “hook fees” to use the
sled, or the event won’t cover its
rental fee.
The Oregon Tractor Pullers
group bought its own sled five years
ago to ensure the organization’s
financial stability.
Raising money
Rather than focusing on remain-
ing solvent, the nonprofit can now
raise money for other causes, such
as helping the people who lost their
homes in the 2020 Labor Day fires.
“What we make at the pulls is
pretty much pure profit,” he said.
Still, most tractor pulls aren’t
big-budget competitions whose
top performers earn substantial
cash prizes. Participants must
content themselves with occasional
trophies and ribbons instead.
“It is mostly bragging rights,”
Peterson said. “This is not a sport
where you’re going to make money,
that’s for sure.”
Instead, the hobby naturally
attracts people who know how to
turn a wrench.
The vast majority are mechani-
cally inclined, often having worked
on farm equipment, automobiles
and motorcycles since childhood,
Peterson said.
“Knowing what bolts to what is
a huge advantage,” he said.
Even those who aren’t farmers
tend to have jobs related to building
or operating machinery.
For example, Shaver is a
machinist who specializes in medi-
cal implants, such as the plates and
pins used to repair bone fractures.
Peterson has a background in
mechanical engineering and runs a
company that makes distance-mea-
suring sensors.
Such expertise can prove useful
in tractor pulling.
“People ask how I do so well and
I tell them it’s calculated success,”
he said.
Tech nical k nowhow may
give him a leg up, but Peterson
isn’t secretive about his methods
and theories. He’s written three
self-published books about differ-
ent aspects of tractor pulling.
Infectious pastime
Tractor pullers eagerly promote
their passion for the hobby, which
can prove infectious. As enthu-
siasts involve their children and
other relatives, the number of trac-
tors in the family commonly multi-
plies.
“If you’ve got one, you might as
well have a dozen,” Shaver said.
Steve Gleason and his 17-year-
old daughter, Cora, have been
participating in tractor pulls for
over a decade. They compete with
garden tractors as well as a 1952
John Deere Model A, which they
rebuilt together.
“We completely tore it apart,”
she said.
Tinkering with machinery is
a family tradition that Gleason’s
proud to share with his daugh-
ter. It’s how he acquired his own
mechanical knowledge.
“Most of it I learned from my
dad growing up,” he said. “Grow-
ing up, we did not have anything he
did not fix.”
Cora currently works as a
harvester and farm hand for a
Willamette Valley berry grower
and plans to pursue agriculture as
a long-term career.
Her mechanical experience will
likely prove useful, but that’s not
the only benefit tractor pulling
confers.
“I enjoy competing and I enjoy
beating the guys,” she said.
Apart from reinforcing inter-
generational bonds, working on
tractors can set a career trajectory.
“My son wants to work on this
stuff because it’s his tractor,” Peter-
son said. “It really teaches kids
skills they may not otherwise be
exposed to.”
Garden tractors popular
Since many families can’t afford
to buy a farm-sized tractor for each
member, they opt for garden trac-
tors. The Oregon Tractor Pullers
has seen this division “explode”
in popularity over the past five
years, which organizers consider
a welcome development.
“We want the barriers to entry
to be as low as possible,” Peterson
said.
Dick Roberts, a hay grower
from Napavine, Washington, spent
just $140 on a Craftsman GT6000
garden tractor, which he upgraded
with a $200 motor.
Those expenses were dwarfed
by the $800 tires, which are
designed to better grip the ground.
Despite the hefty price tag,
Roberts doesn’t regret the purchase.
“If you want this type of tire,
you have to pay,” he said. “If you
have twice the power but piss-poor
tires, you’d spin out right away.”
The costs involved in tractor pull-
ing are highly variable and depend
on the preferences of the competitor.