We're Tractor Pullin' Yall!

Soon the familiar sounds of approximately 100 plus tractors and the aroma of good food will once again fill the air in our little town. Next Saturday this rural "map dot" will increase in number by hundreds as folks gather for the 14th annual Tractor Parade, Pull and Show.

My family has been involved with this event from its inception, and work very hard to help make it a success every year. The men in our community have been improving on the pull site for a few years now, and yesterday (Saturday) they made more changes to make the pull a safe place for everyone. They worked most all day to set up the big tents, put in new fences and get the track ready for the tractors. All in the old pea patch.

Yes, that statement is true, and I just couldn't resist adding it in... we aren't really as "country" as that sounds (really!), but hey, I am telling yall about a tractor pull, right? Why not tell it all?!



This is a picture of my brother from last years pull. I will try to explain all this pulling stuff, for those of you who are wondering what in the world I am talking about... don't worry, it's not at all difficult. And, it's not just for the men! We have a "Powder Puff" race for women, and a kids race with peddle tractors. My Uncle Milton does a tractor dance with his Bobcat, and I'll show you that later this week... he is very entertaining.

The Tractor Pull is actually a lot of fun too, so here we go...

Basically, the tractor is weighed and is put in a class depending on that weight. You can add weights to the front if you wish to pull in a different class, and many do. In this particular picture BB has no weights on his John Deere.

Now, below is a picture of the sled. It is what the tractors actually pull. In the above picture of BB you can see it behind him as he begins one of his trips down the track. The blocks on the back slowly move forward toward the front of the sled to make it harder for the tractors to get down to the end...


The idea is to see which tractor will make it all the way down the track, and the one who goes the farthest wins that class, and a nice trophy. There are around 12 classes of tractors throughout the day. It kinda sounds like I am explaining a school yard game, but this is serious business yall!

See all that Georgia red clay? After a few pulls, it turns into a fine red dust that covers you from head to toe... it's mighty hard to get that out of clothes, and believe me, after a day of sitting by that track you may as well just throw away what you had on. A bath is first thing on my list for everyone, and usually the kids get a dousing off with the hose in our yard first!

Next time I'll share some pictures from our tractor parade, which is actually my favorite part. I'll leave you with the sign by the main road "advertising" the event!