Garden tractors test mettle

By SHELBY SCHROEDER

Tractor enthusiasts showed their stuff at the Trumbull County Fair.

BAZETTA — Members of the Antique Tractor Club of Trumbull County revved up their engines to pull in the crowd.

Spectators grouped under the grandstand awning, many to escape the sun, which could be described in one word: blazing.

Tractors, small and large, from the size of lawn mowers to field plows, assembled Monday evening on the dirt trails of the main arena at the Trumbull County Fairgrounds.

Event organizers wet the ground with a firehose, graded it and packed it down for a thick mud the tractors’ wheels could grasp.

Owners, their sons, daughters and grandchildren gathered to see whose tractor could pull its weight — plus a little — the farthest.

“This is a hobby that people can do for the fun of it,” said Al Pierson. “If you don’t need it to mow, you can enjoy it.”

Pierson said many of the competing tractors were for small gardens, pulling wagons and the sort. The idea of a garden tractor pull is nothing new for the club, but it’s the first year members competed at the fair.

On their colorful array of machinery, from blue and green to yellow and red, owners hooked their tractors to a large trailer that shifted weight automatically to its front, purposely decreasing momentum.

The ardent farmers and antique mechanics called the trailer a weight transfer sled.

As the tractor pulled the sled along the track, the sled became harder to pull. Each new round of horsepower contestants, ranging from 8 horsepower to more than 19, dealt with added weight in their sleds. The one that traveled the farthest before his tractor gave in, and stopped, won the round.

Children as young as 8 toughed out the heated scene of sputtering of engines, exhaust odor and clouds of dust to playfully beat out their parents at the pull.

Though an 8-year-old came short of his father’s distance, the crowd whooped and applauded the kid’s efforts anyway.

“Well, he’s just a youngster yet,” the announcer said. “He’s still got next year.”

Pierson smiled and said, “That’s what we’re here for — it’s really a family affair.”

The crowd looked on for nearly two hours and all six rounds, themselves contestants in a battle against the heat.

Linda Hill of Farmington found herself enjoying the pull, even if she attended to “really just get out of the sun.”

Others, such as Judi Smith of Champion, brought her two grandsons to watch a sport they would soon be eligible to take part in.

“The big [pulls] are too loud,” said Smith. “And it’s fun for them to see kids their age doing this.”

As the horsepower increased, the tractors revved louder and at increased speeds.

The trick for a more powerful pull, Pierson said, was not the horsepower but heavier tractors that have wheels with mighty tread.

When the pull was over, kids and their parents remained on the track, marveling at their competitors’ machines, as well as at their own achievements on the track that day.