Tractors hit the throttle hard
Ever wondered how tractor pulling races work? Reporter Kyra Dawson goes down into the tractor pit to find out the way of the tractors.
At this year’s Fieldays the tractors are pulling above their weight in the new area set up for them near the river.
Within the four lanes there are two competitions going on. The two centre lanes are for the tractor pull itself, while the two outside lanes are a race without the weights.
“We’re just big kids, never growing up, still playing in sand… we just can’t throw our toys out of the sandpit, they’re a bit too heavy.” said Thomas Fare who works for Bradfield.
Fare is a society member and volunteer and has been for the past five years. He has been driving tractors professionally for 20 years but isn’t competing this year.
“There’s a lot of pride and competition, but it’s just a fun wind down for the end of the season.”
While 80% of the competitors are professional tractor drivers, other entrants include farmers, shepherds and mechanics.
For the outside lanes it’s off the mark, to the other end, and beat your competition in a knockout. Both competitors do one run in each track so it doesn’t matter if the tracks are slightly different.
The maximum horse power for an entry in the outside lanes is 240 because it is floor, diesel, go, and any more power can result in safety issues. The finals are held on Saturday.
For the two centre lanes the idea is to get as far as you can without the tractor stopping. The furthest a tractor can go is 100m: if you hit that you are through to the next round.
There are different weight classes for the pulling: 0-6 tonne, 6-8 tonne, 8-10 tonne and heavy weights. Each class is finished within one day.
Schoolgirl Cassie Steiner, 16, watched her dad compete on Wednesday.
“It’s tractor pulling, who doesn’t like tractor pulling? It’s crazy!” said Cassie.
She has been driving tractors since she could reach the pedals and although she is not entered she jumped in her dad’s tractor to give it whirl.
“I just jumped in to give my dad a bit more competition because there’s only two modified down there and there’s usually six or seven, the rest of them didn’t show up.”
Cassie’s run won’t count, but she is still happy to have had a day at the tractor pull.
