Family Fun at Adam’s Run

Contests are a part of life, particularly in sports. The majority of sports began as contests. Tractor pulling is no different. Of course, some would not agree that tractor pulling is not a sport. But then there are those who argue that the earth is flat!

Tractor pulling probably has it origins in our agrarian culture where two farm boys argued about who had the strongest horse. A contest ensued. Each horse was harnessed to a sled. The command was given for the pull to begin. Onlookers would jump on the slow moving sleds. The horse that could pull the most sled riders would have been declared the winner. These obviously were not draft horses which can pull over 8,000 lbs. (four tons)  That would be over forty average men! 

After the mechanization of farming the tractor replaced the horse. The first tractors were the traction engines. The evolved from steam engines mounted on wheels to make them portable. The engine was simply towed, usually by a team of mules or horses, to the machinery to be powered by the engine. This could be a thrashing machine or hammer mill or other machine. An inter prize man found a way to have the engine power the wheels and , walk, you have a traction engine. Soon the smoke belching monsters would be pulling plows formerly pulled by draft animals. And the tractor was born.

With the perfection of a practical internal combustion engine was the birth of the modern tractor. When I went to 4-H camp when I was twelve years old I had the opportunity to operate various tractors. Farmall, John

Deere, Allis Chalmers, were some of the modern drafters at camp. The 4-H Club was created by the federal government for education and entertainment of farm youth. I enjoyed operating the tractors but, unfortunately, the farm I lived on was not that mechanized. 

Tractor pulling became organized. Tractors compete in various classes designated by size, type and modifications. A tractor may have as little as 15 horsepower or several thousand. The contest is which can pull the largest weight the greatest distance. There are national sanctioning organizations designating the rules for competing. A tractor may be a small garden tractor or a multi engine monster engineered and built specifically for tractor pulls. The Pulltown National Tractor Pulling Championships in Bowling Green, Ohio is the largest tractor pulling event in the world.  

Local tractor pulls are a family oriented event. The tractors in this video are of the normal local farm type. The type of tractor used on the average family farm in coastal South Carolina. Family fun at Adams Run.