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The first tractor pull I saw was at a circus (not a fair) in the
early 1950s. It pitted a Ford 8N against an elephant. Boy, I was a
mad kid when the elephant started dragging the 8N backwards!<br>
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<div class="moz-cite-prefix">On 1/21/2019 12:06 AM, Indiana Robinson
wrote:<br>
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<div>I started watching tractor pulls about 1953 or 1954...</div>
<div>I never saw horse pulls here at all. When tractors fully
replaced horses here mostly by about 1945 - 1946, the horses
pretty much went away.</div>
<div>The tractors I saw pulling were pulling a dead sled in a
muddy lot at county fairs. Back then most of the pullers were
tractor dealers and rules were pretty loose. Tractors like
Fords, Fergusons and Allis didn't usually do too well since
their big work advantage was due to the hydraulics. Tractors
like Deere 60's, Farmall M's and Oliver 88's tended to
prevail. At first they didn't seem to have classes and a TO-20
Ferguson might end up pulling against a tractor at nearly
double its weight, with 50% more HP and double the amount of
rubber on the ground.</div>
<div>At the local fairgrounds they decided to pour a large
concrete slab to pull on and it almost did in the pulling.
Dealers pulling new tractors and most farmers refused to pull
on it because it literally ate the tires down visibly in one
or two pulls. They then went back to dirt. It was some time
before the progressive sleds took over.</div>
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<div>.<br>
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<div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Mon, Jan 21, 2019 at 12:28
AM Spencer Yost <<a href="mailto:spencer@rdfarms.com"
moz-do-not-send="true">spencer@rdfarms.com</a>> wrote:<br>
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<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px
0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex">When
I was a kid, the small local fairs that I went to all had
horse pulls. I never saw tractor pulls. This was on 1960s.
One fair in particular I can still see in my mind’s eye quite
clearly. It’s damn impressive to see a team of
Belgians(Belgian is my memory anyways) go at a nearly
immovable object. A front loader/bucket would show up, and
put weight on the sled, eliminating teams until one was
left. My memory is of two horse teams.<br>
<br>
I would normally suspect my experience was slanted toward
Amish as I was born and raised in my formative years in
Pennsylvania; but we didn’t have a lot of Amish communities as
I was on the western side of the state, not towards the middle
(ie Lancaster). Even so, it was after a my father’s job
relocation to Georgia as a 12 year old before I ever saw a
tractor pull.<br>
<br>
I’m sure they were around much earlier than that, and my
recollection is probably tainted by sampling bias (which
fair’s my family took me, geography, etc).<br>
<br>
When did tractor pulls supplant horse pulls in your area?<br>
<br>
Spencer Yost<br>
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-- <br>
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<div>-- <br>
<br>
Francis Robinson<br>
aka "farmer"<br>
Central Indiana USA<br>
<a href="mailto:robinson46176@gmail.com" target="_blank"
moz-do-not-send="true">robinson46176@gmail.com</a><br>
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