Tractor pull has draw all its own

It's hard to pull off that look while sitting atop farm machinery that could just as easily be used in movies about the Depression.

But when the only thing at stake is pride, riders say, getting too into how far your tractor can pull a sled just seems like a waste of energy.

"There's no prize money, no ribbons; we're in it for fun," says Wayne Senkbeil, 69. "If we gave out prizes, people would be tweaking their engines and trying to soup them up. This is strictly for bragging rights."

Senkbeil and nearly all of the riders participating in the tractor pull at this year's Pima County Fair are members of Power From the Past, a local group of more than 280 who have one thing in common: a love of old-time tractors.

"Most of the people here were either on a farm growing up, or visited farms," said East Side resident Ken Ellsworth, 62, who said he was born on a farm in Missouri. "When you get older, you like to get back to your youth."

Tractors are divided into two categories for competition: garden and full-size. The garden tractors — which are essentially riding mowers, some with shovels on the front — weigh up to 2,000 pounds. The full-size tractors, often the kind used for heavy farming activity at some point in their existence, can weigh up to 15,000 pounds.

Rather than try and race each other, competitors go one at a time to see how far down a 200-yard dirt track their tractor can pull a weighted sled.

The sled, known as a weight-transfer sled, has a moving weight that gradually edges forward as the sled is dragged along. Eventually the weight forces the front of the sled into the ground, slowing down the tractor's engine.

"You're either going to run out of traction and spin, or you're going to run out of power," said Senkbeil, who serves as Power From the Past's spokesman.

Senkbeil said speed is not a factor in the competition. The full-size tractors are prohibited from going faster than four miles per hour.

"These old tractors and us old men don't go very fast," Senkbeil said.

Most of the tractors used in the competition are at least 30 years old, with some dating back to the 1930s. Some are restored and look as if they're babied like a new Corvette, while others look like they've been working the fields for decades.

Tim Williammee, 40, brought five of the 13 tractors he keeps on his property east of Benson to the fair. His collection includes a 1958 John Deere model that he entered in the full-size competition.

"Everybody here is good people, people you can talk to and enjoy spending time with," said Williammee, who has been a member of Power From the Past for six years. "We like coming out and putting on a show for people."

The bleachers on the west side of the dirt track were filled mostly by friends and family members, including the relatives of 10-year-old Zane Parker. Zane and his grandfather, Jerry Hayes, were each entering the tractor pull for the first time after years of watching it during trips to the fair.

"We've been coming out here for nine years, and he sits and stares at the tractors," Tracy Parker said of her son. "When we can't find him, we look over at the tractors."

Zane, riding a garden tractor dubbed "Ole Blue," got interested in doing the tractor pull after helping his grandfather do yardwork on Hayes' 3-acre property east of Sahuarita.

"We practice by pulling fence posts out" of the ground, Zane said.

Added Hayes: "It's just a family thing that we all thought we could get into."