ALLEN COUNTY, OH (WLIO) - Fire up those engines! Today was the antique tractor pull at the Allen County Fair. Nathan Kitchens shows us why this long-time fair tradition is so popular.
It wouldn't be Senior Day without the antique tractor pull at the Allen County Fair. For many, it's all about the memories that it brings back from their childhood.
"I just enjoy watching it. I know a few of the participants, but it brings back memories when I was a kid," said Byron Smith, tractor pull attendee.
Tractor pulling is known as the world's heaviest motorsport with a goal to determine the strongest machine and the best driver. It has nothing to do with speed, but everything to do with the distance pulled.
"You got to be weighted for the correct weight class and then basically, if you have enough horsepower and get the horsepower to the tires, you'll probably pull pretty well," explained Doug Rosenbauer, tractor pull participant.
For the audience, it's a chance to see how vastly different farm machinery operated 50 years ago. For the participants, it's all about keeping a family tradition alive.
"My grandparents on both sides have always pulled. They've always had tractors they pulled, and grew up doing it I guess," said Isaac Winegardner, tractor pull participant.
Isaac Winegardner is driving a 1937 Model B John Deere tractor which has been in the family for 85 years.
"This is actually my grandpa's and he's 92. I went down and asked him if I could pull his tractor because he wasn't able to this year but he's going to come out and watch us," said Winegardner.
For Dylan Steinke, it was a successful first pull with his dad's 1950s tractor.
"It was very exciting. My family has been kind of into it so I was excited to get a chance to do it so got a little air off the take so that was exhilarating, but it was a really good time," expressed Dylan Steinke, tractor pull participant.
For Steinke and many others, these tractors are an important piece of their family history.
"It's been kind of a family heritage and passing down generation to generation and I'm kind of next in line to take over the reins I guess," added Steinke.
Participants also say that these classic tractors are special because they are much easier to fix and simply made than the tech-loaded tractors that you find out there today.
