More News

For New Windsor resident Harry Webb, making over a lawn tractor to sound like a monster truck is just a part of a hobby he enjoys, a natural extension of growing up on a farm.

Webb has been involved in garden tractor pulls as a hobby for about 30 years.

"We have pulls all over the place," Webb, part of the Eastern Garden Tractor Pulling group, said. "I host some pulls here at my place."

Lawn mowers are just one of the varying classes, or ranks, involved in tractor pull events like one held Aug. 7 in Johnsville, where competitors hooked up to a weighted sled and tried to pull it the farthest, more than 100 times. At the event, engines sounding more like cars and dirt bikes revved from John Deeres and Craftsmen lawnmowers. This past weekend, Webb attended an event in Rocky Ridge and plans to compete on Saturday at the Montgomery County Fair.

Competing tractors range from lawn mowers with blades removed, to larger ones with upgraded motors.

"It's just outrageous what's going on in the world of pulling," Webb said. He said he knows some that have spent thousands and thousands of dollars on tractors to make them competitive.

"You can spend a lot of money on them," Webb said. "The sport is getting bigger."

Todd Hoffman, of Rocky Ridge who organized the Aug. 7 event for the Johnsville Ruritan Club, said his tractor looked likes something you would see on TV at a national hot rod event.

"It doesn't even look like a tractor," he said of one of the many tractors that he owns that he purchased in Wisconsin.

He sometimes travels to events out of state, and says there are now national pull events, from Florida to Ohio.

Those who remove the blades from their regular lawn mowers must put bars on the back to prevent it from flipping or rolling over. Safety is also regulated with a "kill switch" that hooks onto the tractor and the sled it pulls, so if somehow the two become unattached, the motor is shut off and the tractor does not jump forward.

The sleds that are pulled generally start as 500 or 700 pounds, but when pulled, a weight box moves, jumping the weight resistance up to around 6,700 pounds.

"The farther you go, it puts more weight," Webb said. "It gets to the point where your wheels just spin."

Everyone pulls the same amount of weight and generally distance between 100 and 200 feet. He said a good track has clay topsoil to hold water.

"It gives you real good bite with your tires," he said.

Webb said he stays in the hobby partly because of the friendships he's built. "Just everyone helps one another."

And his hobby has become a family affair. "My whole family does it; we have more than 10 tractors" he said of his wife and 18- and 14-year-old sons.

Webb's daughter started pulling when she was 15, and he built her a tractor, while changing the class he pulled in.

"I didn't want to have to compete against her so I traded and sold some stuff," he said.

"I have a 2-year-old that's just waiting," he laughed. For his youngest son's birthday next month, he'll get his wish — a battery-run toy tractor.

Frank Grabill, a member of the Johnsville Ruritan Club, said it was the second year the club sponsored the event. The event, which corresponds with a yard sale, is a fundraiser for fund the club, which helps in the community through scholarships, Boy Scout and 4-H Club sponsorships, among other activities.

acochrun@gazette.net