Continuing my series of the 2009 Centre County Grange Fair I want to show you the tractor pull competition.I think tractor pulls are fairly common in rural America and you folks from the cities in the US will probably get a laugh at how we spend our Sunday afternoons here in redneck country.A tractor pull is just that - a competition where a tractor pulls a weighted "sled" down a graded dirt track. The tractor who pulls the sled the longest (without blowing up - not joking) wins. The weight box on the sled moves further up an angled incline as it progresses down the track making it heavier to pull else the tractor could just pull it forever.There are also various classes of tractors from basic farm stock to super modifieds - and some of these babies are more tricked out than any Bangkok tuk tuk.Ok, on to some photos - here are some of the contestants lining up to wait their turns - note the beautiful green mountains of central Pennsylvania: The control man waves the green flag and away goes the first contestant: Down the track he goes... When he can't pull any further they stop him with a red flag and measure his distance.  Kinda fun... Wait, did I say this was the children's tractor pull - with garden tractors? And did I say there were tricked out tractors?Ok, here comes the next class - the stock farm tractors:  These monsters probably cost USD 250,000 and up:  Check out this thing - dual in-line V8's. You don't see anything like this screaming down Rama IV:  Lining up to get weight checked:  Notice the plate metal on the sides of the engines. These things rev up so hard and fast they often explode. Spectators have been decapitated and maimed by the flying debris so tractors are often required to install the protective armor:  Ok, here we go!  GRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!  Pretty cool huh?Well, pictures can't describe the excitement of the event - and certainly not the noise.So, here is a video of one of these monsters - ready?... let's go!... Ok, well I have more video of the bigger and louder modifieds but it was dark by then and all I have is a black screen with a lot of noise! Sorry - next year.I'll have one more entry in my Grange Fair series showing the lights and relaxing sights and then maybe I'll do a journal on this month's New York State Fair and... more food!

Interesting....

great pics!!! i love the pulls!