This Too Shall Pass: Pulling Tractors

Breathing Life Into Old Garden Tractors

old garden tractors waiting to be
revived

If you look in any field or backyard across the country you will most likely see the rusted remains of a garden tractor. Anyone with more than a half an acre of land to maintain can attest to the necessity of a riding mower. The garden tractor is a riding mower of a different class. The difference is made up in the attachments that a garden tractor can utilize. Such as a dozer blade, limb and leaf mulcher, tiller, shear plow, twin discs, cultivator and a push bar to push cars and trucks. It is more powerful than a typical riding mower but equivalent in size. Most people use a riding mower for its utilitarian purposes until it wears out. Then it becomes a rusted shell, a bee's nest, something to mow around with weeds growing from beneath. Instead of these tractors rusting away to obscurity my husband breathes new life into them and uses them for something other than their original design

.... Entertainment!!

Patrick on 'Amuk'

pulling sled

Garden Tractor pulling is basically this: a bunch of guys and gals take old garden tractors beef them up and give them shiny new paint jobs. On pulling weekends they all meet at a pulling track and compete against one another to gain points by pulling a 8500 pound sled the farthest! Two hundred feet is a full pull. They tally the points from all the pulls at the end of the season and then they are ranked by points. That's it in a nut shell.

original 1969 garden tractor - runs like a champ

This tractor is a 1969 model. This one is actually my favorite.
It has a character all it's own. In addition to the mower deck
this true garden tractor can utilize all the attachments
mentioned in the post.

The challenging and rewarding part is in the restoration of an old machine. My husband amazes me with what he can do with a gas powered machine. He can just listen to one and tell you what's wrong with it and fix it. He repairs riding mowers for people as a hobby. I call it tinkering but to him its more than that. It is a release for him from everyday challenges. It is a chance for him to channel his thoughts and clear away the stresses of life. It brings him pleasure to take a machine that has been given up on and breathe new life into it. Some of the tractors he restores to their original state as a mower but some he restores and creates a new life for them. Last year he started a new project. The restoration of our daughter's pulling tractor. I can hear your thoughts now ..... something about redneck! Yes some would call him a redneck. I prefer to call him 'country' and he does truly amaze me with his natural mechanical talent. He can take a rusted tractor or other machine that hasn't run in years and bring it back to life. I have never seen anyone as meticulous as my husband. When he repairs a tractor for someone he doesn't just address the issue they brought it to him for .. he goes over the whole item from top to bottom to ensure that it doesn't have some other minor or major problem before he returns it to the customer. Simply amazing!

Cassidy's tractor that she
had last year. He used
the frame and the
transmission from this
tractor to make her new
tractor

Cassidy's tractor was functional but it needed more flash and power. He began the restoration by stripping the tractor down to the frame. He removed all the wiring and the tires and painted the frame. Then began the rebuild. He rebuilt the transmission and the engine. Ran new wiring and created a really unique juncture point for the wiring. He took aluminum diamond plated sheet metal and formed it to fit the dash panel and he also made foot plates with it.. he cut out the spots for the gauge and the steering column. He also removed the key start and added a start button. He painted each and every bolt, spring or washer that went back onto the tractor. Polished all the aluminum parts then sanded the metal parts to remove the old paint. He primed the metal, applied the purple paint to the metal then hand laid the flames. After painting the green flames he then applied clear coats to make it shine. I have included pictures of the transformation from old yellow and beige to a sparkling purple and green pulling machine.

Patrick and Cassidy are members of the Lone Star Garden Tractor Pullers Association. To learn more about this sport and to see other amazing tractors please visit their website at http://www.lsgtpa.com/.