Pulling their weight

Since the invention of the combustible engine, it’s been common for people to compete to brag about their equipment. During Prohibition, moonshiners created the model for NASCAR by racing their vehicles along county roads. In farm country, it was less about speed and more about strength.

To show the strength of their tractors, farmers would compete in power pulls or tractor pulls. The concept is fairly simple: a tractor is hooked to a sled with a set amount of weight. The sled can be in two different forms, either a basic sled where weight is added physically or a more advanced sled with a motor which moves the weight closer to the tractor as it moves down the track. When the machine can’t pull any more weight, the driver stops and the sled is unhooked. Whichever tractor in a particular class goes the farthest with the most weight is the winner.

On July 22, a competition with a similar concept was introduced at the Whistle Pig Saloon. Instead of tractors, trucks or horses, though, it was all-terrain vehicles (ATVs) and utility task vehicles (UTVs) pulling the weighted sled. In the West, where instead of farms there are ranches and ATVs have become as much a tool as horses, the concept of a tractor pull might be unfamiliar to some people.

According to one participant, Paul Herron, when his son, Layne, wanted to compete he was a little concerned at first. Paul, who said he owns a number of ATVs and UTVs, also known as side-by-sides, was worried competing in the event would only tear up the machines and their engines.

Trish Jones, one of the organizers for the event, explained that destroying the machines wasn’t the goal of the event. According to Trish, the organizers had researched the max amount of weight each machine could pull and the sleds would not exceed that weight limit. Layne, for example, pulled the sled nearly 89 feet with his ATV. Dan Jones was able to use his ATV to the sled for 150 feet with 566 pounds. And the Jones’ UTV was able to pull the sled with just over a ton of weight on the sled.

Though the inaugural event had only a few participants, it seemed there might be hope for next year. Paul told organizers he would be back next year with a variety of machines to participate in the event. Despite the rather busy weekend in the Platte Valley, the spirits of the organizers didn’t seem dampened either.

“We’re not giving up after just one year,” said Trish.