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It’s 70-degrees outside and 100 percent humidity, but it’s September in Cape Girardeau, Missouri. The 162nd annual SEMO District Fair kicked off last weekend with your normal fair entertainment like the demolition derby, concerts, and rodeo style events to name a few. But we came for the ITPA (Illinois Tractor Pulling Association), Xcaliber Pulling, and Bootheel Pullers Hot-Rod Truck and Tractor Pull.
Of course, to start the evening, we all held our hands over our hearts for our national anthem.
As I pulled into the pits to find a place to park, I noticed a sea of tractor trailers full of tractors and trucks. This was the most flooded I’ve ever seen these fairgrounds, with anxious competitors. This event is normally a one evening event, but in the years past, as the truck and tractor pulls get more and more popular, the changes were made to have it two nights in a row.
300-feet doesn’t sound like a whole lot until you’ve got thousands of pounds behind you digging in the dirt forcing you to stop.
After catching a few glamour shots of the track and the competition surface, you could smell the fumes in the air, as the engines were preparing to unload all the ponies. A few other pleasant fumes were present as well. That is if you like all the fried fair food or maybe a stick of cotton candy.
Yes, a Cummins powered Chevrolet. Like it or hate it?
All brands of tractors were in attendance at this year’s event: John Deere, Minneapolis-Moline, International Harvester, Massey Furgeson, and Ford seemed to be the majority. The diesel trucks on the property were all very unique, but common at the same time.
Engine bays were filled with fueling lines and massive turbos! Also, as a requirement, each turbo has a guillotine to shut air intake to kill the engine during an emergency!
All the trucks were utilizing different manufacturers and years from old body style F-250, 1990s Chevrolet, and even late model Dodge trucks. Every diesel (truck) on the property while very different, had the same powerplant platform – A Cummins.
This old pickup truck was one of the prettiest things at the sled pulls and believe it or not, it didn't pull half bad either!
With three different sanctions at one event, it was a packed house. There were at least 60 vehicles pulling and that’s just what we could see. Even though they weren’t diesels, an honorable mention goes to the 3,000-horsepower alcohol truck and tractors as well as single turboshaft engines out of helicopters.
Old Windy is a turbine powered tractor set up for sled pulling. This powerplant is the single turboshaft engine out of a Bell UH-1 (HUEY) Helicopter. Although it didn't make much noise, it moves in a hurry.
One really cool idea the owner of Old Windy had was to utilize the HUEY dash from the helicopter on the tractor. Not to mention the gunner handle from the helicopter was now the throttle handle. This thing was way too cool not to share! The owner replied, “It will cook hotdogs.”
This event brought the heartland's best pullers and they brought their A-game. With the tires in the air, that means they've got the weight set up perfectly. Perfect amount of traction results in carrying the front tires while gaining speed going down the track!
Overall it was a great weekend of sled pulling and diesel power. We look forward to the next event from these three great sanctions. Are you a fan of sled pulling? Show us your pulling rigs in the comments below and be sure to check out the photo gallery!
