Tractor pulling rivals It) Ronnie Sii maatkl If* a In* of fun but more work than I thought it would !*•." laughed 1 1 wood Funk. a IjtiU resident who three ago talked m* friend* into Inserting in a them Utile known sport • tractor pulling Result the Burk Tractor Pull*, held cnery Saturday night in the summrr, 10 mile* south of I/»noa*ter cm Houle 772 Funk started going to tractor pulls vsrral >ear* ago because It »a* a ' dif ferent" form of spectator sport He found the pulls exciting and the family atmosphere fun Kvcn though there were long waits between pulls because of break-downs and general inefficiency, he explained, he was amaicd how the people stayed long into the early morning hours to watch their favorites pull tptet Mia (tort (a tt dta\ " [*“»» Gj 1 jSgAap: m^otl “‘ZbmeyPm*'' „ S*trtf^peU'' RD 4 MYERSTOWN, PA 17067 CALL COLLECT 717-866-5708 SAVE ON A STEIGER STEIGER WAIVES THE INTEREST PAYMENTS THROUGH MARCH 15 ON ALL UNITS SOLD BETWEEN SEPTEMBER 15 AND DECEMBER 31. *30,000 settlement on or before 10-15-76 B. Hoober & Sons, Inc. c. STEIGER 4-Wheel Power For The Price of Big 2-Wheel Drive! the wright If a more ef ftrirnl wa) could be found to keep the entries moving along smoothly. he thought the popularity of the sport might spread The Hurk’s first year was an economic failure, but it was becoming obvious that (he tractor pull* were drawing more and more t»eople each week Now in it* third year, the Buck Tractor Pulls are paying off Not hundreds, but thousands of people show up each Saturday to watch the huge farm machines puff their way down a 300-foot sod track A weight attached behind slowly shifts toward the tractor, putting an cver incrcaslng load on the pulling machine Old Sport An off-shoot of the old mule and horse pulling contests which, years ago, were EXAMPLE: SAVE:’I44O REBATE CALL TODAY Intercourse, Pa. 17534 Phone 717-768-8231 mainstays of country (aim. Uaclor pulls were a logical ••volution Farmers never seemed to atop wanting to pit thrlr horsepower against thrlr neighbors’ Now. most o( the tractors used in competition have never plowed a furrow or driven through a field of fresh mown hay Pampered creatures, they arc fed on water-injected alcohol and run on, not one. but two and sometimes three engines In (act, some of them have even been enhanced by jet air plane engines Funk is in the process of building one of these mechanical mutants and already has a 17-cubic inch jet engine wailing to be transplanted into an agricultural monster able to deliver 1500 horsepower. The super stocks I tractors with the original engine blocks) and modifieds (ones that look like super dragsters) are a far cry from the well-used farm tractors that worked all week in the fields Pulling against other farm tractors, those machines were attached to a weight that became in creasingly heavy as men lined up along the track and jumped on as the tractor moved toward the finish line. The modem way may be less colorful, but it’s more efficient with the shifting weight geared to the rear wheels of a sled-trailer contraption. These wheels drag racing as sport Elwood Funk of Lititz, one of the tractor down the track during a run at owners of the Buck Tractor Pulls and the Buck this summer a regular "puller." drives his modified have 30 different gear ratios to vary the pulling difficulty. Contests Trophies are given to the tractors who pull their weights the farthest Not only the first, second and third place trophy winners receive a substantial purse, but the first eight tractors that place get some of the winnings. In national competitions, the first 15 tractors to place receive prize money. National championships are run at the Buck twice a year: in the spring and the fall. These pulls draw modifieds and super stocks from as far away as Canada and Florida. This weekend, September 24 and 25, the Fall Nationals will be held Friday at 7 p.m., and Saturday at 1 p.m. and again at 7 p.m. A special highlight of the October 2, tractor pulls will be a “powder puff” pull featuring female tractor drivers. On October 16, the last pull of the season, the Pull-off Championship will be run. Most of the tractors in the pull-off will be the ones that Lancaster Farming. Saturday. Sc have run at the Buck all year. These include tractors from New Jersey, Penn sylvania, Maryland, and Delaware. According to Funk, win ning at tractor pulling is 70 percent power and 30 per cent driving skill. It’s about the same as any driving sport he explained, which might account for the growing popularity for tractor pulling among drag racing fans. The Buck Tractor Pulls stockholders branched out this year by selling T-shirts bearing the track’s new trademark. Designed by Bill Zell of Brunnerville, the logo features a cartoon drawing of a dragster-tractor with its driver hidden behind the huge wheels. Only his hat is seen as it blows off his head. A totally Lititz product, the shirts were screen-printed by Neil Meisky’s Golden Eagle Screen Printing Co., 1003 Brunnerville Road. Another Lititz man, Bill Bell, Jr., was employed as the official photographer for the tractor pulls at the Buck this summer. Through his it 25.1976 association with the Buck Tractor Pulls, Bell has been asked to photograph the national pulls as well Despite its rural begin nings, tractor pulling is growing into a sophisticated and popular sport It would be well worth a few hours investigation for anyone whose interest leans toward watching powerful machines and skillful drivers compete. See you at the Buck. have a nice weekend... Elaborate Funerals Early American colonists staged elaborate funerals with endless corteges and costly ornaments for mour ners Some ntes became so extravagant that they were banned in Boston and else where in the I7oo’s CONSUMER SUIDELlirer Consider Effect When ordering new drapes for your home, con sider their potential effect on your comfort, especially in winter Drapes that block your warm air register will prevent sufficient heat from entering the room Each time the heat comes up, the drapes will billow out and dance around, instead of staying in place, while your thermostat keeps “calling” for heat If there are electric heaters along the outside wall, drapes must be cut to hang about six inches a bove the heater Otherwise, there is the i isk of charring certain fabrics 103
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers