That is how Tractor Pull New Zealand chairman Vaughan Coy describes the distinctly country form of motorsport entertainment, which was among the competitions at the Southern Field Days at Waimumu last week.
Four different classes of tractor — standard, Pre-85, sport and modified — competed to see how far they could drag the Tractor Pull New Zealand weight transfer sled.
Rather than being behind the wheel, Mr Coy parked up in the competition’s HQ, and watched intently on a screen to see how each competitor fared.
He came south from Tauranga to run the competition at field days and he had written the software to enable it all to happen.
Tractor pulling was massive in the United States — "this is like the Invercargill under-15s versus the All Blacks" — but those involved in New Zealand were passionate about the sport.
Often it started with agricultural contractors having a go and then, if they had a spare tractor, they might build a modified one. It was those modified classes that were the real spectator sports with all the noise and the vehicles doing wheelie-stands.
