The Parade and Pull

As a rule here at the Rusty Gold Farm we do not have extremely pretty equipment.  The equipment we do have though is well loved and most of all it is ours.  With that said I took a little bit of time this week and cleaned Old Smokey up and Saturday we went in the Wilton Blueberry parade.  This was probably the first parade that Old smokey has been in and if it isn't then it is the first in a long time.  With a full tank of gas and my sunbrella away we went.  In the parade we were the only unrestored tractor but in my opinion Old Smokey was the best. 

I find that a tractor is as good as the character that it has and some restored tractors have that character but Old Smokey, with the oil leaks, hand painted decals, and cracked steering wheel tell a story.  Old Smokey has done a lot of hard work over the years and now gets to putter away at sickle mowing, parades, and other light work.

 After the parade; Allyssia, Roland and I wandered around the Wilton Blueberry festival, which is a very hopping place when it is going on.  At around 11:30 we grabbed lunch and headed to the park where the Maine Antique Tractor Club was having a tractor pull.  I paid my membership dues and decided to try out tractor pulling.

 Since this was my first ever pull and I have never had Old Smokey weighed we all guessed on the weight and I got put into the 5500# and 6000# classes.  The class you are in dictates how fast the weight on the drag moves up off from the axle drag and onto the sled.  Seeing as I had never done this before the other club members that were there were more than happy to give me advice on what works best. 

 On my first pull in the 5500# class I pulled against five other tractors and only made it ninety one feet.  The other members were real supportive in giving me advice for the next class and made sure to point out that I did not have any weights and pointed out that I had my tires inflated fully for farm work, where for pulling they only keep 8-10psi in the tires to get better grip.

My second pull was actually a little bit shorter.  Coming in at eighty eight feet moving at a top speed of 2.5mph I was just happy to have pulled.  Overall it was an awesome time and to make it even better in the second class I won my first pulling ribbon. 

   

I also have some video that Allyssia took as well as my GoPro on the hood of Old Smokey.
                                                               Old Smokey Pulling
For me it was an exciting day but also for Allyssia it was a fun day.  When we got home from the pulls Allyssia got to ride for the first time in months. 

Since Tee pulled a shoe earlier this week she took Display out and rode.  Saturday they stayed right in the indoor arena but later this week they will go out and ride in the fields and have some fun. 

It is so exciting for her to get out and start riding again.  Allyssia is hoping to go to a Dressage clinic with Lendon Gray in November.  Other than that the rest of our weekend was pretty normal with yard work and relaxing.  Until next time stay tuned and check back often.