attachment-Steigher Pulling Rice County Fair
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It was a very unique Truck and Tractor Pull Saturday evening at the Rice County Fair. When I got there about 6:30 the pulling sled was there but I heard that the promoter had not shown up. In addition there were only a few tractors and trucks in the pit in front of the Grandstand. The President of the Pulling Association was there and he said there were commitments that there would be 21 trucks and tractors at the Rice County Fair. Instead there were only a few.

attachment-Jet engines Pulling Rice County Fair
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Apparently there were 4 other Truck and Tractor Pulls within about 150 miles of Faribault so that I am sure was one of the reasons. However, talking to the President of the Pulling Association there was another major reason so few pullers came to our Truck and Tractor Pull, COVID-19. Pullers cannot get the parts they need to keep the tractors and trucks running.

attachment-John deere 4620 Pulling Rice County Fair
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Just the night before 3 of the pullers blew their engines. The parts they needed were still on a ship waiting at a port to be unloaded and shipped! Then even 2 of the tractors that were at the Rice County Fair had something go wrong during the pull and were done for the night! However, with some quick thinking by Rice County Fair Board members they were able to get some farm tractors to join in the pull.

attachment-John Deere 4010 pulling Rice County Fair
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P J Ducene had his Steiger four wheel drive farm tractor at the Fairgrounds to help with getting the track and infield ready for the different Grandstand Events. The sled operator did not think he would be able to stop the Steiger four wheel drive.  It had duels all the way around, yes 8 big tires for traction and a Cummings 900 cubic inch diesel engine producing around 360 horsepower.

So, they sprayed water near the end of the track thinking the Steiger would spin out easier. The Steiger kept going, so finally the operator locked up the wheels on the back of the sled to stop the Steiger! P J also brought in his John Deere 4010, John Deere  and 4620 and hooked on the sled. I am not sure if others enjoyed seeing these farm tractors pulling but I sure did! Especially when you saw they outpulled some of the tractors on the Professional circuit.

I am pretty sure other fans enjoyed watching a couple of the trucks there with jet engines too. It was fun to see the flames shooting out of the exhaust cones. I talked with one of the drivers that had 2 jet engines on it. He said each had 900 horsepower and were from a Huey Helicopters. These were Pratt and Whitney turbo-shaft engines. Without getting too technical they functioned like a jet engine only the energy from the hot escaping gasses was converted to shaft energy (to turn the rotor) rather than thrust.

It was not your typical Truck and Tractor Pull. But I sure enjoyed watching the farm tractors right off the farm compete with the Professional Pullers. I think many other pulling fans and farmers did too!

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