Metal, might delight fans at tractor pull

From the Sunday, August 3, 2008 edition of the Northwest Herald:

Metal, might delight fans at tractor pull
By DIANA SROKA - dsroka@nwherald.com

WOODSTOCK – Tractor pulling runs in Daniel Koch’s blood.

His grandfather pulled. His father pulls. His brothers pull. And during his 10th visit to the McHenry County Fair this weekend, Koch, 28, also pulled.

“I think it’s addictive,” said Koch of Ladd.
His red-and-white International 1066 tractor – nicknamed “Sexy 66” – drove about 300 feet with 10,000 pounds of weight during the first set of trials at Saturday’s Truck and Tractor Pull. Fans in the grandstand cheered when tractors reached new distances or released large plumes of dark smoke.

“I like the super smoke,” said Larry Ray, 39, of Woodstock. “The turbos are the best.”

Ray is a tractor owner himself, but he said his tractors weren’t for pulling.

“Our tractors work on the farm, and that’s where they stay,” Ray said.

Each truck or tractor pulled a weight attached to the rear as far as possible, and the distance they could pull was marked. When the tractors reached their limit, their wheels would spin or their front wheels came off the ground.

For Dale Swanson of Genoa, the event evoked nostalgia for tractor pulling when he was younger.

“I grew up around here,” Swanson said as his 6-year-old son, Hunter, barely peeled his eyes from the tractors. “We try to come every year.”

Rae Sloma and her family came to the fair an the tractor pull for the first time Saturday and were hooked.

“It’s interesting to see what they can do out in their field,” said Sloma of Lake in the Hills. “This is something we don’t see every day.”

The McHenry County Fair ends today with a youth horse show, garden tractor pull, demolition derby and other events.