COLBINABBIN TRACTOR PULL

In 1981 a group of local farmers met to plan Colbinabbin’s first
Tractor Pull the following year.

Instigator and President Peter
Hamilton, with his committee offered $10,000 in prize money – an
Australian record for Tractor Pulling.
An anticipated crowd of 3000 swelled to over 22,000 with the
recreation reserve and township being completely overrun with
vehicles and spectators. Country music artists, skydivers and plane
flights entertained the crowd – all captured by a Channel 7 TV crew.
The eight tractor pulling events commenced at 4.30pm and involved
seven tractors, each of which had been fitted with big V8 engines to
gain maximum traction. One tractor. ‘Black Velvet’ was ‘modified’
with a jet turbine engine.

Each tractor was required to pull a sled of up to 22 tonnes with a
weight box of 7 tonnes on it. The sled looked like a flat bed semi
trailer. The further it was pulled down the track, the greater the
resistance it exerted as the weight box moved forward until the
tractor stalled or it stopped and spun on its wheels.

The sled was then unhooked and the length of the pull was measured.
Mini modified tractors pulled a smaller sled.

A track repair crew filled holes where the pulling tractor had spun its
wheels, and the track was then graded, rolled and watered in
readiness for the next competitor.
Tractor Pulls were conducted in Colbinabbin for six years.