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570Puller- I'm in the same boat as you are. I pull locally in Div II & III with a '67 with a gas four cylinder. It makes me laugh at the ignorance of most of these guys because, as soon as you mention raising the age limit they only think of 2255's, 6030's and 1066's blowing smoke. They forget that there were tractors built after '57 that were below 100 horse power. LOL. Thus, the comments like "That's why there are Hot Farm classes, or- make a Div 6 10 mph class, or even my favorite- Join the NTPA". Just because it was built after '57 doesn't mean that a tractor will compete at those levels. Seems to me, when I started doing this, these now "antique" tractors weren't even 30 yrs old yet, but were still considered antiques by some rules. But, now one of my tractors is 41yrs old and it still isn't an antique, because the definition of an antique is 51 yrs old as of today. Jerry Leek, the last president of the NATPA, proposed a change in the age, but hit resistance. BTW, Thanks again, Jerry, for having progressive thinking, unlike others. I keep hearing, "join the club and vote" from some also. Why????? Give you my dues to vote but when the vote is over, I still can't pull. Then you'll have my money and tell me that membership is growing- there's no reason to change the rules. Not to start a color war here, because I don't feel it should be, we all want to pull, right? But, look at the year break, 1957. Then 1959 for Div 5. Hmmmmm, kinda favors the red guys doesn't it? Most of the other brands had a 6cyl by then, so it can't be them, right? But, the red guys needed a 6cyl for Div 5 because their blessed little M wouldn't cut the mustard at that level. Just remember what IHC stands for, "I Hate Competition". I actually feel bad for JD guys. They are intentionally limited to two cylinders by the rules. Here's another point to look at it, every generation is going to consider a different era of tractors to be antique. To today's farm kids a 1086 or a 4440 is an old tractor. There's gonna come a time when today's 200hp tractors will be considered old, too. Even though there are "antique" tractors on farms yet, they are getting fewer, so there is less sentiment towards them from today's 15 year olds and they are the future of this sport. Just because some of us grew up on 88's, WD-45's, M's, G's, or U's, that isn't happening a whole lot any more. Think about it, most of us are drawn to what we grew up on or around. See where this is leading? Some day this non- progressive thinking may hurt the club. Just remember, there was a time when an antique was 1939, but that rule was changed, and sooner or later it will again. Shoot, a car only has to be 25 yrs old, according to the state, and that is progressive every year.
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