Hi!<br><br>I have been watching 2500 (!) pictures
of European Tractor Pulling from 1977 to 1987 this
afternoon. Now I am stuck in memories from the good old
days.<br>My Dad told me I saw my first Pull in 1978, but I
can't remember it anymore, as I was about 4 years old
by then.<br>Dad had been into Pulling since the late
70s ( I still have pics here from a Pull in Turkey
Troot in 1977 that he visited when he was working as a
test engineer for CLAAS, doing harvest tests in the US
).<br>Anyway.. even though I am still in Pulling ( in fact more
than ever ) it starts to get on my nerves. Too much
stupid politics from people who have no clue about the
things that really count for the competitor and only
have the $ sign in their eyes.<br><br>If I would not
work on the "front line" of Pulling where we still
have to develop new things and you still have to use
your brain, I think I would quit it soon. I recently
got involved in the Methanol Griffon development by a
team next town and wonder how "my" fuel system ( with
heavy support by Wayne Longnecker ) will work
out.<br>It's about the only thing I care about at the
moment.<br>If the only change you can make on your tractor
anymore is piston design, it get's boring.<br><br>I need
bigger thrills to keep me going.<br><br>Anyway.. I miss
those old days a lot, when it was not about money but
being smart ( if we would have known what we know today
...lol ). When people like Gerd Pott ( the german E.J.
Potter ) ran with their crazy and weird
tractors.<br><br>But on the other hand, if I would go out now...what
should I do with this life?<br>I have not learned
anything else but Tractor Pulling in my life and would
miss the people a lot.<br>I could as well hang me on
the next tree if there is no more Pulling for
me.<br><br>I got a little pissed yesterday when I heard that
the website of our team will be taken over by
professionals. Heck.. when I built it nobody cared about a web
site for our team.<br>I've turned it into one of the
most popular Team sites on the web in the past years
and now it has to be changed because sponsonr XY
wants it to look this or that way. <br>Doesn't this
suck ?????<br><br>Anyway...<br>I am working on a book
about the history of tractor pulling in germany and
hope that I can get a lot of the feeling and spirit of
the early days in it.<br><br>The pictures that won't
make it into the book, I will put on the net somewhere
( probably Pulling World
site).<br><br>CU<br><br>Sascha