By Jeff Whitten, for the Herald

CLYO – There wasn’t an entry fee for competitors gathered in Fred Coursey’s backyard Saturday for the November get together of the Down South Mini Tractor Pullers, a group of some 18 to 20 men and women who regularly vie to see whose garden tractor can pull a 5,000-lb. sled the furthest.

Instead, each entrant – known as a “puller” in the lexicon of those who participate in the sport – donated a new unwrapped toy, some 40 so far, which will be delivered to DFACS to be given to a child in need for Christmas.

The idea of the toy drive started with Gerald Kessler, a Gulfstream mechanic whose late father Jud “always enjoyed going to antique car shows and motorcycle drives,” Kessler said. “Especially the toy drives. It didn’t matter if it was raining or cold, he always went to the toy drives. He liked giving back to the kids.”

The membership of the Down South Mini Tractor Pullers liked the idea too, forming the consensus that “we can take that idea and run with it,” Kessler added.

And run they did. Or, to be more accurate, pulled, during a flawless afternoon that had more in common with late spring than late fall.

Drivers ranging in age from 5 up into the senior citizen category gathered for pre-pull meeting and a prayer before the competition began, then began rumbling one at a time over the scales and down past a concession stand to the starting line.

The youngest of the bunch on Saturday was Myla Bevill, 5, whose father Eric is a longshoreman and race driver who’s been behind the wheel of just about everything on wheels.

“I’ve got one (daughter) in gymnastics,” Eric said. “The other one likes to go fast.”

Not that there is much speed on display during a pull, which is more about getting traction and hauling the sled – named Old Yeller – down the track before bogging down. Weights on the sled start near the back and move to the front as the sled is pulled forward, putting increasing weight on the back axle and making it more difficult for tractors to pull.

The smaller the tractor, and there are several classes based on weight and engine and modifications and so on, the shorter the pull down the 300-foot strip.  Myla’s two runs in the Pure Stock 950 class added up to 362.55 feet, putting her in second just behind Lucas Whitten’s 362.95 feet.

Myla was ok with that. She had fun, she said, and wants to do it again soon.

 “I like to hold the steering wheel, and I like to wear the racing jacket,” she said, with her father noting that she’s “ready to go try again and said she’s going to win next time.”

There is a strong family connection at these events, which are ordinarily held once a month seven or eight months a year. The next is on New Year’s Day.

Kessler’s wife Amanda, a retired school teacher, competes on own mini tractor, and in fact outdistanced her husband in the Sportsman 1 category Saturday. Her machine, Monkey Business, pulled the sled a combined 367.73 feet while Kessler’s tractor, Amazing Grace, finished with 301.47  feet.

Their son, Gerald Tyler Kessler, placed third in the Sportsman 2 category. His tractor, Yee Yee, pulled the sled 418.72 feet. That was behind Jeffery Coursey’s Oh Deer – an apparent play on John Deere – winning distance of 461.75 feet and the 450.47 turned in by Ethan D. on Dragon Wagon.

Jeffery Coursey is Fred Coursey’s son, and the elder Coursey, a mechanic by trade, built the 300-foot red clay strip of a track during the COVID pandemic when opportunities to pull elsewhere grew sparser. The nonprofit club itself formed in 2017, its members say, and these days members travel as far as Tennessee and Florida to compete and as near as Baxley. Pullers from elsewhere also come to Clyo.

“We’ve always done something dealing with cars or tractors or something with an engine in it,” Coursey said. “We got in it to get the kids involved in stuff like that.”

Sportsmanship is important, and the group’s General Rule No. 2 (there are 18 in all) clearly states “Use of vulgar language or of alcoholic beverage will be grounds for dismissal and disqualification.”

But for those who like to tinker, the machines are something to behold – for example, some of the more modified have had motorcycle engines installed. That may’ve explained why some of the tractors sounded more like Harley Davidson’s than your ordinary lawn tractor.

“It’s learning the mechanics of tractors,” Coursey said. “Doing different stuff with the gears, and they all started out as grass cutters, that’s the thing. Some of them go back into the 1970s and 1960s.”

Given that all the tractors are modified to some extent – there are no mowing decks left on the mini tractors -- the extent of the work done to soup up one of the tractors can well depend on one’s pocketbook. The tractors can easily cost from $2,500 to $5,000 to rig up, and purses won’t make one rich. Ordinarily, competitors pay a hook fee, all of which is paid back to the winners in various classes.

“It’ll pay for gas and give you a little spending money,” Kessler said. “But it’s not so much about that, it’s about friendly competition. And in amongst the friendly competition, Saturday was a chance for us to give back to the community. We’re blessed we get to play in the dirt like kids. We’re blessed to have the opportunity to do that and the opportunity to give back to the community.”

For more information about the Down South Mini Tractor Pullers, check out their Facebook page.

Results of the Nov. 16 mini tractor pull in Clyo.

Pure Stock 950

Lucas Whitten on Blue, 362.95 ft

Myla Bevill on Pink, 362.55 ft

Pure Stock 1050

Lucas Whitten on Blue, 524.04 ft

Ethan D on Dragon Wagon, 460.43 ft

Myla Bevill on Pink, 345.29 ft

Sportsman 1

Amanda Kessler on Monkey Business, 367.73 ft

Gerald Kessler on Amazing Grace, 301.47 ft

Sportsman 2

Jeffery Coursey on Oh Deer, 461.75 ft

Ethan D on Dragon Wagon, 450.47 ft

Gerald Tyler Kessler on Yee Yee, 418.72 ft

Jay Newsome on Red Mule, 407.17 ft

Fred Coursey on Blue Thunder, 361.09 ft

Will Nickle on Digger, 285.79 ft

Sportsman Heavy

Jay Newsome on Red Mule, 548.34 ft

Ethan D on Dragon Wagon, 503.45 ft

Superstock

Graham Metzger on John Deer 180, 417.53 ft

Greg Jaudon on Daddy’s Toy, 385.26 ft

Greg Jaudon on Tree Rat, 384.46 ft