Consolidation of Clubs April 10, 2026 12:57AM
Coming from a very heavy Ag background and growing up pulling my entire life. I have seen over the years the continuous consolidation of everything in agriculture, while their are some benefits to the consolidation. I think much of that consolidation has put us in the position that we are in right now in the Ag economy, high input low markets and few options to go elsewhere. With that said, it seems that there is becoming more and more clubs consolidating, or "Teaming up", call it whatever you want. I am just curious what the general pulling community thinks of this, not just in the short term, but the long term. I totally think some of this will make rules across America more aligned class by class, huge positive. However, if we continue to consolidate these clubs and are left with just a few that control the entire market share, will it slowly drive away competitor and fans? I am sorry to say it but most fans and competitors do not want to deal with a "Corporate" feel when they go to entertainment/ a hobby.

What does everyone this of this?
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Re: Consolidation of Clubs April 10, 2026 02:15AM
It's come full cycle. NTPA formed in large part to help unify rules across the country. Especially in the 1980s, other groups formed, some of whom had slightly different rules. By the time this century rolled around, we've seen many groups form and some class rules vary widely, LLSS for example.

I can't totally criticize them, though. Doug Roberts went against the grain with Outlaws, but he recognized costs were getting out of control and tried to rein them in. If NTPA keeps costs in the equation somewhat, it makes consolidation easier to occur.

Also, insurance may be a background issue as well.
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Re: Consolidation of Clubs April 10, 2026 02:47AM
I have heard that insurance is in part a large issue with this consolidation. I would say you point on cost is what my biggest concern is. Look across any industry, when there is only 1 or 2 providers of the service you can charge whatever you want. Sadly in our case pulling isn't a need and fairs/ events will just stop having them and move on to concerts we have already seen this trend in the midwest. Heck the Iowa State Fair got rid of the pull until the Elway family donated an entire venue. Now they are also only going to a one day hook it seems....
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Re: Consolidation of Clubs April 10, 2026 06:51AM
I see much more upside than down. The biggest plus for uniform rules, go anywhere and you are legal. The next is scheduling, with larger organizations there is a better chance that events will not be booked on top of other events. Uniform rules also makes buying and selling parts so much easier. There is also the advantage with bigger organizations having a greater chance of more sponsorship. I know that there are some negative aspects also, however I believe that the plus side outweighs the downside.


Dick Morgan

www.PULLOFF.com
Independent Pulling News



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 04/10/2026 03:04PM by Dick Morgan.
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Re: Consolidation of Clubs April 11, 2026 02:33PM
We had uniform rules years ago. And then when some were building something to the uniform rules, during the building process rules changed.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/11/2026 02:35PM by Supertiquer.
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Re: Consolidation of Clubs April 13, 2026 06:12AM
What Dusty said. That and the younger fan group is where we need to be focusing attention. A 10 year old that loves tractor pulling could be a 25 year old with a LLSS or a 4.1 in 15 years or a 40 year old with a Pro Stock or a DSS in 30 years.
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Re: Consolidation of Clubs April 11, 2026 12:29AM
I believe one of the problems lie in the stock side of the things "brush pulling & local organizations" a lot of people in pulling, down play the stock classes when we should be talking them up, there needs to be entry level that is affordable and relatable. No one can relate to the "bootleggers" type of tractors pulling when I look at a tractor like that I am amazed yes of workmanship but also i think wow this is probably 3/4 of a million dollars my house wasnt that much. In the last 20 years this sport in the high level has molded it self to mimic drag racing events. Well I am here to tell you go to ur local drag racing events on a normal Friday or Saturday there is less people in the stands then a antique western style pull. The average man or woman with a regular job that doesn't have family money or a company write off problem, that has 2 kids 2 vehicle payment and a mortgage might not be able to afford a limited pro, but they can bring there diesel pickup or maybe paps 1066 or 4055. There has to be a starting point. I listen to all the pulling podcasts :breaking barriers, no practice podcast etc. Do u know what they have in common when a guest is on 99% all started in there local organizations then branched out from there. We need to have strong foundations in pulling to see it grow. Having matching crew t shirts and Nascar hauler are not going to fix this .
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Re: Consolidation of Clubs April 11, 2026 04:57AM
For every 1 gn type vehicle I'd surely think there is 3,000 brush pullers
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Re: Consolidation of Clubs April 11, 2026 09:57AM
Patches i could only hope your correct in your area but in southwestern pa that is not even close. Unfortunately I know more vehicles parked at the local level then competing.
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Re: Consolidation of Clubs April 12, 2026 12:27PM
Must live in a different part than me
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Re: Consolidation of Clubs April 13, 2026 09:53AM
Avercusauto you are correct there is no way to get around that problem. At the end of the day you cant beat money and will power.All I was trying to portray is that its monumental for the sport to find away to keep it affordable and fun in the entry level so we can build up from the foundation of pulling. I was in charge of a local brush pulling organization for several years and what I found difficult to deal with is who do u handicap the guy the worked his entire life and retired with a massive pension or the guy that is just starting out and truly having fun.
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Re: Consolidation of Clubs April 13, 2026 11:54PM
Dusty, I am not going to disagree with you. The other side of this, is that there are cheaper ways to go pulling, people just don't want to do it. First thing is, what dollar amount is considered affordable? The other thing I don't think we can currently overcome is that guys want ProStock fun on a farm stock budget. If there was an affordable "stock" class that had a say 8 mph speed limit, most guys wouldn't be satisfied. They want more.
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Re: Consolidation of Clubs April 13, 2026 06:28AM
Dusty, I agree, kind of. I am all about entry level pulling. But, no one regulates or techs these classes. Then when you get someone that wants to pull a true stock tractor, they don't stand a change against guys that have a purpose built "stock" class tractor. Vary few get checked for safety. And then everyone thinks that adding a speed limit will help fix this issue. It doesn't. Guys are still spending ridicules money on tractors for these classes. I want to see entry level stuff happen, but unfortunately I don't see it happening. There are guys willing to spend $40k+ on their 10 mph tractor. Is a $40k still an entry level class?
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