Former local Nathan Binks will return to town this weekend for the Finley Modified Tractor Pull, which attracts the best proponents of tractor pulling from across NSW and Victoria.
This year Mr Binks and his team will be tearing down the straight at the Finley Showgrounds on Saturday night in ‘The General’.
The 43 year-old has been competing in tractor pulls for 10 years and said he loves the adrenaline it generates.
‘‘I need a V8 fix,’’ he said with a laugh.
‘‘Having three kids, the days of having fast cars are in the past. I like the challenge of what the sport promotes.
‘‘There’s a saying in the tractor pulling community, ‘it’s 10 per cent pulling, 90 per cent socialising’,’’ he said.
The General is considered a ‘‘guinea pig’’ of tractors on circuit, as it’s quite new to the scene.
Mr Binks said his six litre V8 hasn’t reached its full potential as he’s still determining certain specifications.
‘‘It’s the first one to be allowed into the sport under the new guidelines. My tractor is the first to run an LS Series engine.
‘‘We’re still working out how many horsepower but we think it’s around 400bhp, which is around 150 less than it needs to be.
‘‘But it’s a full electronic engine and that hasn’t been allowed into the sport before; the engine is from a HSV car.
‘‘This will be the first time run at Finley.
‘‘We have a two year development plan with the engine, which we’re only six months into.’’
The General is expected to reach around 60 to 70 metres this Saturday.
Mr Binks still has a connection to Finley with his parents Tom and Libby residing in the town.
He said the Finley Tractor Pull has always had a home feeling about it.
‘‘I grew up in Finley and did an apprenticeship in Jerilderie then drove trucks for a few years and now I’m a school teacher in Shepparton.
‘‘I come to the Finley Tractor Pull because mum and dad still live in town, and my wife’s father used to live there, so we catch up with family over the weekend.’’
Mr Binks said the Finley Tractor Pull is one of the best across the circuit.
‘‘It’s well run, the track is perfect and there’s no dust.
‘‘The other thing they do really well is look after you at the end of the night; they have good initiatives.
‘‘I live in Waaia where we used to run a tractor pull, but stepped out of the circuit after 10 years because we were a bit puffed out, so Finley is now our home track,’’ Mr Binks said.