Jesse Viau high fives a fan after competing in a pull on July 13, 2024 at The Rusty Rail in Cornell. ("The Big Dog" Mitch Vosburg)

CORNELL — Summer in the Upper Peninsula calls for a lot of things.

It’s a signal to finally put away snow shovels. A time to enjoy nature and fresh air.

With world-class fishing, auto racing and countless hiking opportunities, activities for summer in the U.P. are only capped by one’s imagination. And up here, imaginations run wild, especially with the action behind The Rusty Rail.

When Kid Rock muttered the words “it was summertime in northern Michigan” in “All Summer Long” he most likely wasn’t referring to what goes down in the tiny town of Cornell.

The U.P. Garden Tractor Pullers made its way back to the U.P. for its 2024 season, providing entertainment and a sense of pride to Michigan’s Delta County.

History

The U.P. Garden Tractor Pullers originally set up shop 24 years ago in Flat Rock township, a stone’s throw away from their current home in Cornell. But an untimely death to the then organizer forced the pullers to go under new leadership.

The pullers went under the guidance of a new president. This included a move from Flat Rock to Aurora, Wisconsin, located less than five miles south of the Menominee River, the dividing line between Wisconsin and Michigan. It’s also a shade over 50 miles from the puller’s previous site.

But after the 2023 season, the status of the U.P. Garden Tractor Pullers became less of an entertainment source and more of a question of whether or not the 2024 season was plausible.

“(The previous president) ran the club right into the ground,” said Casey Viau, the current president of the U.P. Garden Tractor Pullers club. “He got quite a few of the pullers around here mad.”

The U.P. Garden Tractor Pullers then went under the guidance of Viau. From there, it was finding a way to bring pulling action back to its rightful home in Delta County.

The original site in Flat Rock was not an option. New land leases proved to be the primary issue.

So how did everything come together in 2024? It was a large patch of grass next to farmland behind The Rusty Rail in Cornell.

“I started thinking where would be a good place (for the track),” Viau said. “We don’t have a liquor license, so I figured we’ll have it at a bar. (The Rusty Rail owner) wasn’t doing anything with any of the land (behind the bar). He gave us a land lease on it. Pretty much as long as we maintain it, it’s ours.”

After 300 hours of work, a 300-foot first strip was installed with metal railing on either side. Garden tractor pulling was back in Delta County. But what in the world is a garden tractor pull?

What is a tractor pull?

Tractor pulling is a common sport in rural areas across the country. Competitors modify tractors to pull weight across a certain distance.

Tractors get hooked up to a makeshift wagon which contains a heavy sled. As the tractor makes its way down the dirt strip, the weight sled creeps its way from the back of the makeshift wagon and up toward where the wagon and tractor are connected, moving the heavy weight closer to the tractor.

Once the tractor can no longer move forward, the pull attempt is over and the distance is measured. Whoever pulls the furthest is the winner.

“It’s a lot of work, and a love for horsepower,” Viau said. “It’s a cheap sport to get into, and it’s kind of entertaining.”

So how does it work with garden tractors, also known as lawn mowers?

The same rules apply. But in this case the weight sled is 7,200 pounds.

Not your average lawn mower

Garden tractors that compete in these events are not what you expect out of your grandma’s lawn mower. Unless your grandma’s lawn mower can generate up to 70 horsepower with exhaust pipes the size of Hulk Hogan’s immortal 22-inch biceps, close to 100 pounds in weight lifting plates on either end and an engine that roars like an agitated tiger warning its prey to back away before it pounces for the kill when the tractor is slammed into gear.

In that case, it’s pretty accurate.

For the U.P. Garden Tractor Pullers, there’s a plethora of divisions to compete in.

You have your stock classes. Division 1 is for garden tractors 700 pounds and lighter. Division 2 pits garden tractors between 701 and 1,000 pounds.

Then there’s the altered stocked class. Division 1 is reserved for garden tractors with 16 horsepower or less. Division 2 is designated for garden tractors between 17 and 26 horsepower.

There’s also the heavyweight stock class. Garden tractors must be between 1,000-1,500 pounds and produce no more than 25 horsepower.

You also have the pro stock open for garden tractors under 1,100 pounds and the modified division for garden tractors under 1,200 pounds. Garden tractors in these two divisions have no cap on horsepower.

But the means in which competitors modify their garden tractors is up to them. It’s also limited solely by their imaginations.

You have garden tractor’s like Todd Nault’s ‘Giddy Up’ that generates upwards of 70 horsepower.

You have ‘Big Moma’s Toy’ driven by Chrissy Viau.

Crissy Viau prepares for a pull on her garden tractor “Big Moma’s Toy” on July 13, 2024 at The Rusty Rail in Cornell. (“The Big Dog” Mitch Vosburg Daily Press)

Then you have the contraption created by Donald Casteel, a former Ford employee for 30 years.

Donald Casteel prepares for a pull on July 13, 2024 at The Rusty Rail in Cornell. (“The Big Dog” Mitch Vosburg Daily Press)

His garden tractor is built solely from scratch. He took his current frame and added a four-cylinder 2.3 Ford engine to go with a Ford five-speed manual transmission, a Ford radiator and a new hydraulic clutch installed for the 2024 season.

“I enjoy it,” Casteel said. “I was born and raised on a farm in Ohio. I like tractors and building them.”

A family affair

The U.P. Garden Tractors Pullers offer a unique form of entertainment for families. But not just for families watching behind the guard rails.

The group features several families spread across its divisions.

Casey Viau pulls. So does his wife Crissy Viau and son Jesse Viau.

“(Jesse Viau) wanted to try it last year, so we built him a tractor, went down there and had a blast,” Casey Viau recalls. “So I said, ‘Well, he’s doing it. We’re going all the way to Wisconsin with only one tractor. I might as well build one for me and one for the wife’ and we kind of got hooked into it. Then we found out that they were giving up on the club. That’s when we decided we wanted to keep it going.”

The Viau’s also aren’t the only family involved. In fact, one family has three generations competing.

Todd Nault also grew up on a farm and originally got into the sport to do with his youngest son. While his youngest son has lost interest in the sport Todd continues to pull, and he doesn’t pull alone.

His son Justin Nault and grandson Justin Nault Jr. all compete on the 300-foot dirt track. In total the family has five garden tractors in events, including Justin Jr.’s, which features a wood block to help reach the gas pedal.

Justin Nault Jr. (left) and Justin Nault share a moment before a pull attempt on July 13, 2024 at The Rusty Rail in Cornell. (“The Big Dog” Mitch Vosburg Daily Press)

It also serves as a chance for all three to enjoy quality time together both on the track and learning the mechanical side of tractors and machines.

“You have to know how to work on tractors and tweak them to be competitive,” Todd Nault said. “I love mechanic work, and I’m good at it. I’ve been truck pulling for almost 30 years. I love to do it. Truck or tractors, I don’t care.

The U.P. Garden Tractor Pullers have two events left in its 2024 season. The next event is at noon on August 10. The season finale is slated for 6 p.m. on August 24.

“A lot of the pullers are starting to come back, and we want to get the rest of the pullers back into it,” Casey Viau said. “This turns into a big thing. They do this to tractor pulling with lawn mowers all over Wisconsin and down south. This is a big, big event.”