Calgary (Rural Roots Canada) – Family. Passion. Power.  Three generations of the Elliott family share a love of vintage tractor pulling.

Darcy, Michael and Allan Elliot from Blackie, Alberta, shared the stage at the Calgary Stampede for the first time this past summer.

This passion, which has driven three generations of the family, all started when Darcy first saw a vintage tractor years ago, that they still have pulling at the Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth.

“I found this tractor at a neighbour’s place, so I decided to rebuild it and paint her up. Then we ended up starting to have tractor pulls in Blackie. It just ballooned from there,” says Darcy

The family’s collection now includes four fully restored and painted vintage tractors.

Michael says Darcy’s passion caught on quickly with him, and he never let it go.

“Once I saw him at the Stampede, I decided I wanted to do it,” says Michael.

“We got our next tractor and finished it up. Then our next tractor, and the next tractor.”

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When Allan got old enough, he also took up the sport, which he has been doing for the past four years.

When they aren’t pulling at the various events, Michael says they are busy supporting each other by providing each other with insight on the dirt.

“We talk about the track and what it’s looking like, if there are any high spots or low spots, and where you should pull. I usually run the lightest tractor, so I test it out, take a look at where things are.”

While the three of them are family by blood, Michael says they treat all of their fellow pullers as family, and that being so help each other during pulls.

“We have had breakdowns over the past, and it is a community. Everybody will just grab whatever they got and help you fix it. I had a battery die last year, and somebody went back and got my booster cables for me, and they boosted the battery and kept me going. We’ve had broken hitches up here. Between a group of four of us, we figured out how to, even with no hitch, keep it pulling for the weekend.”

It’s a sure bet that if you show up to a vintage tractor pull in southern Alberta, you will be competing against the Elliotts.