Turning a dream into reality
10th Jan 2024
For Kevin Haworth, having his own pulling tractor has been a long-held dream. And in 2018, that dream turned into reality when he purchased the limited super stock tractor Froggy, from Guy de Hoef.
“I had bought myself a diesel engine years ago, and had the idea that I wanted to build myself a pulling tractor,” explains Kevin, who is an agricultural contractor from Kirkby Lonsdale, Cumbria. “I had never really considered buying one, but looking back now, it was the easiest and quickest way to get on-track.”
Kevin has been among the pulling scene for around 20 years, helping out the NWTPC by driving grading and rolling equipment for track preparation.
“I have been close to the action for years, and I reckon that driving up and down the track on a farm tractor made me wonder what it would really be like to go down the track properly – at speed, pulling the sledge,” he says.
It was during the 2018 Great Eccleston Show pull, that Kevin and daughter Jade spent time in the pits looking at Froggy, and talking to the team behind the John Deere-based limited super stock tractor.
“I run John Deere tractors for my business, so I was never going to look at anything else,” he says. “And I was slowly being convinced that methanol is the way forward for pulling.”
“Guy do Hoef offered Jade the chance to drive the tractor, but only if he didn’t break it on the previous pull. And that was an opportunity grabbed with both hands,” says Kevin. “She was hooked, but I talked myself out of it, despite wanting to scratch that itch.”
In January 2019, Kevin travelled alone to Zwolle in the Netherlands to watch the indoor pulling, and a deal was done. Froggy was coming back to England and this time it was staying put.
“I went to Bernay in France, with Guy and his team for the 2019 Eurocup pull, to learn and to drive the tractor for the first time,” he says. “And I only went and bloody won.”
With the name removed and the tractor kept in its then original green and yellow colour scheme, Kevin and wife Diane, along with kids Jade and Lyam, have been on a steep learning curve with the tractor.
Modifications and improvements are few and far between, as the Haworth family continues to feel its way through the limited super stock class. Kevin has fitted an oil accumulator to keep the big turbo lubricated during premature shut-downs, and a heater element in the sump takes the chill off the oil, improving cold-starting.
“We still get great support from Guy – I can’t thank him enough for his assistance and knowledge,” says Kevin. “There’s so many great people out there, and it makes pulling all the better for it.”
For 2023, the tractor was renamed Ultimate Deere. It's once bright red roll cage was painted black and the bodywork was wrapped in a distinctive metallic green vinyl, giving Team Haworth's tractor its own identity.
“I have Ultimate Edition 6R tractors for my business, but this one really is the Ultimate Deere for me,” he says.
The Haworth team’s 2023 season ended very well, earning the chance to represent the BTPA at the 2023 European Championships in Brande, Denmark.
“I made the pull-off, and finished second at the EC’s, and we also finished second in the British Championships – what a season it’s been,” he says. “Guy always said I’d bought a tractor that was capable of winning, so I now need to get up onto the top step of the podium in 2024.”
The Haworth family would like to thank the following for their help and assistance in getting Ultimate Deere on-track: Lyam, Vicki, Conor, Ivy, Lacey and Arabella, plus sponsors Lancashire Agricultural Engineers in Blackburn; PR Parker Plant in Kendal, and Wurth UK.
