South Edgecombe Assistant Fire Chief Chester Lancaster said that having fun is a lot of hard work.

"It's really hard work putting on a tractor pull," said Lancaster, who has been involved with the annual Pinetops 300 Tractor & Truck Pull for the past 22 years. "Luckily, we have a lot of good people who come together each year to help pull it off."

On Friday and Saturday the South Edgecombe Rural Fire Department will sponsor the 32nd annual Pinetops 300 Tractor & Truck Pull, held each year at the Pinetops ball park.

The event, founded in 1977 by the South Edgecombe Jaycees and South Edgecombe Rural Fire Department, is the longest running Truck & Tractor Pull event in the Southeast.

"We are the longest running, not-for-profit tractor pull in the Southeastern United States," said Lancaster. "Other than the State Fair, I can't think of one that has run longer than ours."

Lancaster said the event usually brings more than 100 "pullers" from across the United States and draws in crowds averaging 5,000 people.

"We have been blessed so far," said Lancaster. "We've only been rained out once, so we usually get good weather."

The event is the 2008 Season Opener for United Pullers Of the Carolinas and National Tractor Pulling Association sanctioned events.

With more than 20 events scheduled throughout the spring and summer, the UPOC sanctions pulls in North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia and parts of Eastern Tennessee.

"We get pullers from as far away as Michigan, New York and Ohio," said Lancaster. "The pullers always enjoy the home town feel that we try to bring to the event.

"One year, we were voted 'Best Pull' by the pullers themselves."

Lancaster said the event offers the spectators multiple classes of machines to watch.

Lancaster said spectators will see Modified Tractors, Super Stock Tractors, Mini Modified Tractors, Super Farm Tractors, Four-Wheel Drive Trucks, Light Four-Wheel Drive Trucks and Two-Wheel Drive Trucks. 

The object for all classes is to pull a sled, which has various amounts of weight on it, for 300 feet and in the fastest time.

"There is a lot of horsepower out there," said Lancaster. "The four-wheel drives are really popular with the crowds and the modified are really interesting to watch.