The WPI/NTPA family is mourning the loss on Wednesday, August 21 of Fred Mende, 82, of Earlville, Illinois. Mr. Mende’s pulling career predated the formation of the NTPA, as he and Bob Bend formed the Allison Team of modified Minneapolis-Molines in the mid-1960s to become some of the first superstars of the nascent sport.
Mr. Mende began his pulling career in 1957, running a Ford 6000 diesel augmented with an oxygen tank to provide a power boost in the days before turbochargers became commonplace. He graduated to a stock M-M G1000.
In 1966, Mr. Mende’s eventual teammates ordered a World War II surplus Allison engine via mail from California for $380. They installed it in a Minneapolis-Moline UB, lengthening the stock frame and reversing the ring-and-pinion and transmission to account to the aircraft engine’s counterclockwise rotation, which was opposite that of the original ag powerplant. Shortly after Mr. Mende joined up, a second Allison Team tractor was added, and the group began traveling the country as the motorsport went national. Team wins included Bowling Green, Ohio in 1971 and 1972 and the Indy Super Pull in 1974.
Mr. Mende retired from pulling that year and served the Association for several decades as an NTPA and Illinois Tractor Pullers Association Technical Official as his wife Wilma by his side as an NTPA and ITPA Entry Clerk. In 1985, he and the Allison Team were inducted into the Pulling Hall of Fame.
Mr. and Mrs. Mende farmed 500 acres of no-till soybeans and raised hogs in north-central Illinois. “We never raised a family,” Mr. Mende told The Puller Magazine in a 2015 feature, “so the pulling family in reality is our family. They really mean a lot to us.” Mr. Mende also aided his community as its road commissioner and on its fire board.
We invite you to read more about the Allison Team in Mr. Mende’s Hall of Fame induction article.
No memorial or funeral services for Mr. Mende are planned.
Whether as a competitor or an official, Mr. Mende’s cordiality, professionalism, and fairness provided a significant and positive influence on the Association for its entire duration. Our deepest sympathy rests with Wilma and the Mendes’ many close friends in pulling.