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On the contrary. . . The empirical evidence is that the JD tractor had plenty of ground contact and pressure, because it actually dug itself into that ground.

But still, the steam tractor was using some of it's power against whatever downward pressure the JD would normally have.

What it needed was traction. . . And sufficient area on that traction for its power to not dig itself into the ground

I wonder if the JD had water in it's tires?

I suspect the tires on the JD may have had too sharp a tread that acted as shovels to break the ground, digging in and spreading the soil outward, to its disadvantage. The tractor would have been better off with racing slicks in this tug off.

Narrow racing slicks or narrow turf tires.

Look at the metal tires on the Steam Tractor: they're flat, with little flair to dig in.

I can't quite tell if they are all metal or rubber coated metal?

The steamer had two things going for it:

(1) Weight
(2) hitch position allowing the steamer to get a pull-up assist on the power axle of the diesel tractor.

Even with the weight, with a level hitch setup, I suspect that the Deere could have broken the steamer if it was a real competition and not a steamer demo for the crowd. Proof the diesel tractor puller was not putting out his 850hp, is to make horsepower, you have to have torque (it’s a linear formula taking torque and RPM into account), and with traction minimized by the hitch position, the engine was never really loaded. Oh he would smoke it once in a while for entertainment value, but he didn’t start in the classic mode, which is to snatch the object in question and keep building speed till traction gives out.

If that JD had gone to 850hp RPM (probably 5 or 6K RPM on that racing diesel), and started hard at the offset, he could have drug the steamer as far as his fuel would have let him. It would have also destroyed (literally) the antique tractor.

This was just a fun thing for the crowds, to see a real steamer working a little against all that new fangled diesel tech :)

Wouldn’t read much into it. The crowds obviously loved the entertainment value, as did I, as I love diesels AND steamers!

I can't quite tell if they are all metal or rubber coated metal?

I suspect not. From the period, rubber was not to sophisticated and would wear out fast. Metal was what was used. i live in Stockton, CA, where Benjamin Holt invented the track laying tractor, which became the caterpillar tractor, the tank, and Caterpillar company. . . and they originally had metal tracks. . . as did the big tractors of the period.

I wonder if the JD had water in it's tires?

Watching the video with the JD tractor speeding across the arena like it did, I suspect it was set-up for speed, which means light weight, so most likely no water.

I think the definite answer to the question probably is here. I found it quite interesting. On the other hand, I think that Diesel Electrics lack romance. . . and are boring as hell. I much rather watch the running gear of a steamer running at 72 miles an hour. That is beauty in motion. . . and engineering to stir a man's heart. An SD-40 rolling along is OK. . . but it just doesn't have soul. And the honking BLAAPP BLAAAP of a diesel Electric Horn doesn't have the evocative sound of the lonesome echo of a steamer's whistle echoing from the distance. It just doesn't.