tough night for Bauer sled at nfms February 11, 2015 01:42PM
After 2 runaway tractors, a broken alternator belt, and some other issues, they finally switched sleds. Starting the mod class over. Tough night but glad they quit fighting it for everyone's safety!
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Re: tough night for Bauer sled at nfms February 11, 2015 02:21PM
Someone needs to give them Dave Hagers phone number!
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Re: tough night for Bauer sled at nfms February 11, 2015 04:19PM
Maybe they need a pace tractor there. That way, the tractors that runaway in the mod class could let off the throttle before they get ahead of the pace tractor if the drivers are watching the pace tractor. Not like they have anything else to do.
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Re: tough night for Bauer sled at nfms February 11, 2015 04:23PM
Looks like Bauer just bought a Pro Stock.
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Re: tough night for Bauer sled at nfms February 11, 2015 11:51PM
A few years ago daves sled malfunctioned in murfreesboro. Pan didn't drop and rex kuhn went completely on top of the sand pile. Not knocking Dave just saying it happens to everyone unfortunately.
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Re: tough night for Bauer sled at nfms February 12, 2015 02:29AM
A few things this morning:

This isn't about Dave's sled a few years ago. This is about the Bauer Green sled last night. I understand that breakage happens to everyone, but this is actually about more than that. Some of yesterday's issues were bad luck, and some of yesterday's issues were bad decisions. Yes, I also understand that ALL people make bad decisions, and sometimes it's just a perfect storm of bad decisions and bad luck. Yesterday was that perfect storm.

What bothers me about yesterday is that they went back to the Green sled after the box had serious issues in each of the first two classes. Two very narrow misses! All they needed to do was move the framework over to the Red sled and we would be sitting here talking about the fact that PPL mods just sweep the finals.

Infact, the green sled has been having issues with the box binding up for a while. In Bowling Green this summer the box bound up on numerous occasions when they were running it back after a hook. The box never had issues during the hook, but it actually got so bad that they had to bring out a forklift on multiple occasions to get the box to slide back on the rails. The box always seemed to bind up in the same spot, which also seems to be the same spot that it had issues going forward last night. I know they will get it figured out and fixed, but it happened at the worst time on the biggest national stage.

As for why the framework wasn't changed, I don't know, I don't know if it was speed, or if it was ego, or the feeling that we had to prove that we could fix it, but I doubt it was laziness. It was just a bad decision.

I'm hopeful that we'll right this ship tonight.


Jake Morgan
Owner, PULLOFF.COM
Independent Pulling News


This page is a free service. The cost is covered out of my pocket. It takes a great deal of time and a fair amount of money to keep this website going. Donations for: photos, classified ads, forum discussion, etc... are appreciated.

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Re: tough night for Bauer sled at nfms February 11, 2015 04:58PM
He'd better pay up that's bull$hit and he's got the money to make it right....how many millions did he get from deere?
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Re: tough night for Bauer sled at nfms February 11, 2015 05:01PM
Anybody got any pics of what happened? We left early.
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Re: tough night for Bauer sled at nfms February 11, 2015 05:06PM
The sled pushed him. Kinda like telling a train to stop on a dime. No way in hell it's gonna stop. Hope he makes it right with the gg cause that was faulty equipment that caused that
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Re: tough night for Bauer sled at nfms February 11, 2015 05:18PM
Quote
Pics?
Anybody got any pics of what happened? We left early.


John Murray
Two-time Pedal Pull World Champion

Let's Go Pulling, covering the sport of pulling in Kentucky, Tennessee, and Alabama.
Watch LGP on YouTube
Like LGP on Facebook





Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/11/2015 05:37PM by Jake Morgan.


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Re: tough night for Bauer sled at nfms February 11, 2015 06:09PM
First and foremost, I'm extremely happy that Bryce VanGenderen escaped without injury. Thankfully he did an excellent driving job and started easing out of the throttle before the kill switch was pulled, a split-second longer and he could have been over the concrete barrier and up against a steel beam rather than just parked on the barrier. Thankfully we didn't see an injury or worse.

Unfortunately the tractor sustained some pretty serious damage. The frame rails are most likely bent (the chassis only had ten runs on it). The tractor landed on the oil pan and the engine probably suffered some bottom-end damage, not to mention the oil pump mounts and any of the other damage to all the miscellaneous "small" parts.

Next, the Farm Show committee made the right call by cancelling the rest of the evening and shuffling things around with the remaining tractors. They did what was right at a time when things were really going wrong.

As for Bauer, I don't want to comment too much now, but I can honestly say I've never heard a sled operator heckled and yelled at by angry fans until tonight. After last years lackluster show this was a tough session to sit through and a Wednesday night I'd rather forget. It wasn't the way anyone was hoping to kick off this years pull. Hopefully we'll have a better session Thursday.

To John Murray, thanks for posting the picture, the media area was the wrong spot for us to get any good photos. If you get a chance this week, stop down and say hello.


Jake Morgan
Owner, PULLOFF.COM
Independent Pulling News


This page is a free service. The cost is covered out of my pocket. It takes a great deal of time and a fair amount of money to keep this website going. Donations for: photos, classified ads, forum discussion, etc... are appreciated.

Side Note: We are no longer accepting PayPal donations. They have changed their terms of service and stated they would fine PayPal users for spreading "misinformation" and "hate, violence, racial or other forms of intolerance that is discriminatory". PayPal did not provide definitions for some of these vague terms. Woke corporate policies regarding "misinformation" could result in an automatic fine of $2,500 which would have been removed directly from the customer’s PayPal account. PayPal did backdown from some of their policies but quietly implemented portions of them in later terms of service. A financial institute has no right to monitor social media accounts or speech. This is unacceptable and I'll no longer do business with PayPal.

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Re: tough night for Bauer sled at nfms February 12, 2015 04:26AM
What caused the box to freewheel up the rails
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Re: tough night for Bauer sled at nfms February 12, 2015 02:53AM
Watch the third video, right as gg hits the pile the box freewheels to the front of the sled and that is what pushed him over the pile. Those boxes are not supposed to move that freely.
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Re: tough night for Bauer sled at nfms February 11, 2015 05:01PM
As a puller you need to be aware also. Let's not point all the blame but I agree a very poor showing for second year in a row on Wednesday by the bauers. Let's hope the rest of the show goes better.
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Re: tough night for Bauer sled at nfms February 11, 2015 05:13PM
There is no way this is the pullers fault. He not only let off the throttle when told by the flag man he hit the breaks. The sled hits so hard on that short track there is no way to know theres a problem until it's to late.
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Re: tough night for Bauer sled at nfms February 11, 2015 06:00PM
Pullers fault? Three times in one unacceptable anywhere,especially at Louisville
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Re: tough night for Bauer sled at nfms February 11, 2015 09:31PM
Is now the time for NASOA to adopt box monitoring systems like the European sleds have?
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Re: tough night for Bauer sled at nfms February 12, 2015 01:56AM
The dutch Bauer built sled already has it fitted. The technology is there and would have prevented this.
Stuff can and will sometimes break in a mechanical sport and human reaction is just too slow to handle situations like this.
Everybody better be glad nobody got hurt (this could have been a lot uglier!), take it as a warning shot and admit it's time to work on the rules!


Floating Finish - the German Tractor Pulling Web Show and EU Live Streams: [www.youtube.com]



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/12/2015 03:29AM by Sascha.
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Re: tough night for Bauer sled at nfms February 12, 2015 02:04AM
Sascha all safety equipment (brakes, pan drop, kill, etc) was tripped on the sled but the kill switch cable broke from what I was told. so not much could have prevented that from happening.
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Re: tough night for Bauer sled at nfms February 12, 2015 02:41AM
The problem is, there could be a situation where you have to explain that to an attorney and lawyers.
We had that problem before and the judge told us the sled rules were basically "@#$%&".


Floating Finish - the German Tractor Pulling Web Show and EU Live Streams: [www.youtube.com]



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/12/2015 02:46AM by Sascha.
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Re: tough night for Bauer sled at nfms February 12, 2015 10:44AM
thats not the first tractor they ever hit .I saw them hit one at the kanas fair a few years ago . the slead turned the tractor over on its side,pushed him down the track&compleatly destoyed that guys tractor.the slead operator didnt even go up to see if the guy was still alive.buy the looks of the vido at least he still has a tractor to fix & more imporant nobody got hurt.
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Re: tough night for Bauer sled at nfms February 17, 2015 07:51PM
I fully agree with sasha from europe
The european pulling circut "learnd" it in the hardest possible way - it takes a life .......
The discussion why and waht fail is only partly interesting - the major question here is what has ben done and implemented to AVOID situations like that.
As i understand the euro sleds have a system what overlooks the functions of the sled (box movement, ect...) INDEPENDENT from the sled operator.
When the system messures a missfunction (box is not moving , drive shaft is borken ....) an emergency shutdown is applied
Killswitch is pulled
all braeks on
pan drop
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Re: tough night for Bauer sled at nfms February 11, 2015 11:41PM
How stupid can you be after having trouble all night go back to that sled.If that was my tractor someone just bought it.Im not real sure that the sled was consistence the first class. But they are the best just ask them !
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Re: tough night for Bauer sled at nfms February 12, 2015 12:27AM
Iroman sled sitting in Farm & Fleet parking lot 7:20 a.m. in Normal IL.
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Re: tough night for Bauer sled at nfms February 12, 2015 12:35AM
Gordyville makes this show look like a Kindergarten classroom.
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Re: tough night for Bauer sled at nfms February 12, 2015 12:52AM
show is a joke its 2 bad way over priced on tickets food etc and there no re- entry policy in total b.s. wont be waisting any more money here and feel bad for all the pullers they will be pulling in an empty arena very soon
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Re: tough night for Bauer sled at nfms February 12, 2015 01:22AM
[www.facebook.com]
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Re: tough night for Bauer sled at nfms February 12, 2015 01:23AM
[www.facebook.com]
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Re: tough night for Bauer sled at nfms February 12, 2015 01:24AM
[www.facebook.com]
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Re: tough night for Bauer sled at nfms February 12, 2015 01:53AM
It is terrible that this happend, for both the sled operator and the tractor puller. Yes, I agree that if you're asked to bring your equipment to a show like this you should have top notch equipment that has few brakedowns. However, brake downs are inevitable.

Has anyone put thought into the fact that maybe the promotor should have had a bigger sand pile, rather than 4' off the ground. I've been to Keystone Nationals a time or two and seen a few tractors climb quite a ways up thier sand pile. They have the big square hay bails stacked up with sand in front of them. The pile is usually up to the belcony. I'm not blaming anyone here or what Keystone Nations does is 100% correct, but when you have tractors that pick the front tires 18-24" or more off the ground you need a higher sand pile than 4 foot.
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Re: tough night for Bauer sled at nfms February 13, 2015 07:26AM
I agree gordyville has a huge pile too
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Re: tough night for Bauer sled at nfms February 12, 2015 01:54AM
Sounds to me like bauers were too lazy or nfms crew were in too big of a hurry to change the smoke tube. Its not like they didn't have a forklift there to change it over. There is no way they should have put the green sled back on the track after knowing that it has problems. Especially on an indoor track with a small sand pile. That is unacceptable. Makes us afraid to pull there not because the sled broke, but because they put a broken sled on the track.
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Re: tough night for Bauer sled at nfms February 12, 2015 02:06AM
Anyone remember Iowa State Fair several years ago when Bauer Sled was slammed into the wall and the operator got out and smacked the driver in the head in front of the whole crowd? The shoe sure is on the other foot now..
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Re: tough night for Bauer sled at nfms February 12, 2015 02:09AM
[www.youtube.com]
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Re: tough night for Bauer sled at nfms February 12, 2015 02:14AM
can't really blame the flagman... green continued to flash on sled?
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Re: tough night for Bauer sled at nfms February 12, 2015 02:17AM
but the red light plainly began to flash. in another video I saw from up above the red light comes on pretty much right at the time the box stopped moving.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/12/2015 02:28AM by ParkerFly.
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Re: tough night for Bauer sled at nfms February 12, 2015 02:25AM
You are both correct though. The red light does come on, but the green light continues to flash. The flagman is on the side of the green light. I really have never understood why sleds are set up to be able to have both red and green lights on. Perhaps having both lights on each side of the sled could help, or have a led setup that changes from green to red. What we really need is a gear tooth sensor on the box chain and one on the wheels. Set it up so when the wheels turn and the box doesn't the kill switch is pulled.
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Re: tough night for Bauer sled at nfms February 12, 2015 03:01AM
Must be a hell of a fealing sitting in the sit of a sled going 25mph at 150 feet,putting the red light on,and knowing there is nothing you can do to stop! Maybe time for just another layer of some simply saftey switchs or equipment,to pull the kill,lock the weight box,push the pan down,and apply the breaks?
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Re: tough night for Bauer sled at nfms February 12, 2015 02:55AM
I'm not sure how the safety kill is a operated on one of these newer sleds, the red light did come on but nothing happened. My thought is if during the run something happens and the operator hits the brakes it should 1: turn on red light and turn off green light, 2: drop the pan and engage the hydraulic pushdown, 3: pull the kill switch.
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Re: tough night for Bauer sled at nfms February 12, 2015 04:07AM
here is an idea why not have the same things they have for monster trucks a remote kill switch also
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Re: tough night for Bauer sled at nfms February 12, 2015 05:43AM
Quote
jast an idea
here is an idea why not have the same things they have for monster trucks a remote kill switch also

Do you have any idea how they work on a monster truck?

An RII or Remote Ignition Interrupter is what is on a monster truck. It shuts off spark to the Mag and kills the engine.

How do you propose this would work on a diesel powered engine???
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Re: tough night for Bauer sled at nfms February 12, 2015 06:05AM
Quote
How?
Quote
jast an idea
here is an idea why not have the same things they have for monster trucks a remote kill switch also

Do you have any idea how they work on a monster truck?

An RII or Remote Ignition Interrupter is what is on a monster truck. It shuts off spark to the Mag and kills the engine.

How do you propose this would work on a diesel powered engine???
A 12 volt electromagnet holds a spring loaded flapper in the intake open until you interrupt the power.
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Re: tough night for Bauer sled at nfms February 12, 2015 07:20AM
The same way they've done it on gensets and in oilfields/ gas fields etc for years and years. This is not something new
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Re: tough night for Bauer sled at nfms February 12, 2015 09:21AM
remote controlled cylinoid cant spell it but its a easy answer to that question
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Re: tough night for Bauer sled at nfms February 12, 2015 09:38AM
If you watch from the side it appears the kill switch cable was not pulled till last ten ft or less. Can see it slack. Kill switch did not break just has to be pulled
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Re: tough night for Bauer sled at nfms February 12, 2015 05:33PM
have it activate something to release the cover on the turbo. I am no expert but its an idea to get the ntpa ppl and outlaws thinking. they know the people to contact
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Re: tough night for Bauer sled at nfms February 12, 2015 04:52AM
I remember one year in Henry Il Bauer sled hit the concrete wall,sled operator didn't smack anyone but he was all bent out of shape over it happening
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Re: tough night for Bauer sled at nfms February 12, 2015 06:28AM
I feel like throwing up,,, SO close to a much worse accident.
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Re: tough night for Bauer sled at nfms February 12, 2015 06:36AM
Red Iron makes a good point. My hat is off to Bryce, he could have easily came off that tractor and blew up and the sled operator, the flag man. Instead we see a cool collected man. Nice to see!
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Re: tough night for Bauer sled at nfms February 12, 2015 06:34AM
Has anyone thought that maybe pulling has outgrown Freedom hall?
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Re: tough night for Bauer sled at nfms February 12, 2015 07:11AM
has anyone asked brian williams what he would do ?
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Re: tough night for Bauer sled at nfms February 12, 2015 07:17AM
it was the PARKES PULLERS, they hooked so hard the weight box couldnt move forward!!!!
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Re: tough night for Bauer sled at nfms February 12, 2015 04:04PM
There was the box did move not as far but did move
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Re: tough night for Bauer sled at nfms February 12, 2015 08:42AM
DING DING DING...WINNER!


Todays tractors have eclipsed the power and speed of tractors 20-25 years ago when indoor arena pulling started. With todays Super High HP tractors and the blazing speeds headed down the track there's no real way you can assure safety indoors on a short track with front wheels in the air and put on a good shows for the spectators to watch. All bad!

It is time for indoor pulling promotions to step away from the Kool-Aid. If you don't have at least a 300 foot track with a good safety barrier at the end your toying with complete disaster sooner or later. No Trophy and check for $1000 with your $150,000 tractor is worth the death or injury from a crash or accident.

Just my 2 cents.......red712
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Re: tough night for Bauer sled at nfms February 12, 2015 08:59AM
To red712 thats the greatest thing that been said on here for years.
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Re: tough night for Bauer sled at nfms February 12, 2015 09:23AM
If this problem happened at 3/4 track on a 240' track, his speed at 180' would have been less than it would have been at 225' on a 300' track. Sled problems at the far end of the track and kill switches that don't work are never going to result in a pretty ending indoors. I'm not saying those are the details, but that's what's being mentioned right now. The short track might have been a good thing.
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Re: tough night for Bauer sled at nfms February 12, 2015 09:59AM
After looking at the video it doesn't look like Bryce let out of the throttle until he got the red flag (which is what your suppose to do) and from the front view the flag man can't see the red lights flashing until about 200' just lucky that things weren't way worse!
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Re: tough night for Bauer sled at nfms February 12, 2015 10:05AM
if he truly felt bad he should pull out that huge checkbook and fix the tractor. but that is prolly something we will never know wether it happened or not.
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Re: tough night for Bauer sled at nfms February 12, 2015 09:03AM
Saw this on Facebook


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Re: tough night for Bauer sled at nfms February 12, 2015 09:53AM
personally I think that's out of line. if bauer said it was good, he genuinely thought it was fixed. if you knew him you'd understand. he's doing the best he can and I guarantee he feels like crap right now. making fun of the situation is just disrespectful and mean.
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Re: tough night for Bauer sled at nfms February 12, 2015 09:57AM
Quote
line
personally I think that's out of line. if bauer said it was good, he genuinely thought it was fixed. if you knew him you'd understand. he's doing the best he can and I guarantee he feels like crap right now. making fun of the situation is just disrespectful and mean.

I agree.
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Re: tough night for Bauer sled at nfms February 12, 2015 10:06AM
What's really sad is now Bryce has a broke tractor. Doesn't know where he would of ended up (looks like he had things running good to maybe make the finals if things worked on the sled) and the question is still up in the air about who foots the bill on this deal because as it looks Bryce gets to head back to Iowa with a "thanks for coming you put on a good show" award and a broke tractor... Just my two cents
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Re: tough night for Bauer sled at nfms February 12, 2015 10:40AM
When did they thank the puller. As long as I have been coming they are dropped off at the back door. If you can't drive away they wait until the crowd is out and pull the trailer to the tractor and load the parts.
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Re: tough night for Bauer sled at nfms February 12, 2015 12:35PM
where is the like button for red712 post
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Re: tough night for Bauer sled at nfms February 12, 2015 01:06PM
Anyone notice the box traveling at diffrrent speeds for different tractors during last nights joke ? Do they actually trust the results ? This is really an embaressing event for the sled owner ,, bet that company owns a beat up Deere
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Re: tough night for Bauer sled at nfms February 12, 2015 02:02PM
Quote
Dana Peters
Anyone notice the box traveling at diffrrent speeds for different tractors during last nights joke ? Do they actually trust the results ? This is really an embaressing event for the sled owner ,, bet that company owns a beat up Deere

I will bet one federal reserve dollar that Deere paid off Bauer to make sure "Deere wins" witch is why all the misshapps have taken place. There isn't enough time to adjust the box for different color tractors
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Re: tough night for Bauer sled at nfms February 12, 2015 01:32PM
Mechanical things break. We all know the risks that are taken at these events, 99% of the time the show goes on without a hitch, this time it didn't. There is nobody out there who has built more sleds than Bauer. He doesn't cut corners, everything is top notch and well thought out. I'm sure nobody feels worse about what happened than him. I'm sure there will be discussions in the future about "what could have been". I will agree with a previous post that the sand pile could have been higher. This could have happened to any sled.
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Re: tough night for Bauer sled at nfms February 12, 2015 02:05PM
Good post Sully, I am looking for that button as well. I have been to Gordyville twice since it is close but never been to Louisville. Upon viewing both tracks, I have always wondered why Louisville doesn't have a sand pile like Gordyville or some of the other indoor tracks. To me, it simply protects the pulling machines and the facility from the pulling machines. "Supposedly" the biggest event in indoor pulling has the smallest "protection" pile at the end. Nothing like watching a machine climb the pile.

But I agree that this could have happened to anyone, anywhere, at any time. I hate this for pulling. I know some things may be necessary, some things may need to change, but the last thing we need is some sort of "help" from Washington trying to make the sport more "safe." Just glad they are ok; just unfortunate on many different levels for many different people.
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Re: tough night for Bauer sled at nfms February 12, 2015 01:12PM
Same thing happened to Demers. Difference was he could feel something was wrong and backed off quicker. 15 feet on a short track is a big deal. Quests Jeff just knows his tractor better than Bryce. And can feel when something is wrong
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Re: tough night for Bauer sled at nfms February 12, 2015 01:35PM
Wow. Lot of empty seats in that vidio. At least not many people had to sit through that show Wednesday night. I know it was late, but that was the ever famous ProStock class.
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Re: tough night for Bauer sled at nfms February 12, 2015 01:45PM
That's where your incorrect. If you watched the box on Demers never left from the start. On Bryce the box worked till over half track giving him drawbar and big track speed
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Re: tough night for Bauer sled at nfms February 12, 2015 01:49PM
Quote
there
That's where your incorrect. If you watched the box on Demers never left from the start. On Bryce the box worked till over half track giving him drawbar and big track speed
Is there a video of Demers run somewhere?
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Re: tough night for Bauer sled at nfms February 12, 2015 04:11PM
for jeff demers box came about 1/4 down the rails stopped and rolled back he let out way earlier or got shut down and stopped before damage occurred
[www.facebook.com]

Cant figure out how to make this work to all but it is what I found



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 02/12/2015 04:17PM by Oly.
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Re: tough night for Bauer sled at nfms February 13, 2015 01:17AM
Thanks Oly.
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Re: tough night for Bauer sled at nfms February 13, 2015 04:50AM
No, the box never moved when Demmers took off. The red lights came on quick, so the brakes were locked and more than likely the kill was pulled. On GG's run the box came half way up the rails. Two completely different scenarios. Doesn't mean Demmers "knows his tractor" or is any better driver than Bryce.
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Re: tough night for Bauer sled at nfms February 13, 2015 05:49AM
Watch the video the box moves up and rolls back red light comes on 1/3 ish way down the track



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/13/2015 05:51AM by Oly.
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Re: tough night for Bauer sled at nfms February 13, 2015 06:07AM
Just watched the video box does move at start gets completely out from under cab before rolling back under cab when red lights are on. still why didn't the box brake work to keep the box from free wheeling
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Re: tough night for Bauer sled at nfms February 13, 2015 04:03PM
Quote
wrong
No, the box never moved when Demmers took off. The red lights came on quick, so the brakes were locked and more than likely the kill was pulled. On GG's run the box came half way up the rails. Two completely different scenarios. Doesn't mean Demmers "knows his tractor" or is any better driver than Bryce.


Demmers is godlike with his driving! ;-)
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Re: tough night for Bauer sled at nfms February 13, 2015 06:23AM

Hi,
The red light/green light snafu was the first thing I noticed when watching the video.
And my reaction was... Seriously!?!?!?
In this day and age, after 45 years of organized pulling, no one thought to make sure that both lights could not be on at the same time?
Moronic, simply moronic.......
On a more positive note, would it help to have a third flag man?
For instance, on a 300 ft track, have a flag man at 100, 200, & 300 feet.
Or maybe have two flag men down track, one on each side?
You would then have two sets of eyes watching the action and the one on the driver's right side may have seen the red light sooner.
Of course, I realize that you could run into a situation where two different flags are being displayed, but red would always overrule green.
As for the Monster Truck kill switch idea, I would suggest making it simple and not try to control the individual vehicles, but do like many other forms of motorsport and put up a bank of lights (green and red) at the end of the track with an official watching the action and flipping a switch to turn the lights from green to red when needed.

I'm just glad no one was injured.

Make it a great day, everyone!

Later .......

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Re: tough night for Bauer sled at nfms February 13, 2015 06:38AM
How about making it real simple......Loud Horn like on MPH pulls. Horn blowing overrides all lights and flags.
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Re: tough night for Bauer sled at nfms February 14, 2015 12:25AM
Doesn't sled have have spikes under pan that can be deployed by sled operator ? It's been done to me once.
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Re: tough night for Bauer sled at nfms February 14, 2015 10:23AM
Should just have a huge red light at the end of the track for the sled operator to turn on. Sometimes it's hard for the tractor driver to see the flagman.
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Re: tough night for Bauer sled at nfms February 14, 2015 01:56PM
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What
Doesn't sled have have spikes under pan that can be deployed by sled operator ? It's been done to me once.

No. Most sleds have bars welded/bolted under the pan, and if the pan is down the bars are in the ground. They may be out there but I've not seen any with spikes that can be deployed by the operator, only those that can be put down manually when needed.

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jake breu
Should just have a huge red light at the end of the track for the sled operator to turn on. Sometimes it's hard for the tractor driver to see the flagman.

There was in Louisville and is in some places. You can see in some of the videos that the redlight at the end of the track came on, but driver didn't notice it. I really don't think killing the green light on the sled will matter. Any flagman should know if the red light is on, it means stop regardless of what the green light is doing. If they don't notice the red light, they probably won't notice the green light has quit flashing either.
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Re: tough night for Bauer sled at nfms February 15, 2015 12:09AM
While my opinion is the sled should have never came back that night, we can't point fingers at the flag man, driver, or sled operator. Everything happens so fast in a pass that even if one of those three people would have tried to stop it I believe it still would have happened. Even if Bryce had let out of it the split second the red light came on the momentum of the sled and the force of the box slamming forward would have pushed the tractor atleast onto the concrete barrier. Think of it as trying to stop a loaded grain trailer in 10 feet running 30mph with a 3/4 ton pickup. Your going to have a distance of slow down time before all forward motion stops. Now if at the split second of the light coming on, Bryce killed the throttle and locked up the brakes and at that very same time the sled dropped the pan and locked the brakes there may have just been a tractor in the sand and not over the wall but I think everyone can understand that reaction time for any person is not that fast. If I were the driver in this situation yes I would be upset but only at the person that made the call to bring the malfunctioning sled back before it was fully tested.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/15/2015 12:11AM by Brandon Holcomb.
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Re: tough night for Bauer sled at nfms February 15, 2015 12:23AM
I believe your partially correct on them statements. If you watch the video the tractor would have been fine if the sled wouldn't have hit him. all that sled operator would have had to done is to stop his own momentum. I am pretty sure there emergency button locks the brakes and fully drops the pan which should have slowed the sled from forward motion more that it did. I do agree that it was a very poor place to bring a sled that is known for problems even if it was supposedly fixed. Any word on what happened to tractor? Frame, belt drive system, oil pan, block, ect..?
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Re: tough night for Bauer sled at nfms February 16, 2015 05:48PM
This is what I think. First thing is to get a copy of the agreement that Van Genderen signed. Drop it off at a lawyer. Take the sleds and sell them. Take the hard earned money that he has got and enjoy life. I realize that the Sleds in question are the best in pulling and are by far the best maintained and built, but why take a chance? For what a sled gets paid, it is not worth the effort.....and this is from a guy that likes to pull the Iron man sled.
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Re: tough night for Bauer sled at nfms February 15, 2015 12:43AM
The stinger sled out of Maryland has rippers that are right behind the pan and they automatically deploy at the 300 ft mark......pretty neat to see......not too much makes it very far with them sunk in the dirt.
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Re: tough night for Bauer sled at nfms February 14, 2015 01:04PM
Really have you thought how loud that would have to be? You could make one loud enough then have to pay for all the widows and lawsuits from people losing their hearing and bleeding ears.
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Re: tough night for Bauer sled at nfms February 14, 2015 05:08PM
That has to be the dumbest thing I've ever heard. You really think you're going to hear a horn with a prostock turning 6000 rpm's or any other class for that matter? May work in farm stock without a helmet but anything bigger no chance.
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Re: tough night for Bauer sled at nfms February 14, 2015 11:32PM
Yeah I guess your right, just about as dumb as having lights you can't see. Also yes you can hear sled horn over the Tractor and I don't recall ever seeing any windows broken or anyone's ears bleeding when horn was sounded, thanks for replying.
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Re: tough night for Bauer sled at nfms February 15, 2015 02:15AM
Yea, I would like to see how big of horn it would take for a guy wearing a helmet on a Mod with a couple Hemi's turning 9000 rpm indoors to clearly hear. It would be similar to the old radio on a fender on a open station tractor. you could hear the radio 200 yards away better than you could sitting right next to it with the tractor working in the field.
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Re: tough night for Bauer sled at nfms February 15, 2015 03:14AM
Y not radios in drivers ear like nascar
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Re: tough night for Bauer sled at nfms February 15, 2015 03:27AM
how about one step further and have a red flashing light at the end of the track
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Re: tough night for Bauer sled at nfms February 15, 2015 04:34AM
Flashing lights and blaring horns still leave room for human error. A system where there is no room for human error is needed!!!!
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Re: tough night for Bauer sled at nfms February 15, 2015 09:55AM
There will always be risk of human error.
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Re: tough night for Bauer sled at nfms February 15, 2015 02:06PM
For those of you that keep talking about a light at the end of the track, Louisville has just that and it didn't prevent this incident from happening because the driver has to see it and I would say his eyes are else where. Looks to me as if the biggest problem was the sled lights staying green on the flagmans side. For those of you that's never flagged before there is even reaction time for the flagman and there again the driver has to see the flagman. Bad deal for everyone concerned and a whole lot of things happen to contribute to this incident so pointing blame is hard to do and get it right. Main deal is pulling has a danger level and EVERYONE is responsible for the safety of the sport.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/15/2015 02:07PM by farmall puller.
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Re: tough night for Bauer sled at nfms February 15, 2015 03:01PM
Flag men aren't looking at the sled, they're watching the vehicle. I'd say it's 50/50 at best that any flagman would have noticed the red light in time even if it was on the other side and the green went off. Too much happening in too short of time. Not to mention most pullers don't even watch the flagman anyway. He'd have to jump in front of the tractor and hope for the best.
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Re: tough night for Bauer sled at nfms February 15, 2015 03:26PM
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Safety
Flashing lights and blaring horns still leave room for human error. A system where there is no room for human error is needed!!!!
You take away the human error element, and you replace it with a whole lot of potential for mechanical error. Lest we forget that the root problem was mechanical error. The weight stopped moving and supposedly the kill switch didn't work. That's mechanical error
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Re: tough night for Bauer sled at nfms February 16, 2015 08:31PM
Not really, all brake systems should be fail safe. There should be an automatic system to detect if there is something wrong with the sled, be it box not moving or the pan failing to drop. The sled operator should also be looking out for this sort of things should the detection system fail. So that's double the protection
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Re: tough night for Bauer sled at nfms February 15, 2015 02:29PM
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Builder
Yea, I would like to see how big of horn it would take for a guy wearing a helmet on a Mod with a couple Hemi's turning 9000 rpm indoors to clearly hear. It would be similar to the old radio on a fender on a open station tractor. you could hear the radio 200 yards away better than you could sitting right next to it with the tractor working in the field.

That's funny!
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Re: tough night for Bauer sled at nfms February 16, 2015 02:32AM
Why not put an E-stop button in the sled and when it gets pushed all lights go red and the brakes lock up on the sled and the pan drops? Somebody had time to turn the red light on at half track, that was time to push the E- stop button.
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Re: tough night for Bauer sled at nfms February 16, 2015 03:37AM
Yeah, like euro sleds.... Just sayin
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Re: tough night for Bauer sled at nfms February 16, 2015 09:23AM
I have seen some that do have that.
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Re: tough night for Bauer sled at nfms February 22, 2015 02:02PM
Geared Green did everything that he should of. He was backing out of it ( watch you tube video more than once @ 13 seconds when red light came on, 17 seconds all

over ) Bryce had his tractor stopped, sled bumped into him and weight box rammed him.
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Re: tough night for Bauer sled at nfms November 01, 2015 12:24PM
30 some years ago I saw similar thing happen to a 4WD alky modified. The box didn't start till he was half way down the track. Then kicked in. By then his ground speed was very fast and people were waving etc at him but he didn't see them. Box hit the front so fast and hard that the sled hit the back of the truck so hard that the drivers seat broke off and bent the motor mounts. Luckily he had a good hold of the steering wheel. Only thing that saved the whole situation.
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