Minimum Distance Rule July 05, 2019 05:05AM
As a fan, I understand that Pulling is all about engineering and innovation. However as a fan I also like to be entertained, and see a quick paced event.

One thing that I’ve noticed is that several pullers can’t ever make it half track, even with years of “trying to figure it out”. They seem to slow the show down. Sure it was cool to see it in the pits. But every time it hits the track it never goes anywhere.

NASCAR has a minimum speed, NHRA has minimum speeds, so does IndyCar, etc. Sure pulling is grassroots, but in today’s time, if a tractor can’t make it past half track all season long. They should have to prove themselves at the State level first. And if NTPA or PPL wants to say that they are a National Series, I’d think that they would say the same...

Let the trash talk towards me begin, but it’s not entertaining to the fans anymore to see a vehicle snap, crackle, and pop...
Reply Quote

Re: Minimum Distance Rule July 05, 2019 01:48PM
I am sure that most drivers,owners,crew menbers and ect. would ALWAYS want to preform flawlessly,however if you were more than a key board no it all, ---- sometimes shi** happens with mechanical machines,to imply that anyone would plan to do as you so disrespectfully say.
Reply Quote

Re: Minimum Distance Rule July 09, 2019 11:34AM
Joe Eder said in his interview with Jeff Swank, it costs $4500 every time his big tractor goes down the track!! That is a lot!!
Reply Quote

Re: Minimum Distance Rule July 05, 2019 03:14PM
Part of the issue with that qualification is that there is no way to really test these machines except to hook to the sled and try to take it down the track. Even simulated scenarios don’t truly put it to the test. So how are they supposed to figure out what their problem is without testing? Like also said...No competitor WANTS to do that to the fans either but it happens...Sorry man.
Reply Quote

Re: Minimum Distance Rule July 05, 2019 03:56PM
So you're going to punish all the LSS pullers for not going to Blackbourne and Hootman to get good passes to qualify.
Reply Quote

Re: Minimum Distance Rule July 06, 2019 02:25AM
I don't think the sport of tractor pulling has the leverage to start pushing guys away. Most classes you need all the hooks you can get.
Reply Quote

Re: Minimum Distance Rule July 07, 2019 03:12AM
I would agree with you except for a few things. One is the money it takes to be competitive vs the money we win. Let me just put it this way;it cost us a LOT of money to go out on the track to entertain people and have our fun. Even when we win it's a losing proposition. Second thing is the testing, whether we do it on the track,on the dyno or rent a sled and a place to run it cost a lot of money. Not only the direct cost like fuel and paying someone that has the sled or dyno but also the indirect cost like wear and tear on the pulling vehicle and it's engine or in some cases engines. With the type of engines we run after 30 or so passes we have to change out the rods ($1200 or so dollars). How many passes do I want to spend on test passes? We tend to only do this one time preseason. With four engines it gets costly very quickly when you start adding on passes.

Granted it's no fun sitting in the stands watching tractor after tractor make attempts to go down the track but honestly some competitors don't have much choice as they run on a shoestring budget and do the best they can. They just can't afford the R&D to sort things out on a dyno or test track. There are also folks that don't run the best of the best and know going into the event that they will likely be at the bottom of the class and they are OK with that. They just want to make a pass,have some fun and hopefully get enough money for fuel for their hauler.

Either way there are a lot of pulling innovators over the years that looked like they had no idea what they were doing for a long long time then finally hit the right combination and became dominant in their class. I'm sure that the Conner Bro,Doug Roberts,Tim Engler and many others made a lot of half track passes before they hit on the right combination then dominated.

We have made several half passes with my wife's tractor this year as we are struggling with some rebuilt mags that are causing issues...does it look good out on the track no but we think we have it figured out. There is only one way to find out...make another pass in competition.

S'no Farmer
Reply Quote

Newer Topic Older Topic

Author:

Your Email:


Subject:
Spam prevention:
Please, enter the code that you see below in the input field. This is for blocking bots that try to post this form automatically. If the code is hard to read, then just try to guess it right. If you enter the wrong code, a new image is created and you get another chance to enter it right.
Message:
Website Statistics
Global: Topics: 38,777, Posts: 229,949, Members: 3,338.
This forum: Topics: 37,098, Posts: 226,034.

Our newest member Jacklovik2009