07:00:57am, Thursday, April 25, 2024
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Sled Settings
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Thunder97
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I know I’m gonna get bashed for this one but does anyone besides me think that it’s crazy and borderline flat ass dangerous to let tractors run 400+ ft? This is not a dig at outlaws in anyway because I’ve seen it at other places but top 5 out past 380 ft And the winner at 438 ft last night in limited pro at gibbon ne is insane! Imagine if one broke loose that fast. I know air shutoff and killswitches are in place but getting one stopped going that fast isn’t quick. I’m all for letting em run but there needs to be a stopping point instead of drag race to the end of the track |
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Re: Sled Settings
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It happened 2 nights in a row to Jason Schultz and more than likely contributed to Thursday night breakage. Nobody builds a tractor to pull 350 which seems to be the norm lately. It's not pulling anymore but racing bring back the 80s and 90s sleds |
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Re: Sled Settings
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Forget those sleds
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Old sleds making a 300’ pass takes 20-25 secs depending on track and class, that’s longer than a 400’ pass takes on a race style sled. Plus tires spin the entire time, never hook up unless you weigh north of 10k. I’ll never go back to an old style sled. Spent lots of hours fixing burnt up spiders, bull pinions, and sharpening tires. Not to mention the crowd wants a show. If you want to slow stuff down back to the old style sleds go to antique pulls. But yes I will agree 400’ is a bit much but going back to the old style sleds is a thing of the past. |
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Re: Sled Settings
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Moses
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I'm sure it is written in the Bible, that pull track length shall be 300 feet, and anyone violating this commandment should suffer eternal damnation.
I say verily, engine wreckage shall follow thee all the days of our lives. And stuff. |
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Re: Sled Settings
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It was just as bad at the Fort on Friday night in the mini class. Bauer hooks first, goes 377. Five tractors later, Veney goes over 400. Then duuhhh. they decide to heavy the sled. Pretty much every one of the first six tractors was at or well beyond 350. What are these officials thinking or is their head parked in a dark spot? |
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Re: Sled Settings
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Joey
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Pretty easy to see that we have lost sight of the reason we call it "PULLING', it has evolved into drag racing with little to no pull. |
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Re: Sled Settings
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Old school
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I pull on a sled built in the 70s. This sled requires traction not hp I've seen 850hp tractors at 9000lbs compete an beat 1200hp tractors numerous times because the way the sled operates. To me if we had more sleds setup this way we would have more pullers. Naturally all the pullers who pull the x factor sleds hate this sled because they've spent gobs of money to make hp an can't make there tractors simply pull instead of race. We've pulled same setup for around 10 yrs know with just general maintenance much funner than having to upgrade parts for thousands every off-season. |
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Re: Sled Settings
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Registered: 02/23/2012 Posts: 542 |
Yes sir I agree 100% |
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Re: Sled Settings
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Curious
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So whats everyone's favorite sled? Or least favorite? |
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It seems like the follow the leader or road building is worse with these new sleds compared to when I started in late 90s. Probably a false observation on my part but cone is basically in same spot other than a foot or two from start to finish. |
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Re: Sled Settings
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Sounds Like
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That sounds like the sled in southwestern Missouri with the long chain...Yes,on most tracks high horsepower doesn't work well on it. |
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Re: Sled Settings
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Registered: 04/04/2008 Posts: 1,522 |
I liked it the old way,but I also loved 4ss wts,4 mod wts,and 2 wts in all other divisions |
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Re: Sled Settings
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As someone who used to attend 30 plus pulls a year. And when I lived in Arizona would come home not for the holidays but for Louisville,the enderle and bowling Green I can attest to the fact I have absolutely no interest in attending pulls anymore at the national level. I don't find speed pulling to be interesting at all. Pulling is pulling,not drag racing. I would much rather go to a pull and watch 20+ tractors pull 250ft than go to a pull and watch 10 tractors drag race 400 ft. That's my opinion. |
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Re: Sled Settings
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Registered: 04/03/2016 Posts: 772 |
Wish you could of seen the pull at Washington, Mo. last night by ITPA |
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Re: Sled Settings
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Registered: 09/25/2018 Posts: 78 |
This has to be looked at through two different set of eyes but it really comes down to personal preference. If a puller is good with going on a 400' pass every hook then so be it. If the class is stacked up in the 380'-400' range then they all know that the sled operator either missed the setup or set it that way with the intention of letting guys pull that distance. I would hope that the sled operator knows that the guys are good with it but in some cases maybe not. I personally would worry about the truck or tractor doing that every weekend. We all pull for the win but with the parts issue we all currently have, any extra stress on a vehicle is risky. I love to see a guy drag it way out there. But it does have a little more appeal if the entire class is not doing it. The flip side is having an all out pull where you are lugging and scratching for every inch. I also enjoy a true "pull". There again, pulling too hard is almost as risky as an extended motor singing drag race. Another factor to consider is where in the rpm range vehicles make their power (i.e. diesel vs. alky). As a fan or puller, I personally like somewhere in the middle as I'm sure most pullers and fans do. It all comes down to preference. But the absolute worst thing a sled operator can do is let 4 or 5 guys fly down the track and then make a sled change. That will leave a bad taste in pretty much everyone's mouth. Most operators won't do that but it does happen from time to time.
Paul Romack |
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Re: Sled Settings
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Registered: 04/04/2008 Posts: 1,522 |
I'd like for someone to post exactly when these 15 to 20 second hooks for a early ss-mod took place,there's lots of vids on YouTube from the 70s and early 80s of those 2 classes,pulling on 300 foot tracks.it wasn't a scratch and claw your hardest for every inch event,I kinda think another of guys that say that weren't even born yet. |
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Re: Sled Settings
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Registered: 03/25/2008 Posts: 2,526 |
Agreed Patches... people say idiotic stuff like that and then act like there aren't hundreds of videos on Youtube that show the opposite.
Does anybody remember way back in the early 2020's when people said a 350' track was long enough? I know it was a long time ago and most people's memories don't go back that far. I'm old enough to remember way back when 320' was more than enough. Heck I remember when they set the sled for 300' and only a few guys would go past that and it was considered Pulling's Golden Age by most. Let's just go to 500' now and that will solve everything... surely that will solve everything. I also love how people act like today's vehicles can't put on a good show at 300', but yet all the pullers and fans flock to the NFMS to watch the exact same vehicles pull on a 240' track. I can only assume the roof on the building must put some sort of invisible magical force field over the track. I think it's safe to assume that there's Unicorn dust and Leprechaun bones in that magical facility... it's either that or these same vehicles could put on a great show outdoors at 320' or even 300'. Nah, that can't be it. 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: Sled Settings
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Registered: 08/16/2021 Posts: 306 |
Anyone who blames the sled for not being able to stop todays tractors in 300 feet has obviously never been to the NFMS. If sled operators can get all the classes stopped in about 240 feet there is no reason the sleds can't stop tractors in 300 feet.
The title of this thread is the exact problem- SLED SETTINGS. My favorite pulls are the ones where the majority of the class is pulling 320 feet (measurement doesn't matter just an example) and then one puller goes another 10 feet past that! Whether that's indoors and one person parks it in the sand, or whether that's outdoors and the winner goes 310, doesn't matter that will always be more exciting than seeing 10 guys go 400+. This is what gets a crowd going. Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/08/2022 04:47AM by BrandonA. |
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Re: Sled Settings
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Moderator Registered: 03/19/2018 Posts: 662 |
I don't agree. The mods you may find in this list may approximate the 15 second arbitrarily defined barrier and the best of them would have to run twice. The others will exceed it. If seconds under power are the concern, the 80s WERE worse.
[www.youtube.com] |
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Re: Sled Settings
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Registered: 02/18/2018 Posts: 244 |
This is more of a broader statement about sled settings but there is a purple sled in Ohio that they almost always miss the setting and has to have a reset…and most of the time the sled is light |
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Re: Sled Settings
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My Opinion
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I as a puller prefer a winning pull distance of 310 to 330 ft..Once in awhile a 350 ft pull is OK but 400 ft is stretching it a bit..Some facilities can safely handle a 400 ft pull while others cant..In my part of the country I will say that the crowds love over 350 ft runs...I was recently at a pull where they were stopping them at 280-300 ft and the crowd wasnt happy.
I have never pulled indoors on a short track and have no desire to.. |
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Re: Sled Settings
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Registered: 10/30/2018 Posts: 749 |
If a light super tractor is pulling 400 ft a turtle pulling off the farm tractor weighted and a 20 inch hitch can go 300 ft with 2000 less hp |
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Re: Sled Settings
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Thunder97
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I appreciate everyones comments on this. Like i say i wasnt bashing any association for letting tractors run and giving fans a show. Some tracks can accomodate that,some can't. I just said what i said about it because of safety. With all that wheelspeed going that fast if one breaks loose it could be catastrophic. |
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Re: Sled Settings
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Registered: 08/22/2019 Posts: 84 |
I had a conversation with a ProStock puller about this topic. At an event the winner of his class went 380+. Yes the crowd thought it was awesome. And when I asked him after the event what he thought, this is how he explained it to me. He did not have a problem with the long track(I believe he went 365ish). But he said if your going to allow us to go 360-370, don't reset the sled when we only go 280. He liked 320 +/- 20ft. He also said he understands that sometimes someone makes a great pass and puts 10ft on everyone. He also said that he would like to know where they are trying to stop them. And that was more for safety. He talked about the speed and momentum they carry and that he don't plan on running 380. So if he hasn't really started to slow down around 280, is everything working correctly with the sled. If you have 2 or 3 tractors before to watch, you may know. But what if you are 1st hook or the 1st couple tractors miss the set up? Me personally, 325 give or take 20ft. But more important than that. Don't stop the ProStocks at 310 and have hot farms or farm stock go 340. |
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Re: Sled Settings
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Eric B.
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Has anyone considered the idea that as far as spectators are concerned, you go much beyond 300ft and it's impossible to actually watch the pulling vehicle? For me, as a spectator, you should have an average stopping distance of 280 to 310 with the winner not having to go beyond 320ft in the pull and then float the finish for the pulloff. Again, this is just a spectator's perspective. |
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Re: Sled Settings
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OG
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It's insanity and bad for both pullers and spectators. I know its hard to comprehend with the way we do things now but, if they went back to heavier sleds and 280-310 foot tracks with a pretty good chance that to win the top +/- 5 tractors in each class would need to pulloff. Vehicles would last longer and a natural premium would be put on durability and driving skills. If you want to win, you have to make 3 to 4 passes each weekend, pullers would adjust and fans would be rewarded. I was originally all for floaters, everywhere all the time. It has proven to be bad for the sport imo. |
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Re: Sled Settings
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No
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This notion that tractors will last longer making multiple runs in a night every weekend is totally bogus. My guess is it comes from those who haven't done much of the mechanical upkeep involved in keeping a competitive vehicle on the track.
Clutch/pressure plates, piston rings, engine bearings, custom gears, injectors, tires etc. can only make so many passes before they require more $$$$. Even box turbos don't last too long before they let start to let go. This idea that pullers should make 3 or 4 passes burning $20/gallon spec fuel to compete for one check makes no sense. |
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Re: Sled Settings
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ummm...
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Up until that last 10/15 years we did it all the time. We also pulled in 2 or 3 different classes per weekend (7k,9k,12k etc) with lesser quality parts. The pullers would adapt just fine. |
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Re: Sled Settings
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No
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Not around here they didn't. Pulloffs have not been a regular thing in most organizations for 20 or 30 years, with the exception of farm/antique pulls. I'm sorry, the days of 1500 horse ProStocks aren't coming back. |
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Re: Sled Settings
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Registered: 12/28/2011 Posts: 48 |
You cant put the genie back in the bottle.personally i make 1 pass per night,if first hook and sled needs reset it still goes back into the trailer |
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