New non-tractor class, and safety issue February 03, 2023 01:17AM
Ocala from a different angle

The above video is a different view of Ocala. Two points:

1) Watch at 5:55 in the video. Could this be the precursor to a brand new class? Would this be a popular class for pullers and/or fans if adopted?

2) A totally different view of the Mary Kehl's hook starting at 7:10. Here's my concern- when the mini breaks from the sled, look at the ground speed. It was like a rocket ship.
My ? - What if the front end hadn't caught the dirt and flipped the tractor? What if it kept going? At that velocity, she would have been into the fence within another second or two. That could have been much worse for Mary but also puts spectators and anyone standing trackside in harm's way.

Does pulling need to look at additional safety measures to slow down a runaway tractor? What if this was not a mini? What if it was a 4-engine mod or alcohol super at full throttle? That's a lot more mass to stop than a mini.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/03/2023 01:20AM by The Original Michael.
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Re: New non-tractor class, and safety issue February 03, 2023 06:47AM
My god man what do you do just sit around and think of these scenarios you are never going to take all of the risk out of sitting and watching a tractor pole. Now I don’t wanna be killed at a tractor pole either but there is nothing you can do in Motorsports to eliminate all risk. Unless you were going to put an automatic parachute that would’ve stopped that thing there is nothing you could’ve done yes and I stress the word if it would’ve kept going in that direction. And I finished with we certainly don’t need some imaginary rule to protect against it I guess if you sit and watch a video a couple hundred times you can spot almost anything Or at least convince yourself that you did.
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Re: New non-tractor class, and safety issue February 03, 2023 08:35AM
IH 5488, I haven't posted on here in a long time but I feel dumber just reading your comment. Anything that can be done to make any motorsport safer should be worth looking into to. BTW what is a tractor pole?
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Re: New non-tractor class, and safety issue February 03, 2023 09:40AM
well I can see that you picked out one word out of my whole post to make a big issue about because I didn’t catch it when I proofread it. My point is is that you are never going to take all the risk out of going to a tractor pull a drag race or any racing event. My frustration is every time there is any sort of accident one person gets on here and flat out beats it into the ground. Answer my question do you think we’re gonna have a parachute on a mini rod then I guess there’s no way to keep that thing from freewheeling if it had stayed straight versus not straight when you figure that out you let me know. My final thoughts on this is that I never want anyone to get hurt not the driver not the fans not me in particular. But at some point there is risk with Motorsports and you cannot legislate unlimited rules to prevent every what it
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Re: New non-tractor class, and safety issue February 04, 2023 01:52AM
If this was the first mini to ever break free of the sled that would be one thing, unfortunately this isn't the first mini to break loose. Nobody is saying to that we can eliminate ALL risk. That's a dumb argument and it's not an argument that ANYONE is making. It's simply a question of: 1.) eliminating risk as we see concerns that arise repeatedly... or 2.) eliminating risk that's so grave that it could put multiple spectators in severe harm. It's easily arguable that this incident meets both of those criteria. Since it meets those criteria I don't think there's anything wrong with having a simple discussion about it. This isn't a: what if, what if, what if... this is a discussion of things that have already happened... parts of which have happened multiple times.

As was suggested in the other thread, a secondary hitch would go a long way to minimizing some of the risk. The hitch doesn't have to be rigid, the hitch doesn't even have to be mounted in the center of the tractor... a safety restraint that is designed to absorb energy and also pull the tractor down isn't outside the realms of engineering. A kinetic style rope that's designed to break away or have a specific yield point could easily be developed. It could mount mid chassis which would pull tractor down in a centering fashion (not just pull the front or the back down but the whole tractor down). Yes, there is limited space under the hitch... so design/engineer around that. It could be mounted off-center. Before you say it would pull the tractor sideways... again it could be engineered to avoid this. The off-center mount portion of the kinetic rope/hitch could be designed to break away in the event of hitch failure so it would still pull from the center... a simple zip tie type of system could easily accomplish this. One end of the hitch/rope rigidly attached to the chassis. the other end zip tied off to the side of the main hitch... easy to hook and unhook.

This is just one idea... I'm sure there are better ideas out there... that's the point of having discussions, to share ideas and to look for solutions to problems, especially problems that occur repeatedly... like mini's breaking loose.


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Independent Pulling News


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Re: New non-tractor class, and safety issue February 05, 2023 01:10AM
Quote
IH 5488
well I can see that you picked out one word out of my whole post to make a big issue about because I didn’t catch it when I proofread it. My point is is that you are never going to take all the risk out of going to a tractor pull a drag race or any racing event. My frustration is every time there is any sort of accident one person gets on here and flat out beats it into the ground. Answer my question do you think we’re gonna have a parachute on a mini rod then I guess there’s no way to keep that thing from freewheeling if it had stayed straight versus not straight when you figure that out you let me know. My final thoughts on this is that I never want anyone to get hurt not the driver not the fans not me in particular. But at some point there is risk with Motorsports and you cannot legislate unlimited rules to prevent every what it
I don't think a parachute would work. Yall are saying they like a rocket ship, Where in reality they never reach anywhere close to a speed where a parachute would be effective. Its all perspectives. Take a full sized tractor for example, say they hit a top speed of 30 mph, that seems manageable. Now jump on a 1/4 scale garden tractor at half that speed and you are flying like a "Rocket Ship" or so it seems. Believe me I've been driven both and the garden tractor feels like you are going 50 mph. The thing is that minis are short, a d powerful therefore things can get out of kilter in a real hurry!
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Re: New non-tractor class, and safety issue February 03, 2023 02:12PM
Quote
Mission Accomplished
IH 5488, I haven't posted on here in a long time but I feel dumber just reading your comment. Anything that can be done to make any motorsport safer should be worth looking into to. BTW what is a tractor pole?


........tractor pole?

LOL
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What if February 03, 2023 08:07AM
What if, what if, what if.... the vehicle had not bounced and broke and if the vehicle had not taken the sudden turn and the tire hit the buckboard and if the vehicle had not come unhooked, there would have been no need for a kill switch.
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Re: New non-tractor class, and safety issue February 03, 2023 11:46AM
My two cents:

A tractor coming unhooked and even flipping over is nothing new. That's why there is a kill switch, roll cages and harnesses and why there should be barriers and sufficient distance between the track and the spectators.
I watch a lot of motorcycle FIM Speedway - there are riders ending up in the hospital every week and nobody bats an eyelid, because it is THEIR choice.

Who doesn't have a choice are the spectators - and that's what was actually scary about this accident:

The engine not shutting off and having a risk to speed into the crowd, due to the non-welded key ring bending open on the kill switch. This was a failure of the team as well as the tech officials.
I am very sure pretty much everybody involved in this sport, team members or officials, has taken notice now and the kill switch rings will be under very close inspection from now on.
It might be a good idea to have a look into the skid plates - but in general, this would have been half as dramatic if the kill switch would have actually worked.


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



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/03/2023 11:47AM by Sascha.
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Re: New non-tractor class, and safety issue February 03, 2023 01:05PM
A big chain attached to a well reinforced hitch about 8 feet off the ground would keep them from taking off I'd suppose. Lol.
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Re: New non-tractor class, and safety issue February 03, 2023 02:12PM
Quote
The Original Michael
Ocala from a different angle

The above video is a different view of Ocala. Two points:

1) Watch at 5:55 in the video. Could this be the precursor to a brand new class? Would this be a popular class for pullers and/or fans if adopted?

2) A totally different view of the Mary Kehl's hook starting at 7:10. Here's my concern- when the mini breaks from the sled, look at the ground speed. It was like a rocket ship.
My ? - What if the front end hadn't caught the dirt and flipped the tractor? What if it kept going? At that velocity, she would have been into the fence within another second or two. That could have been much worse for Mary but also puts spectators and anyone standing trackside in harm's way.

Does pulling need to look at additional safety measures to slow down a runaway tractor? What if this was not a mini? What if it was a 4-engine mod or alcohol super at full throttle? That's a lot more mass to stop than a mini.

I'm in complete agreement. And it is worse with the floating finishes and things and people at the end of the track as well as the sides.
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Re: New non-tractor class, and safety issue February 03, 2023 03:08PM
I thought that diesel TWD was really cool. Do they need their own class? Probably not, but why couldn’t that be just as competitive with alcohol vs diesel like the light and heavy super stock tractors? It’s an interesting thought, that’s for sure!
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No barriers February 04, 2023 03:32AM
Why is it, that at most indoor events we see no concrete barriers? That is the one place they should always be present. I struggle to think of a place we pull where they are not present at an outdoors facility.

Secondly, we saw the failure of a safety component ( kill switch ring ) WHY? Should have never happened, and yes it should be addressed and specs written so it doesn't happen again.

Perhaps a remote kill switch, as they use with monster trucks?

I'm not sure a tether type system would be a good thing, especially at the speeds now being run now days by the competitors. I could easily see a driver getting pitched right out of the tractor when the tether hit it's limit. How would that be possible you ask? I see way to many who do not wear the 5 point properly, or tight enough for it to do it's job correctly, that's how.
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Re: New non-tractor class, and safety issue February 04, 2023 01:36PM
They could just change the actual hook to one with the safety latch.. Then they can do a real test of the kill switches in tech, tech determines if ring and switch are legal, tech installs a zip tie . The engines don’t even have to be running to test the kill switch just need to know where to hook a multimeter If the switch doesn’t work you lose chassis certification and need full inspection. Put some bite into the penalty of safety requirements not working.
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