Re: making pullin more interesting

making pullin more interesting February 25, 2011 01:05PM

patches

Registered: 04/04/2008
Posts: 1,523

what do you guys have for ideas for making it more interesting to follow for the casual fan.i love pulling as much as the next guy an d would classify myself as a student,as dick described that..i like the idea of the brackets ,as they were described last summer,that outlaws used for thier large classes.that sounds like it would make a class more followable,and even be run at different times during a session..seems like most motorsports use a distance AND time factor,ive tried to think of a way that a time factor could be used in a equasion to make a score instead of just a overall distance.or maybe measure the time between the 100 ft and the 300 ft markers,and do something wirth that...what got me onto this topic was ,throughout the season some of my non pulling friends and i go to dirt races,and the drags,and they are always excited about the lap times and et's,then when they come to a pull,they appear to be bored due to distance being the only factor to chat about..i do frequent the nqs winter pulls,3 times a winter,and at 2 of them there is a digital distance display and a digital mph display,this seems to make the day much more enjoyable for the casual fan due to the fact that most all people can relate to a speed factor.so surely some of you guys have thought about this too,or how to get a bigger fan base and to keep them interested...

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	Re: making pullin more interesting February 25, 2011 02:01PM
Dan M Moderator Registered: 04/06/2008 Posts: 387	During the mid-90's, the USHRA used to give out bonus bucks for the quickest E.T.'s. Reply Quote

	Re: making pullin more interesting February 28, 2011 09:05AM
Sascha Moderator Registered: 03/27/2008 Posts: 1,150	You ad time into the competition and the insurance goes sky high! Floating Finish - the German Tractor Pulling Web Show and EU Live Streams: [www.youtube.com] Reply Quote

	Re: making pullin more interesting February 25, 2011 03:14PM
here is an idea	increase the number of farmers and farms in the usa and that might get the interest of PULLING back where it was when PULLING started. Reply Quote

Re: making pullin more interesting February 25, 2011 03:24PM

ol George

Registered: 09/23/2008
Posts: 632

I think that patches wanted to deal in reality. I have always emphasized to my racing neighbors that in pulling you get your chance and that is it, thus the challenge. I have went racing with the cousins and spent all day trying to figure out this or that on the track. Seemed like a bunch of work to go right back to where the car was set before we left the yard. At some pulls where the ag tronix measuring is used I have heard the announcers give the speed of the run, seems to help some people with how fast things happen and how 30 mph on 300 ft with the sled seems like you are flying.

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Re: making pullin more interesting February 25, 2011 04:27PM

Bryan Lively

Moderator
Registered: 01/11/2009
Posts: 1,579

Want to make things more interesting? Some folks in Corunna Michigan did that this past fall at a NATPA event. Sponsored by Tom Isenhart in memory of his wife Tracey, the event had a three heat preliminary (49 tractors entered) with the top 4 tractors from each heat coming back for the finals. Twelve tractors and men came back for the finals the following evening, and they spun the sled around and pointed it in the opposite direction. They could not walk on to or cross the track, and only thirty minutes prior they were given the weight to run at and the mph to adhere to. I've seen all kinds of pulling, and that has to be the most entertaining thing Ive seen in a while, because of the anticipation involved about the changes made, and the pullers seemed to love the challenge

So how is that applicable to hotter classes? Lower the hitch.....Change the weight by a couple hundred pounds on the tractor. make the pullers line up and draw pulling order 5 minutes before the class...Dont let them look at the track once the class starts....Change the chain height and length....Any number of things could be done---and quite safely. These ideas would work only with those classes 9000lbs and up to me for safety reasons--Super Farm, Hot Farm, Pro Farm, etc...works even better with those mph hot classes where you can split hairs on speed and change the "point of no return" to mix it up.

Agritronix has tons of distance readouts in use on pulling tracks out there, the mph readout would be interesting too. Yeah its an investment but if it keeps fans engaged, have at it.

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	Re: making pullin more interesting February 26, 2011 12:48AM
Anonymous User	Sounds like alot of fun,an quick thinking! Reply Quote

	Re: making pullin more interesting February 26, 2011 05:13AM
CPR	Agree on the realtime speedo, just do NOT put it where the driver can see it while making a run. The driver has enough to pay attention to. Reply Quote

3 Common sense ideas to improve the sport February 25, 2011 04:14PM

The Original Michael

Registered: 07/06/2008
Posts: 1,347

If you want to make it more interesting for the casual fan, here are some common sense things that would not involve structural changes:

1) Start on time. If it's supposed to start at 7, that means at 7 the green flag is out and the first vehicle is headed down the track. I cannot tell you how many pulls (both sanctioned and otherwise) that 7 means we start working the track, 7:20 or so we put the chalk down, 7:25ish we have the national anthem, and around 7:30 (if we're lucky) we finally get started, and at 7:45 the class is finally official after a couple of sled resets.

For the casual fan, when it takes 45 minutes after the advertised start time to finally get going for real, you can see how this would not make the sport look good.

2) Announcers, pay attention to who's on the track. There is absolutely no excuse, zero, zilch, nada, for an announcer to announce an incorrect vehicle that's hooking to the sled. We understand you have a line up sheet, have to keep track of distances, mention sponsers, etc. However, it takes about 1/2 second to glance up to the sled to see who's backing up to it. This is my #1 complaint about announcers in general. I'm just a dumb fan, but if the announcer says "next up is Puller X running his John Deere 6030" and I see a red tractor hooking to the sled (mind you it's probably been the better part of a minute and a half when it was idling by the sled, then pulling up to the 100' mark before backing up), I know the announcer is clueless. We all have our pet peeves..... This is one of mine.

(I understand announcers don't get to see all the pullers all the time... However, you're being paid to be there. Do your homework, walk around the pits, see which tractors are there. Many have the driver's name somewhere on the fender or above the door. Most of all, get your eyes out of the lineup sheet and look at what's actually backing up to the sled....) Ok, off soapbox......

Finally 3) this is mostly for brush pulls, but Promotors get a clue when scheduling classes. If a pull is supposed to start at 6pm, and you have a dozen tractor classes, a couple pickup classes, and a diesel truck class (which may get 30 or more), all on a single track, I know unless a miracle happens, I will not be there to see the end of it. Pulling is a sport, but it's also entertainment for the paying customer. All I'm saying is it is much better for the fan if there is a clearly defined ending.

Running 15 classes may have a clear ending (when the last puller goes down the track in the last class), but honestly, who cares if it's 3:30 am the next morning? It would be a much better show for your paying customer if you followed this simple formula:

A. How long does it take for one complete hook (from green flag to green flag. This includes getting the tractor off the track, track prep, and getting the next vehicle hooked and chain tightened until the next green flag is out).
B. How long do you want your show to last (at least 3 hours is good; no more than 5)
C. Factoring in time for sled changes between classes (say 10 minutes... a Bauer sled is less, some maybe a little more....Also consider this time can include a rundown of the just completed class, and introducing the drivers, or at least the first few, for the next class along with telling what class is going to be pulling next and a few basic rules)..... Decide how many vehicles can be pulled to fit your window.
D. Try to get the best estimate possible of how many vehicles will show up for whatever classes you would like.
E. Schedule accordingly.

For example, lets say a promotor wants a 4 hour show, starting at 7, being done by 11 (if there are no glitches).
If it takes 3 minutes for a complete hook, that is 20 vehicles per hour, or 80 for 4 hours.
However, let's also factor in time between classes. If a promotor runs 5 classes, this means 4 sled changes (we are going to assume the sled is set and ready to go at 7pm for the first class). So that's 40 minutes to factor in.

So.... We actually have 3 hrs 20 minutes of pulling time with the sled changes factored in. This equals about 67 vehicles. For 5 classes, an average of 13-14 a class for our (planned) 4 hour show.

This may sound like too much math...... but doing pre-event planning like this will ensure a better experince for both fans and pullers. After all, while pulling may be fun, I'm sure most pullers would prefer to not hook after midnight and not hook in front of empty bleachers.

These are a few ideas than can improve the sport in general.

Michael

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/26/2011 01:51AM by The Original Michael.

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Re: 3 Common sense ideas to improve the sport February 26, 2011 01:16AM

DFWD

1. Naked ladies Winking

2. Speed speed speed speed speed. We hosted a local pull here for our first time and I told everybody they have to go fast. Road gear in the scrapers and packers, and pay attention so you dont run into each other.

3. Get on all of the pullers asses about being there lined up, suited up and ready to go, have them out on the track hooking up while the crew is prepping the track. Speed speed speed.

Now the last two were more for smaller pulls.

and my final one, announcers, please talk less or at least turn your volume down. I was going deaf at NFMS wednesday night , you were louder then the modifieds. I was sitting on the starting line and I like listening to the tractors spool up, but when your talking about how the previous puller blew up a turbo, when they really popped a boot, its kinda hard to hear the tractor. Start talking when the tractor has finished a run and shut up once the green flag is dropped.

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Re: making pullin more interesting February 26, 2011 01:18AM

Anonymous User

I absolutely love what Brian posted above. As a puller and a fan that would be one fun pull to be at. Just think about how different the track conditions would be just by turning the sled around, wow! What a blast that would be! I bet we could even get antique and farm stock pulls to get alot more interesting that way too. I like (and pull) those classes, but sometimes after a while, they just get boring.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/26/2011 01:20AM by Moline Puller.

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	Re: making pullin more interesting February 26, 2011 01:26AM
farmall's forever Registered: 01/19/2010 Posts: 260	i have been to a few pulls where they do moniter the speed. usually seems that the faster you go the farther you go, but that is obvious by momentum. but as a fan it did add a little more interest to the pull. Reply Quote

	Re: making pullin more interesting February 26, 2011 02:49AM
puller 101	I think they need to bring a 5500 unlimited mod class back. NTPA and PPL should have this light mod class and get the odd old cool motors running again. just gets boring watching hemi after hemi. Reply Quote

	Re: making pullin more interesting February 28, 2011 06:12AM
Anonymous User	That is an awesome idea! they do that in Europe and they get all kinds of different engines. I even saw a video of a mod with a radial aircraft engine. Very Cool! Reply Quote

	Re: making pullin more interesting February 26, 2011 05:41AM
patches Registered: 04/04/2008 Posts: 1,523	i like brian's ideas too..i own a small brush sled and put on a few pulls at one time,i turned the sled around at a few of them just to make things a little different.everyone seemed to like the idea also,and it made the night go by faster.. Reply Quote

	Re: making pullin more interesting February 26, 2011 07:20AM
bad medicine	If they turned the sled around where we pull most of the time, MO., we would be pulling uphill! Reply Quote

Re: making pullin more interesting February 27, 2011 09:55AM

Oliver1655

Lots of interesting ideas out there.

Along the lines of what's already been mentioned, I would bring back different weight classes within the same division. Let's use Bowling Green for example. Keep the same two sessions and the points system for the ring, but make one session 10 Pro and the other 12 Pro like it used to be. That extra weight changes the geometry and physics of everything. Most of us on here pull ourselves at varying levels and know that your tractor (or have seen a tractor) that won't hook up to the track for beans at 7500, but pulls like a mule at 9500. For Super Stock, just go back to 7500 and 9500. It would be interesting to see how the pullers adjust.

Another thing that might get the fans really excited would be a "free for all class." Set the weight at something everyone (save for the minis and pickups) can reach, 9000 pounds or so. As long as it met the weight (and maybe some other rules to iron out details) it could run. Imagine running a 4 engine mod against a 4-turbo alky against a pro stock. I know these classes are worlds apart in horsepower, but with the right rules it could be a really fun show to watch. Besides, there are enough smart people on here to come up with something to make it work.

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	Re: making pullin more interesting February 27, 2011 01:10PM
The Original Michael Registered: 07/06/2008 Posts: 1,347	My understanding is you will never see an NTPA tractor class weighing more than 10,000lbs again due to there is not an SFI spec for the rollcage. I was told back when the Illinois Tractor Pullers Assn was still a part of NTPA, one reason they did away with their 12,000 PS class is there was not an SFI spec for 12,000 lbs. Reply Quote

	Re: making pullin more interesting February 27, 2011 03:12PM
lots of smoke	I personally do not like the idea of turning the sled around. How long does that take and where is most of the crowd? I do like the speed idea. What about someone with a radar gun to give actual wheel speed? Just like how fast a pitch is in major league ball it is somehting you pay attention to. Best idea I heard was START on time and speed, speed, speed!!! Reply Quote

	Re: making pullin more interesting February 28, 2011 05:17AM
Bryan Lively Moderator Registered: 01/11/2009 Posts: 1,579	You would be surprised how quick you can turn a sled around and go if the track has been prepared and kept up well. Trick is of course to have enough track to do it on and barriers up to keep people off both ends to make it possible. Reply Quote