Track Length

ABandi

Member
My club is considering shortening from 300" to 250" for a track length for antique pulls. I was wanting to get some input from other clubs and pullers on what they use and prefer for track length and reasons why.

Thank You,
Alan Bandi
 

I like a long track, but we don't have many around here. The putt putts take an awful long time on a 250 foot track, but you would like to see the fast ones going for a little longer. Put the putt putts on a short track and everyone else on a long one LOL.
 
If the sled operator knows his sled, and the competition is tight, then there's no reason not to go to a shorter track.

But if the sled operator is trying to stop them by 225' and he doesn't get the sled right, you could go over the 250'

Also if your competition is widely spread out, if you are stopping the hot tractors by 225', the more stock tractors will be dead by 125'. Not much of a pull for them.
 
It's a tractor pull. Don't punish everyone else because you have something else to do. If I have spent the time, effort, and the fuel to get there, I sure don't want to be short tracked. I wouldn't be back after that.
 
Abandi if you want to save time tell the club that jumping 500 pounds from class to class isn't a way to save time, this would help more than cutting 50 feet off the track, everyone else does a 1000 pounds
 
My problem with the 300"track @ our club is that we pull speed limit. Our sled starts with the box behind the axle and pulls with no load for the first 50" or so. That means that the first 50" is of no value and when the box does go over the axle you get a surge that will put you over on speed. Also we say it is a 300" track but many time we have pulls that are well past the 300"for the whole class. With that being said, ( for antiques hotter classes are different ) add stops to the sled to start the box over the axle, and whatever the length of the track stick to that length. Could you run with a 250" track and as long the pull is less than 300" let it ride? The problem I see is the number of hooks over 300"
 
I doubt shortening the track 50 feet will save any measureable amount of fuel. If you are tractor puller I don't think you are overly concerned about saving fuel in the first place.
 

Showcrop,

Since you've brought it up, I, tongue in cheek suggest that the JD crowd get together the week before and pull off to find the best 3-4 and send them to to represent the JD brand. Sure would speed the pulls up. Hey guys, remember Showcrop started it , I'm just piling on.

All in fun, I respect all the old iron, regardless of color, they are what fed us and and our kin before us.

mEl
 
This is not in the spirit of saving time as it may create a few more full pulls and possibly make you do a few more pull offs...however for someone that has never had the thrill of making a full pull you have created the opportunity for them,and in my oppinion this is good. We pull a 250 ft. track all the time and our sled operators manage to have most classes pulling in the 180" to 225" range except for the very lightest classesthat are in the 135"-150" range.
 
I have pulled on a lot of indoor tracks that were short, like 220 ft. I kinda like them. 3 classes of short tracks and my heat gauge is just up to 170 :) Seriously if you shortened the track to 250 no one would even notice. Vic
 
Can"t see why you would want to shorten track, If you don"t want to pull 300 ft then don"t. Set sled differently. If you ever wanted to have other tractors pull, nice to have the extra length.
We added about 50 more feet on ours making it close to 400ft long.
 
Track length has been an ongoing arguement at this club, every year we talk about setting the sleds to shoot for a 200/225 foot pull, and then we let the sled stretch out again. It makes no sense for every one to pull 300 feet when the first 100 is putting no load on the tractor. I would also like to see a graduated weight change from light classes to heavy classes, 500 lbs is about right for a 3500 lbs tractor, but is too small an increment for a 8000 lbs tractor. But getting anyone to agree to changes is damn near impossible, so I will show up to pull when it suits me, help when it suits me, and go home when it suits me.

Rich Peoples
 
At the fair pulls around here, we start at 4,500, add 1,000 for 5,500, and then add 1,500 for 7,000. I personally like a 200-250' track for pace tractors to keep things moving.
 
500 lbs at a time is a plenty up to 6500 or your lighter tractors will quit comeing because they can only pull 1 or 2 hooks.The trouble with a short track is the sled is stopping them to much in same place and the track gets chewed up so bad that the last pullers don"t have a good track to pull on.With a 300 ft track the sled operator can stop them from 200 to 300 in different class and keep the track packed better.If you didn"t come for a day of pulling why go.
 
Hi
on a lot of bigger tractors it would not be worth opening the throttle as by the time you hit 100ft you'd be slackening off to stop, by my thinking.
why not make the pull shorter for the putt putts and leave the rest 300+ if thats your problem. Also make the sled guy and the leveler/ packer operator do his job properly. everybody else seems to manage with a few tractors stopping mid track or the end, it happens in a lot of classes. Those operators should work not sit half way or at the end of the track watchin runs. The track is supposed to be the same for every pull Not 1 in 3 or depending when your best bud is pulling track maintenance like I saw round here once.
Regards Robert
 
Amen,500 lb weight difference,1000 lb difference makes it hard for some tractors to make even 2 classes say a tractor weighs 5000lb can"t make 4500lb so pulls 5500lb works good has 500 to move around,next classs is 6500lb not enough HP to pull that class so you are helping him to decide to just stay home rather than pull one time where he has a chance and have to pay a hook fee for a class where he has no chance
 
well, we had a nice tight short track at portersville.
I say the issues with long pulls are more an issue on the big sled track. do that track at 250ft to see how it goes, we do enough experimenting on the small sled track. I consistently see more long runs on the red sled. some of the smaller tractors have a hard enough time getting the small sled going, leave this track alone for a while.
 
I know in the lighter classes I like seeing a 250lb jump up to 4000 or so.

I tend see it easier to strip 100 lbs off of a 6000lb tractor than it is a 2500.

I like the NATPA jumps personally.
 
I am not a fan of the short track. I pulled at Butler one year and the sled was set so it killed my G at 150ft on a 300ft track. Heck, it stopped everyone short. If it"s like that, I"m staying home.
 
I agree the blue sled is usually OK, especially when Lenny runs it. When the Red sled gets behind, we have to wait with the Blue sled for the tractors that pull both sleds. This delays the tractor pull, in addition, what few spectators we have get tired of waiting for the Red sled. This is not about making the track 150 feet long, this is about setting the sleds for a normal pull of 200 to 250 feet, and if someone has enough tractor to go farther, the track is still 300 feet long.
Richard Peoples
 

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