Pull Back Tractor - some questions ????

Crazy Horse · Sep 25, 2013

I guess the best-case scenario would be for a group to have a sled with a self-powered pull back design. Failing that, I guess non-powered sleds are all destined to have some sort of a pullback tractor. In our case, it involves the constant backing up during a pull, hooking up when the pull is done, pulling the sled back to the start point, and then unhooking. In a 100-pull day, this obviously has to be done 100 times.

Here's my question ...... can a pull back tractor be "permanently" hooked to the sled (for the pull event) in some way so that it simply tags along behind the sled and pulling tractor so that it tracks straight without the driver having to steer it? Once the pull is done, the pull back driver would simply have to pull the sled back to the start point without the hooking, unhooking, etc.

I realize the rolling weight of the pullback tractor would add to the sled resistance, but if it were the same for all pullers, it wouldn't have any real effect on the results I don't think. Any comments or photos are appreciated.

WNY Molines · Sep 25, 2013

I'm going to try to post a link to a video of me pulling a sled built and used by the Genesee Valley Antique Tractor Club in Western NY. The sled is actually made from a 766 International with two I beams that extend back behind the tractor. The pan is mounted to the I beams and the front axle of the tractor was modified to fit at the end of the I beams.It is on airbags to be able to pick the pan off the ground and at the end of a run, the driver simply swivels the seat around and drives the sled back to the starting line. At the end of the day, the whole thing is loaded on a trailer and taken home till the next pull. The guys that built it did an awesome job and it looks and works great.
Genesee Valley Sled

Another B Puller · Sep 25, 2013

You could make a three point htich that would hook the sled to the pull back tractor. The sled would have a hook and the three point would have a loop that you would have raise up to hook . This worked good for a sled we pulled

colekicker · Sep 25, 2013

That's really cool. I saw a pic on facebook of it the other day. How is the weight box controlled?

Az Jim · Sep 25, 2013

I guess you have to find some old fart like me who loves tractors, I've been pullback for 10years in the Phx/Tuc clubs/a JD R, when someone asks why I do it, I tell them you only get to pull once, I get to pull all weekend Jim

WNY Molines · Sep 25, 2013

I'm not sure how they control the speed that it moves forward at, but at the end of a run to bring it back to the back of the sled I believe they use the PTO with some sort of gearbox.

Anonymous-0 · Sep 25, 2013

I see that the centre wheels are still in ground contact as the sled travels down the track. Any issue with the sled not tracking behind the pulling tractor as directional corrections are made ?

WNY Molines · Sep 26, 2013

No, never had a problem at all.They're touching the ground but the weight of the sled is on the pan at that point.

blue924.9 · Sep 26, 2013

we use a pull back tractor to get ours back to the line. i do know that for ours if you want to get it back in anything but 1st gear you need a couple hundred horse, yeah sure you could do it in first but then all the pullers get jumpy cause its taking so long

blue924.9 · Sep 26, 2013

we use a pull back tractor to get ours back to the line. i do know that for ours if you want to get it back in anything but 1st gear you need a couple hundred horse, yeah sure you could do it in first but then all the pullers get jumpy cause its taking so long

blue924.9 · Sep 26, 2013

we use a pull back tractor to get ours back to the line. i do know that for ours if you want to get it back in anything but 1st gear you need a couple hundred horse, yeah sure you could do it in first but then all the pullers get jumpy cause its taking so long

John 37A · Sep 26, 2013

How heavy is the sled? We use C-range with our 115 hp pullback. It would handle D-range but we're talking less than 350'. It pulls anything from 3500 lb antiques to 12,500 lb tractors at 25 mph.

blue924.9 · Sep 27, 2013

(quoted from post at 18:04:56 09/26/13)
How heavy is the sled? We use C-range with our 115 hp pullback. It would handle D-range but we're talking less than 350'. It pulls anything from 3500 lb antiques to 12,500 lb tractors at 25 mph.

well, we go sometimes to 3000 pounds all the way to 16,00 with the same sled, there are only one or two real big tractors that can get a full pull, and the only thing that can move it down the road is a big rig. i dont know exact weight, but for the smaller guys we have two wheels that we can adjust by cranking up or down on coil springs, when we crank down the wheels take some weight off so the small guys can get going without problem, than we take the pressure off the springs so the the wheels dont push down and take a little weight off the pan for the big guys, the pan is on the ground the entire time, the springs just help take off some weight without lifting the pan off the ground

Pull Back Tractor - some questions ????

Crazy Horse

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WNY Molines

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Another B Puller

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colekicker

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Az Jim

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WNY Molines

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Anonymous-0

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WNY Molines

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blue924.9

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blue924.9

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blue924.9

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John 37A

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blue924.9

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