Driver skill and tractor pulling

chris233

New User
My question is: how much skill, or technique, is required of a driver in tractor pulling?

I don't know anything about tractors, or much about tractor pulling. I'm writing a paper for school, and one of the allowed topics was an essay on how to improve your performance in a certain sport. I picked tractor pulling because I thought it was probably the least likely subject someone might expect to see for this assignment.

One of the topics for my paper I thought might include things the driver could do for a better pull. I'm having trouble figuring out what the driver might do, however. For smaller tractors it appears the driver can shift his weight as needed, but that can't be helpful for larger sizes. Is there an ideal speed they should maintain? Is stalling an issue?


Really appreciate any feedback!

Thanks,
Chris
 
There is always some skill required in any sport. The ability to ..read.. the track
is impoetant to determine weight placement on the tractor, where to drive on the
track, tire inflation,tire type and lug shape. When and if to apply a wheel brake,
when to up or down shift, if allowed, are all factors the driver must consider. I
have only e xperience in antique tractor pulling, I,m sure experts will chime in, but
the fundamentals remain the same. Neat topic for school, good luck! Ben
 
For classes like Super Stock, Pro Stock where ground speed and horsepower is pretty high, a good driver will get the right engine speed, clutch slippage, when to give it full throttle. Sometimes, that is a fine line between excess wheel spin and not enough, causing the engine to pull down under the boost or power range.
 
The tractor itself is a major part of the equation. I
could put a beginner puller on a good tractor, and
he will do good. I could put an expert driver on a
poor tractor, and he will do poor. You could put the
best driver behind the wheel of a Honda Civic, but
he's not gonna win any NASCAR races in that car.
All that being said, the good drivers get further
down the track than the rest. It's a lot like a
quarterback preparing for a big game. There's a lot
of prep work that happens before the pull. You
check the track conditions. You adjust tire pressure.
You adjust weight placement. Different pulling sleds
pull differently, so you adjust to the sled of the day.
Some like to pull first before the track gets all tore
up. Some like to pull last and watch everyone else.
You have to try and find the spot on the track where
you will have the best traction, and try to avoid the
ruts and potholes left from the previous tractors.

Good luck with your paper.
 
Most Antique tractor pulls have a weight limit, tire size limit, and speed limit. So in Southern Illinois I pull in the 5500lbs farm stock class. All tractors weigh 5500 lbs, all
tractor have 15.5-38 or 14.9-38 top cut tires. All tractor will pull at 4 mph. In this class the driver is very important to success. Too much weight on the front and the back is
too light you spin out. Too light on the front the front end comes off the ground and the drawbar lowers and does not lift weight off the front of the pulling sled. Again you spin
out. Loose track you need to lower the PSI in the rear tires so they spread out and not dig in. Hard track higher PSI so the tires dont squat and lower the drawbar. Reading the
track means you look for the track you want to take that provides the best traction and that only comes with years of experience. It truley is a science and the driver is the
difference in this type of pulling! 2 PSI in the tracor's rear tires or 50 more or less pounds on the front is the difference between 1st and 5th. Lots of other little tricks but
I dont want to help my competition too much.
 
I think is about 50-50 driver and tractor. Like if the speed limit is it 4 mph. Tractor must have enough power to maintain 4 till almost the end. But driver must not speed and be disqualified. Harder than it sounds. Come try it. You may become hooked.
 
I liken tractor pulling to chess on wheels. There is much more strategy involved than most people would guess. As others have said, weights, tire pressure, speed, hitch position, ... There are so many variables
that go into a good hook. It can even come down to tire type matched to the track. And, I will differ with a lot of people here, but in slow speed (less than 10mph) pulling, traction wins; period.
 
I have seen people drive their way to a win several times so yes driver skill plays a part. We have some younger guys that are really good drivers and some old guys that grew up on tractors that can't drive worth a darn so like anything else good drivers are born and not made to a large extent. We also have some guys that complain about the tractors that are beating them but if you were to give them a choice of the top tractors they couldn't make it pull anyway.
 
The main difference that a driver makes is knowing how to weight his tractor and the line he takes on the track. You can watch drivers all during a class wind up at pretty much the same spot then one driver just walks right by all the rest and it's because he had his weight right, his speed right, his tire pressure right and where he went on the track at that time in the class, because it will change from one tractor to the other. We've all seen people pull a tractor for a long time and hardly ever do any good then he loses interest and sells his tractor and then the person that bought it was hard to beat. Jim
 
All good comments. Yes : there is
much more to pulling than hooking to
the sled : dumping the clutch and
holding on.
 
learning your tractor ware to put the weights keeping your speed with out breaking out [going to fast] no to tractors are the same even if they are the same brand they will have different weight bars in slightly different locations. Reading the track and adjusting your tractor for the best performance tire pressure is huge, but it all comes down to testing, trying things learning what to do and especially what not to do. a great operator will make an ok tractor do well, but the best tractor cant win if the operator isn't on his game, most of the time we beat our self no one wins every time but the better tractors and operators usually are high on the leader board. I think it takes more skill to run a mph class than to run wide open, thanks
 

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