NATPA MembersNATPA is having some major problems right now. To most of you this maybe the first you have heard of it. In Omaha this winter we voted on DIV I, II, and V's rules. These rules were voted on by the membership to be unchanged for three years. First off I'll start with DIV V. In Wichita we had a problem with the interpretation of V's rules, the problem is with the Governor, Carb, and injector pump location for tractors that were originally diesel but have been converted to gas. The GBD Minneapolis-Moline, 900 Case, and WD 45 diesel Allis are the tractors I know of that this effects (if you know of more please let me know). In Div V's rules it does not say you can convert a diesel to gas and it doesn't say you can't. So how do you interpret this? I feel that if the rules don't say you can't you should be able to. It says you can't in IV's rules and no longer says this in V's so I feel it is legal. Also in V we allow a different crankcase but it must be the same make, same number of cylinders, and same length as the original one's. Does it not seem logical that Carb, Governor and Injector pump location should go with the engine not the tractor if we are allowing a different engine. Right know this Diesel to Gas conversion is legal for some tractors and not for others. Why? I don't know. Also it says nothing about Governor location in the rules just injector pump and carb location. The next thing with DIV I, and II there is talk about allowing any gear to be used in these classes. Div I and II are set up for the beginner puller or stock puller the low gear, tire sizes, and drawbar specifications are there to keep high horsepower tractors out of these divisions or keep them on a level playing field so they wouldn't walk over the stock tractors. How bad do you want to pull your stock tractor against a tractor that is going to idle down the track at 3mph and then open up when it starts to spin out. Also low gear is set up so sleds don't have to have a speedometer. Many of the small town pulls don't have sleds that have speedometers and need low gear to keep tractors equal. Now to make you all feel better there is a rule "All rules will be interpreted by the Tech Committee. Any unforeseen problems or oversights will be ruled on by the Tech Committee with their ruling being final." That is in there for the gray areas like the Governor location in DIV V and any safety issue's. Now to make you feel safe I'm on the Tech Committee, you know where I stand. I never voted on the changes made to DIV V's rules, which with the exception of a safety issue were not to be changed for three years (Governor location, saftey?). Why didn't I vote? I was never notified of the problem, I've never even been notified of the change, (have you?) at least not buy NATPA but buy the pullers that have e-mailed me and the phone calls I've made to other Tech people and Board members. Two Tech Committee people, who are also on the board, and quorum of the board, voted on this with out letting the rest of the Tech people know what was going on, or have any say or vote on this issue. To make you feel really good there has to be 5 board members to have a board meeting. I want you to think about this. With five people at a board meeting it only takes three votes to make changes. Why do we need a Tech Committee if all some of us can do is check RPM's that end of the track. I'm just letting you NATPA members know what is going on and trying to fix the oversights. I'm trying to get as many of the NATPA members on the net to one place to discuss this so please post a message on my message boardand let us know how you feel about this. KEEP IT CLEAN!!!! There is no reasion to get upset yet. We are not Bashing NATPA we are fixing problems trying to make it better. If you don't like NATPA and want to just bash them don't bother posting a message. If you have some ideas, sugestions, or questions please post your message. Remember KEEP IT CLEAN!!! Thanks for your time I feel you should know what is going on, and know that we are working on this. I want your imput.
Jeremy Fiorelli Tech Committee NATPA's home page natpa.com
My message board http://www.insidetheweb.com/mbs.cgi/mb175848 Please respond here!
My home page fiorelli.tripod.com
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