Horizontal chain to the sled .

I think I've seen once or twice, in dead weight pulling, where the chain hooking the tractor to the sled , was hooked horizontal to the sled, instead of hooking lower on the sled.
Is there a reason for hooking to a sled like that ?
Thought I saw it mentioned on here too.
 
its basically the less horse power the lower the chain is. high horsepower the higher the chain.
 
When the chain is hitched low to the sled (works for smaller tractors like my farmall A) it tends to pull the
sled slightly upwards and you get a few extra feet before the dirt piles up in front and creates extra drag.
Simple law of physics.
Like a pair of skis. the front is curved upwards to help you get on top of the snow. If you cut the curved part off the ski
it cuts down your ability to ride on top and you dig in. or like I used to, fall flat on your face.
Kris
 
I have seen some small sleds with not enough stopping power for 9000 or 10,500 antiques, raise the chain on the sled so the tractor got no transfer. Sort of turned the heavy class in to a Sunday drive until they simply spin out.
 
Thanks.....wanted to know the reasoning for doing so.
I assume if pulling on concrete, the placement of the chain doesn't matter, as in dead weight pulling ?
 
Chain angled down to the sled enhances the pulling ability because a little bit of sled weight transfers to the rear of tractor through tightness of the chain. Horizontal hooking takes this pulling enhancement away because tightness of chain adds no weight to tractor other than half of what the actual weight of the chain itself weighs.
To keep this fare, a hitch height would probly need to be set on the tractor, or adjustable hitch height on sled to accommodate the varied hitch height on the tractors, Because hooking so that chain angled upwards to the sled would be a huge disadvantage to that particular puller.
 



While it can be done to make it harder for the larger tractors to pull, It is also done in the name of safety. There is much less likelihood of a tractor going over backwards on a level chain. Red for life, there is virtually no difference in the height of the hitch between tractors at any given pull. They are pretty much all within 1/8 inch.
 
To VicS:

Oooops, I didn't mean to say it doesn't matter. I understand everything does matter when it comes to hitch height of
both the tractor and sled.
I was referring to the comment about dirt piling up in front of the sled, which isn't going to happen on concrete.
I'm looking at pouring a concrete track on my farm and was inquiring about the sleds hitch height in a situation like pulling on concrete and why raising , (or lowering), the sled's hitch, was done.
I think I've got my answer from the comments above and I'm going to have much larger tractors in my case.
 
Not a pulling participant myself. I
thought there was just a maximum hitch
height for safety concerns. Anyways,
was just explaining the physics behind
it.
 
all our hitch height is checked on the weigh scale. max is 18 one place allows 20 though. and 1 of height makes a difference on your
pulling distance. the lower the less you will pull. plus pretty well impossible to go over backwards pulling. your front wheels will only
raise so high and thats it. maybe a foot off the ground. there is rules for that also. when the front wheels reach the centre of the rear
axle you are red flagged.
 
have a couple buddies that pull. and the way they go off about thier organizations rules meetings, to tell ya the truth, makes me glad I am not a puller. sounds like one big darn arguing match over who can bend the rules to better suit thier personal pulling needs. and just to hear the one sided part of the story, it sounds like things get quit nasty at those meetings.
 
(quoted from post at 20:35:41 10/09/21) all our hitch height is checked on the weigh scale. max is 18 one place allows 20 though. and 1 of height makes a difference on your
pulling distance. the lower the less you will pull. plus pretty well impossible to go over backwards pulling. your front wheels will only
raise so high and thats it. maybe a foot off the ground. there is rules for that also. when the front wheels reach the centre of the rear
axle you are red flagged.


Rustred, A member of one of the clubs that I belong to was able to snap a pic of a 560 standing very close to straight up. There was a fellow who is around 6'2' that was standing near the front of the 560 when it went up. I was standing near the stoneboat and you could see three inches of daylight between the top of that guy's cap and the bottom of the front tires. The two drawbar supports bent like pretzels. I don't know how the driver was able to get the clutch in. At another club's pull a Ford 8N went straight up then right over backwards. I don't know how he did it but the driver got out to one side and was unhurt. Rustred, have you ever been to a tractor pull?
 
I'd agree, Showcrop, I've seen many tractors over the years darn near stand strait up, or close to it.
I've seen deadweight pulls where they regularly do that, no matter whether it's on dirt or concrete.
I want to avoid that with what I'm wanting to do.
 
dont think u read my post too good. i have been PULLING in antique pulls for about 15 years. well iam talking about antique tractor pulls
with the original drawbars. there is no factory 560 that will pull itself over it can only raise the front so high once its ready to power
out. even my 660 its really something to get the wheels 6 inches off the ground. so post those picture of the set up you talking about.
how would you ever plow ground if the tractor was in danger of flipping over. it just wont happen with a factory drawbar. BUT if you are
hooking to the horse shoe then yes it can happen. that is not allowed either. antique pulling means the way the tractor came from factory
not all those changes and h. p. increases most places do. so show the proof.
 
well i guess maybe thats in your part of the world. everything is agreed upon at the meetings. around here its a fun day or 2 day thing, and bunch of good people with antique tractors. everyone follows the rules , nothing nasty i seen with years of pulling.
 
(quoted from post at 10:11:33 10/11/21) well i guess maybe thats in your part of the world. everything is agreed upon at the meetings. around here its a fun day or 2 day thing, and bunch of good people with antique tractors. everyone follows the rules , nothing nasty i seen with years of pulling

Well, around here pretty much all pulls go by a 20 inch hitch height limit as well as the same distance out from the axle center as NATPA uses so we are pretty much the same as the whole country. Wheelie bars are required at pretty much all pulls now. At the time that the puller stood his 560 up they were not required at that one pull, so he had his retracted being such an expert that he didn't need them. These days with the internet and You Tube everyone knows how quickly a tractor can go up and over so no one argues against wheelie bars and safe hitches anymore. Well almost everyone.
 

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