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Tractor pulling — an overview

21st December 2006
Page 55
Page 55, 21st December 2006 — Tractor pulling — an overview
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Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

Its all about pulling a weight transfer device called a sled along a 100m track. The tractor that moves the sled the furthest distance wins. So it's all about max power, right? Not quite.

Getting a good start and plenty of speed is essential to maintaining momentum as the sled gradually gets heavier and to do that you need bags of power. But the sled is technically ingenious, behaving as a rolling weight when it leaves the start line and then progressively transforming into a dead-weight load as it travels along the 100m dirt track.

It achieves this by moving a ballast box from above the sled's own wheels (where it acts as a rolling weight) and up onto a skid pan that supports the front of the sled (where it becomes a dead weight).

This progressive method of weight transfer is achieved by driving the ballast box directly from the sled's wheels hence the further it moves, the heavier it becomes. And adding a taking away weight from the ballast bc enables the sled to be fine-tuned to su the class of tractors in competition.

After each tractor has pulled the slei along the track, the distance moved is measured by laser, accurate to within 10mm, before the sled is returned to the starting line ready for the next competitor. Grading and rolling take place on the track, so each competitor faces the same track conditions and pulls the same load.

Track quality varies throughout the pulling circuit; clay is preferred, but some tracks are sand-based -which makes tyre pressures and the position of tractor ballast weights quite critical, as friction levels differ enormously.

And spinning those giant, shallowvee tyres more quickly provided they can get hold of the track surface -generates more forward speed. So having all that power won't guarantee E• win. It needs to be applied wisely.

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