TRACTORPULLING, POWER IN ACTION
Truck and Tractor pulling, also known as power pulling, is a motorsport competition, popular in United States, Europe (especially in the Netherlands, Denmark and Germany), Australia and Brazil, and New Zealand which requires modified tractors to pull a heavy sled along a 35 foot wide, 330 foot long track, with the winner being the tractor that pulls the sled the farthest. The sport is known as the world’s most powerful motorsport, due to the multi-engined modified tractor pullers.
Sled and track
Tractor-pulling uses a sled, a sort of weight that doesn't rest on wheels but on a sled(2). On the sled there is a weight (3) that can be made heavier and is connected with a cable or chain (1) through a transmission (4) that is connected to the weels of the sled. When a pull starts, the weight is at the back of the sled. When the sled is towed, the weight moves tot the front. This puts more weight on the sled making it harder for the tractor to pull the sled.
Speed
The developed speed during a run is of great importance. The sled mass will start to matter. A full pull is in less than 10 seconds possible on a well prepared track. And with a total weight of 20,000 to 25,000 kg! You must be a trained athlete to walk that distance in the same time. The tractors wheels often spin above 50 km/h because of this.
Power
To provide such performance the machines must have enormous power. In the Netherlands, some tractors go over 7000 hp; in the US is the 10,000 hp limit already broken several years ago, compare that with an average agricultural tractor of just 100 hp. Tractor Pulling is an explosion of power. That means that the technics ar pushed to the limit. It is this aspect that keeps both public and participants under the spell of tractorpulling. After all no ready-made machines from the factory are participants to join the track, but self-built machines. Machines where many hours of work and tens of thousands of euros have been put into materials and components. What to think about diesel engines that deliver more than ten times their standard power, or gasoline engines, delivering over 1,500 hp blowers and use methanol injection. In addition, nowadays most tractors make the most use of aluminum V8 racing, or V12 aircraft engines, turbine engines are even used!
Classes
Participating tractors are grouped into different classes where they have to meet certain requirements in order to obtain fair competition:
- Standard and vintage; These are natural plain vintage tractors which must have a minimum age of 30 years.
- Sport and Supersport; light modifications may be conducted on the factory standard tractor. In the supersport a non-standard fuel is used.
- Pro and Super Stock; The appearance of the tractor factory must be maintained, there are internal improvements made, Pro-stocks can only mount one turbocharger.
- Free or Modified class; any combination of motors and transmission is possible but there are some limits.
- TWD or car pullers; on cars or pickup trucks (Two Wheel Drive) similar vehicles free motor installation.
Each class is subdivided into a number of subclasses based on the weight of the machine. In all classes the equipment must meet strict safety and environmental requirements established by the head organizations within Tractor Pulling.
Balanced
Tractor-pulling is the sport that combines motor power with speed, because of this combination it counts who is fastest and can get the most grip on the track. Provided that the machine is accurately balanced, has the optimum ratio and the correct tire pressure. Only then all of the power can be transmitted. Every run is different, so it requires a lot of insight and experience of the participants. Tractor-pulling differs from other motor sports by the sensational amount of horsepower combined with the speed and glistening machines.