What does it cost.....

to build a light limited super-stock pulling tractor. I would like to pull in a class similar to this. 

well midtn pullers is here in gods country the south.  check with slade he lurks around here  or kieth and louis hanney at haney equipment tanner alabama. Slade sold his ride but those three are allis men and Jr amd cujo are good rides with  helpful knowledgeable southern hospitality.

If you buy top performing new parts you could easily spend $60,000 plus if you start from scratch. You will have 25 -  $30 K in the fuel system, clutch, turbo(s) and rear tires and wheels and you still have yet to buy a tractor. Yes some money can be saved when buying used.

Doug where are some good places to look for used parts? Ebay?

Shoot I bet the tire are the single most expensive thing on the whole tractor!!! Out of curiousity what type/size turbos are tractors in these classes running. 

Pulloff, Ebay, some tractor pulling websites have classifieds

I checked out those rules, 470 diesel with a 3" inlet, 370 alky with a 3" inlet. Stock casting heads etc. So it's similar to any of the other LLSS rules around the country though some only allow for a 410 cid diesel.

I'm going to lay it out like this.
$10,000 for fancy rims and tires
$3500 for turbo
$5000 fuel system.
$3500 for clutch, can, flywheel, etc.
Most of the chassis aren't that expensive, but who's going to build all the little stuff? Plumbing, fuel tank, hitch, wheelie bars, weight brackets etc? If a guy can do it himself still figure on a few thousand dollars in supplies, odds'n ends and running around.
Now add the engine, which is pretty cheap, alum rods for the alky, custom pistons and head work, manifolds, etc and $10,000 might get you close.
You still need an ignition and a data logger. $2500 for each

So we're somewhere around $40,000 if you're handy.

So buy 2 of everything, buy it all new, give up your kids college fund. Don't listen to anyone and replace parts because you think they're bad. Get the most costly fanciest ignition system you can and then replace that too. Maybe you can spend $100,000

Now let someone who bought a $4500 engine that's an obsolete 4 cyl and shouldn't be competitive scrap happy it into a fencerow chassis, take the heads to someone who doesn't know but thinks something might work, or at least might work better than something else but still doesn't really know for sure or even care. Try it, lean it out, kick the rods out of it because it did work and make some new ones. Put it back togather with used junk and go to the Winternationals and win. All for probably less than the price of a used car with half that being in rims and tires.


Edited by wi50 - 26 Mar 2013 at 8:49pm