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now that fair season is winding down around here, looking to start a conversation on a topic that i'm sure many of you have thought about over the years......what's the best way to get the power to the ground??
i'll offer up some of my recent experiences and i'm looking for input for what's worked best for you...
first, i have a well built up 1936 unstyled wc. running 38 x 14.9 tires, rc rear, about 1800 rpm max with hitch as high and short as rules allow. I've found that on hard dry tracks, i have a difficult time getting a bite on the track, especially in lower weight classes. the tractor just wants to sit on top of the track and doesn't always want to get a grip. kind of like driving a rear wheel drive car in the snow. btw, i usually pull 3500, 4000, and 4500 when offered and when allowed multiple hooks. all of these have a speed limit of 3-4 mph, so i have to use first gear. here's 3 recent experiences...
1. at this particular fair, where i've pulled for a number of years, the track is clay, but usually well packed and not dug up very well. its been my most vexing track. hitch rules are 24 back, 18 high. when i first started pulling here, it was with the first build on my wc, using m &w pistons, running 12.4 x 28 tires. i did very well. as time went on, i rebuilt my wc two more times, getting larger each time. also increased my tire size twice, going first to 14.9/28 then this year 14.9/38. running about 7.5 lbs pressure. as my motor and tires got bigger, i did worse and worse on this track. just couldn't get a bite on the track. did a bit better in 4500, but still spun out way too early; tried keeping my rpms very low, but still wasn't a big help.
2. at fair track number two, i started pulling here last year. they also have a monthly pull, which i sometimes attend. this track is clay, usually can get a better bite, but still have issues. hitch rules are 18 back, 20 high. last year with my 28's, i usually won the 3500 and was 2nd or 3rd in 4500, the top 2 competitors were farmalls with 38's. we were always within 3 ft of each other, but i could never grab first. (they don't have a 4000). this year, with my 38's , i beat the farmalls by 10 - 30 ft, but i don't do as well in the 3500 class....at the fair pull, the best in the 3500 class pulled about 190 ft.....i spun out around 95 ft....just sat on top...finished very poorly. went back and added a 1000 lbs for 4500....finished 2nd. while i got smoked by a well built ollie 880 by 20 or 30 ft, i pulled 220 ft and was 20-30 ft ahead of the third place finisher...clearly, the extra weight gave me a much better bite on the track and allowed my power to work.
3. at fair number 3 this week, it was a very sticky, biting clay power track. did not have a 3500 or 4000 class, only pulled 4500. 25 tractors in the class. i was to be number 20 in the pull order, so i was able to stand and watch the early competitors. they were having a very difficult time getting the sled moving, spinning a lot, some only pulling 8 or 10 ft, some getting as far as 60 to 90 ft. finally a well built 6 cylinder ollie went 228 ft., and a couple of others came close to 190. when i finally got to hook, my power finally worked for me.....got a good bite, cruised down the track, came within 6 ft of the first place oliver and ended up finishing second. front end finally came up at the end, and i spun out....still had a little power left. finishing 2nd out of 25, against some very good tractors, including a few other 6 cylinders, made for a very good day.....especially since i was the smallest tractor in the class....had to hang 1300 lbs of weight.
clearly, as these and other experiences have shown, i do much better on biting power tracks. so i'm looking for thoughts on getting power to the ground on dryer tracks.....changing tire size is not a practical option.....but looking at things like tire pressure, hitch settings, rpms, etc......what was worked best for you guys? just looking to start a conversation.....
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