Another Sled Pulling Clip

[JP]

[oldno7]

cool video, looks like your truck is dialed in.

[JP]

It does okay. Time to step it up, but staying in the Work Stock Class. Gear change and front locker going in next week sometime. Then I have to decide on tires and what size.

[WoodNewb]

That is a very sweet machine, sir. I didn't even know they still have a truck pull event. I thought it had all gone to tractors and stuff. Forgive my ignorance, but what sort of trailers are you pulling there? And do you do this as a hobby, or is there money involved in this sort of thing?

[JP]

Believe it or not, this started with oxen as an event to show off who had the strongest team in town. It then evolved into tractors (of all kinds that is still popular today), to gas trucks and lately with the gains in diesel technology...diesel trucks. In most cases the oxen were pulling a "Dead Sled". It was a big box with stone inside and attached to the oxen team by ropes. The object was who's team could pull it the furthest in a specified distance. The teams that pulled the "Dead Sled" the furthest, in that specified distance, would make the attempt again with more stone. The winner pulls the furthest distance.

So what we are pulling now, is a transfer sled. The "Sled" has a weight box that starts in the back of the sled. As the trucks begin to pull the sled, the weight is transferred from the rear to the front of the sled as the truck continues along. As the weight box heads towards the front of the sled, it is moving toward the back of the truck. As it approaches, the sled becomes "heavier" making the truck work harder to go further. The sled has a few different gears that will allow the weight box to get to the front faster. So, if a few trucks make a "Full Pull" (meeting the set track length), they move the sled up a gear which makes it harder, bringing the weight on faster. Whoever wins the second pull (Pull-Off), wins the event. Some events, depending on number of trucks, is whoever pulls the furthest in the first pull.

As you watch the vid, you can see that box moving forward. You see the trucks start off at a faster rate and then they continue to slow as the box moves ever so closer

"Dead Sled" is a sled that is dead weight that stays the same throughout the pull. "Transfer Sled" is a sled that transfer the weight from back to front making it harder as it heads to the front.

This is a hobby, but you do win cash at some events.

I used to use this truck to haul my rock crawling Jeep to points all over, even Moab (from Connecticut). Due to the fact the Jeep was no longer registerable, it needed a tow truck to to get places. Since the move from Connecticut to Florida, Florida lacks rocks. So, the tow rig became the new toy Thanks for the compliment.

Here is a team of horses pulling a "Dead Sled"