[AT] RE: Vintage tractor pulling advice

ken knierim wild1 at cpe-66-1-196-61.az.sprintbbd.net
Thu Jul 14 08:32:23 PDT 2005


On Thu, 2005-07-14 at 06:48, Matthew wrote:
> >A favorite scene of mine at a pull at the Nebr State Fair was when the huge,
> >supercharged tractors got a sled loaded with concrete blocks skewed on the
> >track.  They couldn't get it straightened out with tractors so they brought
> >in the real muscle...two huge pulling horses, who got the sled straightened
> >out as if they were moving a couple hay bales.  I love old tractors and have
> >little affection for horses, but the big draft animals really do appeal to
> >me.
> >
> >Rog
> 
> I wonder how many horsepower they where?
> 
> Which brings up a side question about horsepower..  When did they start
> the massive cheating on horsepower ratings?  I have an old Case VAC that is rated at well under 30 HP and I have a newish lawn tractor that is rated at 26.
> The Case can pull pretty much anything I ask it to, or make a mess out of
> the ground trying.  Lets just say that the lawn tractor must be using much 
> smaller horses...
> 
> 
> --Matthew


Maybe Nebraska needs to start testing Garden Tractors for drawbar
horsepower? Now THAT would be interesting! I suspect that the garden
tractor manufacturers would resist it slightly. :^)

I agree... they must be using pygmy horses or goats for ratings on the
new ones. Of course, by the time you gear down those Briggs engines
running at 3600 RPM to where you can get actual usable power on the
ground, there have to be losses. I doubt the present manufacturers are
overly concerned about power train losses since a lot of them run
V-belts and that's gotta be somewhat lossy. Since the older engines were
designed to produce torque and lots of it, the overall horsepower
ratings weren't as high as they could have been... but what they had was
a LOT more useful for pulling than what a lawn tractor has (which is
high-speed and useful for spinning a blade)

Just my opinion, of course... but Nebraska testing for a lawn tractor
would sort out the breed a bit. :^) 

Ken in AZ




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