TRACTOR PULLS: It’s Not What You Think – Smarter Every Day 276

Here’s a sanitized version of the provided YouTube transcript:

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This is an interesting tractor, and it’s pulling something. All these people are in the stands to watch what’s called a tractor pull because it’s exciting. The winner is whoever pulls this sled the farthest before getting bogged down in the dirt. Let’s learn about this complex physics problem from some unexpected people.

Hey, it’s me, Destin. Welcome back to Smarter Every Day! This is my buddy Chris. I’m going to stop him and see what’s going on.

So, what are you doing?

Just moving the barricades from one tractor pull to another.

Is this where the tractor pull is going to be?

No, this is where it used to be. This is the old Tanner tractor pull.

Okay, where’s it going to be?

In Molton, Alabama.

So, we’re moving it from Tanner to Molton, essentially?

Yes, you’re literally building a tractor pull from the ground up using all the stuff they used to do, right?

Correct.

Alright, Chris is off the forklift now. What’s a tractor pull?

There are different classes of tractors, so they’re built to different specifications to pull a sled that’s set to the specifications for that class.

And the sled is just friction on the dirt, right? So the furthest distance wins?

Yes, I mean, it’s their hobby. They do this instead of bass fishing or deer hunting. They get out here and build a $100,000 tractor and let it go down the track. Once you plow up the dirt, there’s a whole crew that fixes it between each pull.

To learn about the sled part of a tractor pull, I drove 3.5 hours to Gibson, Tennessee.

Are you Brian?

Yeah, hey, I’m Destin. Nice to meet you. You know where Jim is?

Uh, he’s around here somewhere.

Does he have the tractor sled?

Uh-huh, he doesn’t. Who does that?

I do.

You’re the guy I should talk to about that?

Yeah, what do you want to know?

I want to know how it works. I came from Alabama to do a tractor pull down in Molton on Saturday, and I want to see how it works.

What do you want to figure out?

It looks complicated.

No, it ain’t complicated.

What you know how when you meet a really smart person and they don’t want you to think that they’re smart? That’s what just happened.

Alright, so I’m going to go over here and see what’s up. He says it’s across the street.

Are you Jim?

Yeah, I’m Destin. I’m the guy that called you from Alabama. How are you doing?

Well, don’t be telling people around here you’re from Alabama.

Why is that? What will they do to me?

Well, they may not let you out of town.

I like you already, Jim.

What’s our carry piece today? Is that a .380?

No, maybe a 9mm.

Have you met Brian yet?

I just met Brian.

Alright, so is this it?

Yeah, that’s awesome.

Are you going to pull it out?

You want to do it, Brian?

We met briefly. I’m Destin.

Yes, this is the sled. People hook up to that side, and they try to pull you.

Yes, and you’re in that cab right there?

Yeah, and your job is to stop them.

Okay, you get ready to roll down the track. Whatever class you’re in runs how much weight you run in there, and then this box right here runs up to the front.

This box with the weights in it?

Yes, runs that way.

When the box hits this right here, it’s going to flip over.

Hold on, that’s a limit switch?

Yes, the weights are up there, and they run this way.

The whole box comes up forward, and when it gets right here, it hits this limit switch.

What does that do?

That drops the back of the pan down on the ground.

Oh, okay.

When the box hits these arms right here, teeth go in, and then it hits these cylinders back here, and then they put pressure down to pick the back of the sled up off the ground.

Really?

Okay, so then you’re putting more weight on it.

You’ve got wedges on here?

Okay, it pushes them into the ground.

Oh, okay, it’s like a plow.

Yeah, and it’s funneling.

Yeah, it’s actually capturing the dirt.

What controls how fast the weight moves forward?

Alright, I’ll show you. Here’s the transmission.

Okay.

So, I actually got a turning shaft coming up into this.

Yep, this is your clutch.

Oh, that’s what you’re controlling?

Yeah, okay, and then it goes through the box back to the back.

And that back rear end runs these chains?

Gotcha.

That tells you how fast you want the box to go up and back.

So that means this drive shaft right here is coupled with the wheels turning, right?

So it’s a direct correlation with how far the sled moves and the wheels turn to how far the box goes.

So if you want to make it harder for somebody, do you go to a higher gear down here?

Yeah, yeah, so you’ll go to five and make it run forward faster.

Yes, okay.

Then when you get something with a whole lot more weight than we do, we put the weights in the box on the back of the box with the pan right there.

Okay, one on each side?

You usually get them in.

So you always win?

Yeah.

On the run night down in Molton, will you be up in the cab?

Yep, all night.

You’re going to be the guy?

That’s awesome.

Can I come up and visit you in Molton and see what you’re doing?

Yeah, okay.

I’m in Molton, Alabama, where they’re getting the track ready. They moved it over from Tanner.

Let’s see what’s going on here. This is the hottest piece of technology right here in the tractor pulling world right now.

That right there is called the rator. Basically, it’s a heavy-duty garden rake that goes on the front of a skid steer and helps break the larger clots down so we can pack it back.

It speeds up the time between pulls, but it also gets things finer than what that field cultivator is going to do.

I’m Destin.

Mitch.

Yeah, this is a cultivator, right?

Yeah, well, it’s a good one, man. Look at that. The wood grew around it.

Yeah, it’s one of those that the wood comes extra.

I like that a lot.

The tree tried to suck on that thing.

Okay, so I’m learning that preparing the dirt is a big part of a tractor pull.

So they ripped it up, he’s packing it, and he’s leveling it.

So it’s cutting the high spots, so it’s shaving it down.

I just got a bunch of weight in it.

It’s got wiggle wobble wheels on it.

It’s pretty firm.

Okay, they’re about to start setting concrete, and the purpose of the concrete is if the tractors go crazy, they have to hit a barricade so they don’t go into the stands.

What kind is it?

Chili cheese.

Do I have too much?

No, it’s okay.

How many do you want?

Thank you, that’s good, man.

Have you ever been to a tractor pull?

Yeah, thousands of times.

You excited about this one?

Yeah.

Oh, your daddy’s about to fix that one.

Thousands of times? You ain’t that old.

What is the box of weights moving to the end of the sled?

Why does that make it harder?

Because it makes them start to slow down, and it’s getting harder for them, and they start getting slow going down the track.

So there’s more tire pressure, so the weight goes on the tires, and you have more pressure.

When you say “mar down,” what does that word mean?

It means when they sit there and their wheels are spinning at a real fast speed.

Oh, and so you’re saying if you have more pressure and you’re turning, then the shear will start to sit down, and if it goes down too much, it’ll sit on the axle.

So the more weight is on top, the more you’re shearing in the mud, and the less weight on top, the more it can pull.

Yes.

What’s your name?

Will.

Another Fredo?

Yes, sir.

That was actually a really good explanation, Will.

So the more weight, the more…

I’m not even joking right now, Will just explained to me why the weight box matters.

Right, because the more weight’s on top, the more the shear stress on the mud.

This is like mud, right?

Yes.

You’ve been to a lot of tractor pulls?

Yes.

This is how it works?

Yes.

What do I need to know before tomorrow night?

So you need earplugs, and then this is going to work.

Yes, okay.

What else do I need?

And then you need a hamburger and a drink and sit down on a bleacher.

Appreciate you, buddy.

You know what? You got to shake my hand. That’s what we do.

That’s how we…

No, no, no. Right hand. Right hand.

The chili cheese Frito hand.

There we go.

Look me in the eye.

Thank you, Will. Appreciate you.

Okay, it’s tractor pull day. There’s Brian.

How are you doing?

Good.

Is he pulling the weights out?

Okay, Jim wants me to see him drop the weight and unhook it without getting out of the cab.

Alright, bring it back. I’ll do it.

Mr. Engineer.

Yeah, Jim said he likes people to mess with him, so I’m trying to do that.

How are you doing, sir?

Rich.

Is this yours?

Yes, sir.

Back here on the back, basically you’ve got a drawbar assembly. This is your safety hitch down here. You have two hooking devices. This is the cable that actually plugs up to the sled.

Okay, so at any time we’re going down the track, if there’s anything that happens to me on the tractor, the sled operator can shut me down.

This is hooked to the back of the pulling vehicle. Also, it’s a kill switch.

No matter whether it’s diesel, alcohol, gas, or whatever, this thing has to kill it.

What does that go to on the other side?

Does it pull a fuel valve?

That’s the air intake. Air is what makes the diesel engine run. So when you pull this cable, it shuts my air off, so my engine stops.

As the weight comes down the sled, it’s going to apply more weight to the tongue right here on your drawbar.

Your drawbar is going to put more pressure on that, more resistance to pull.

Okay, so does that… is it you start slipping? Is that the first thing that happens?

The more weight that gets on the back end of the tractor, the more these bite. The more these bite, the more the tractor tries to come up, and you’ve got to have a balancing point.

If you come up too tall, you’re going to get on the bottom of these skid bars, wheelie bar kind of deal.

Yes, sir.

That’s going to cause you to lose distance. If you stay stuck down, if your nose doesn’t come up at all, you’re too heavy on the front.

So it’s a balancing act.

So we’ll go out there tonight and we’ll look at that track and we’ll fill the dirt and we’ll get an idea of what kind of weight we want.

And then probably based on what I’ve already seen tonight, these four weights will go to the front, and there’ll be no weights on the back.

Okay, so why is your drawbar not higher then?

We have a limit. We can only run 20 inches.

Okay, that’s a rule?

That’s a rule.

Okay, that makes sense.

And so if your axle was below that spot right there…

Oh, it would be crazy.

Yeah, you would keep hooked up.

This is what regulates and keeps the class fair. Everybody has to run a 20-inch drawbar.

Oh, there’s so much physics here, man.

How do you steer?

Because I noticed this…

Well, most of the time, once I leave the line, the front end’s going to come up, and you drive it with the brakes.

Okay, that’s how you steer it from left to right?

Just skid steering, just like a normal tractor.

These two brake pedals right here control it left and right.

Alright, so I’ve got my right brake, my left brake.

Yes, sir.

Then I’ve got a computer that’s telling me everything the engine’s doing.

It’s monitoring all my pressures and temperatures.

So when I get to the back to the trailer tonight, I’ll plug my laptop up to it and I’ll see how my engine was tuned and how it did.

Really?

Okay, so this ain’t just redneck stuff; this is like Nutty Professor stuff.

Well, kind of.

Is it really?

Kind of.

That’s awesome.

But that’s kind of one and the same, isn’t it?

It is.

Hey, nice to meet you, buddy. Thank you.

So, I’m noticing on most of them they all have this one lever right here.

That’s the throttle.

Does it have to be on the side for everybody?

It does, and it has to be spring-loaded.

And I’ll show you what I mean by that.

So it’s a dead man’s switch; it’s a safety feature. If something happens and you have a problem, when you turn it loose, it automatically goes back to an idle.

Your tread is shaved down a little tighter than most.

Yeah, why is that?

Well, this just gets a good bite on the track.

Okay, you don’t want too big of a cleat on it because if you do, it gets too much and you can’t get your motor up on the RPMs that you want because of rotational inertia.

Right, absolutely.

So you’re balancing everything.

You’ve got to balance it all.

So one thing I’m noticing is that the radiator seems to be on the bottom.

Am I seeing that right?

No, this tractor does not have a radiator.

No, none at all?

No, this is a dry block.

How do you keep it from overheating?

You just run it 15-20 seconds down the track and cut it back off.

Really?

Yeah, we crank it out. We’ve cranked it once, warmed it up, shut it back off. It will not get cranked again until right before we pull.

Really?

Are you the driver?

No, my daughter drives.

Does she? Where’s she at?

Right there.

And she happened to win last weekend?

Really?

This tractor won, and my son drove the silver one; he got second.

And you drive it? Do you work on it as well?

Not normally, no. A little bit, but not much.

But no, I can’t do a whole lot. I don’t have a lot of strength in me.

I got to ask, how old are you?

I’m 22 now, but I started when I was 16.

So you started driving this when you got your license, right?

Yeah, pretty much.

So the throttle is up there on the right, correct?

Yes, sir.

So when you’re pushing it forward, do you just slam it forward and hold it, or are you throttling it to manage your traction?

You’re trying to manage your RPMs for the most part.

You are pushing it so far until you get it to a certain point in RPMs that you want, and then you’ll start letting out on the clutch.

The key is to try to hold it at a certain amount, but once you get going, you kind of go full throttle.

Once you get about what, 50?

Well, I normally go full throttle as soon as I let out, quite honestly.

But yeah, these roll cages are welding works of art.

Look at that.

Once you start going down the track, there ain’t a whole lot you can do.

The only thing you can do once you start down the track is clutch and throttle.

It’s about the only two things you’ll be able to control, and the steering wheel, obviously.

It’s really about pre-going down the track.

You can adjust tire pressure, hitch height.

The closer the hitch point to the center of the axle, the better you’ll be.

And then you’ve got movable weight, so there’s a very fine balance there as to where you’ve got to be, which is why everybody wants to try to get as much adjustable weight as you can.

With a big block John Deere like we’ve got, we’re limited to that because it’s so hard to get weight out of them.

Where you’ve got a small block like these guys, they start out with so much more movable weight than we do, so they don’t really have to worry about that problem as much as we do.

But it’s just a constant battle with a big block.

Anybody that’s got one would tell you that.

So why do you have a big block?

Big blocks, it’s just kind of a personal preference thing.

Everybody’s kind of like asking why you got an International or AGCO or a John Deere.

You know, it’s just kind of a personal preference.

I always liked the 6030; it’s what my father-in-law had, and that’s kind of what I fell in love with.

I think that’s the best-looking tractor out here.

So ideally, you would be 8 inches off the ground?

You want ideally, in a theoretical world, you’d like your front tires to be about 8 inches off the ground.

And that’s where he wants to be.

You fixing to be a rich man?

What do you think is going to happen?

He’s going to come up about waist high before he settles.

How did I tell you the other day?

He said you got to mess with people; said you don’t like them if they don’t mess with you.

Remember he was talking to somebody, and I told you he was our clown?