SATPA PULLER
06-18-2002 14:01:40
|
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Mighty Massey DQ'd in reply to an idiot, 06-18-2002 10:15:46
|
|
I've talked to a lot of the old tractor pullers who pull John Deeres, Farmalls, Allis's, Ollies, Fords, MM's, Avery's, Cases, you name it. From what I can gather, the 1st gear rule is probably the most unfair rule ever written for an antique association. Some of these tractors I'm learning in 1ST GEAR run as slow as 1.2 MPH and in some cases where the tractor came equipped w/ 26" rubber and you change that to 38" rubber tall profile and you can get as much as 4 MPH in 1ST GEAR!! Last time this issue surfaced among the SATPA pullers, the pullers as a majority felt so strongly that we even all chipped in $20 each to purchase the speedometer and horn. Some of that majority has gone to other clubs due to changing the ol'time rules. I certainly hope we aren't faced with this same occurence again. I think this quarrel over gears/speed is being brought about largely by some of the more recent to join SATPA pullers, which we are thankful for and enjoy pulling with them. Their comment is, I quote: "These kids can't pull with these other tractors running 3.5MPH or better." I recently saw on television a t-ball game where the stands emptied in a major fist fight on the diamond. Guess what, there wasn't one kid on the diamond. It was all mommas and daddies. Back to the speedometer. I remember on more than one occaision, it was felt by many pullers that a particular tractor pulled the sled absolutely no doubt much faster than 3.5 MPH and pretty much waxed the field. In most cases, this was a visitor and he left with 1st place. Upon asking him, did he have his tractor in 1st gear, of course he said yes. That was the end of the discussion. Had there have been a Speedometer, simply put, there would have been no discussion. This rule, I think, is virtually unenforceable. Prior to the speedometer, it has always been left up to the hook man to determine whether or not a puller was in 1st gear. We have 4WD truck participants as the hook man on occasion. How are they suppose to know what the gear pattern is on a tractor? How about them kids?? They don't know either. By the way, neither do I. Also, with regard to finances, with the cost of 1 tube of silicon glue and a few pretty tough hours of work, I can fix your tractor when you stick it in first gear position, it can be in any gear you want it to be in.
|
|
|