drop pan sleds

[6500g]

should drop pan sleds be used in antique tractor pulls?

 

[Moline Man G1]

No.It turns it into a drag race instead of a pull in my opinion.

 

[Lovespullin]

I hate them. That's all we run around here though. From antiques all the way up.

I run a 1066 and if you can run h2 or better in the farm stock class you'll be in the upper part of the class. I do and we are all fractions of an inch apart. Everyone else is about 15-20ft back

 

[Bryan Lively]

Really depends on how fast the pan drops. Obviously a pan that drops quickly will pile tractors up in one spot. A pan that can be set to transition slower and smoother would seem to be a reasonable form of drop.
Most importantly is that the drop sequence is consistent and the same speed each time.

 

[6500g]

most sleds just drop all at once and that is a good way to snap a crank. If the sled will not stop the tractors the club needs to look at getting a better sled...

 

[Larry of Lesslie]

I agree with that!

 

[north puller]

Drop pans are good for high speed pulling, such as pick up trucks. Give them a free run to build speed, then slam the pan down. The faster they can go, the more the crowd loves it.

Imo, anything under 10 mph should have a soft drop, or no drop. A tractor should be able to start off the sled with the pan on the ground.

After working with the sled operator quite a bit, we got a drop sled working better for antiques up here. The pan is held up with air bags. Instead of letting the air out to drop the pan, he simply starts with very little air in the bags, doesn't dump the air at all, and lets the weight of the box squish them down.

If your pan it's held up with hydraulics, you need a flow control on the line to let the pan down slowly. Problem with that is the pan will come down over a time period, and not necessarily at the same distance.

 

[mark us]

if they are operated right they can be better. all that has to be done is another switch. the ones I've seen have an electric switch that drops the pan when the box gets to a certain point. another switch set further back on the sled will let you take off on a sandy track without causing a hole but drop the pan before the weight gets very far up on the sled, the same could be done with a hydraulic controlled pan also.

 

[M.Genrich]

They aren't for antique pulling in my opinion. I haven't been hooked to a sled yet that isn't heavy enough to stop any antique tractor open or speed limit. It seems to me most sled operators are to lazy to adjust the sled or add weight as the weight classes increase. drop pans are hard on parts and can be a safety hazard. when the pan drops the front end of the tractor comes up fast. This isn't NTPA! I hope jon aller reads this!!

 

[Dblair]

a drop pan bust the hub in the wheel on my 450 , popped the 7/8 bolt heads off three bolts . those were the I-H bolts for the hub also . yes, I tightened them before going to Rockville because I've seen this before there .

 

[Anonymous-0]

hell no, at slow speeds they are dog pilers

 

[jon aller]

We use the sled we use because of loyalty and economics. He has been extremely fair with the EXPO over the years, doesn"t break down very often, is always ready to go when we need him, brings all of his own crew, does not need a pull back tractor, etc.

We aren"t pulling Div 1 tractors, they all have enough to start the sled and bump the horn. Of course some people don"t like the sled. This is America, people are entitled and encouraged to have opinions.

Sigourney is it"s own animal when it comes to indoor pulls. We have a very short track that is narrow to boot. We run tighter RPM limits to try to make it safer for the fans who are 5 feet from the track. When you run a bunch of very well built tractors with highly experienced drivers down a short narrow track, you will get many close results.

As I have said many times, if we could count on the weather we would have it outside on the real track and open things up. I don"t think we would see tractors bunching up nearly as much.

As for breakage, I don"t know. We don"t have serious breakage every year, but there have been a few over the years. Might have more to do with the way tractors are lightened and HP is increased 200-500%

 

[Massey44]

One of the best pulls every year is Sigourney that track and sled keep me coming back every year and usually bring spectators along because we all talk about it all year long

 

[cotncrzy]

We pull one around here. It's an old sled thats been around since the early 70's. It is heavy enough to stop anything in my opinion. The new owner has installed a drop pan systen on it. It actually took the pan that is designed to run flat raised the rear about a foot, thus digging the front into the dirt. This pull runs no speed limits, no nothin, pull whatch bring type thing. It is the most gripping track I have ever pulled on. We tried to take advanage of the no speed limit to overcome the drop pan. Bad Idea! On a super track, running 6.5 mph, when the pan drops you will need a seat belt, and you will see if your wheely bars are functional... This pull was one of the best local pulls around here. Jack always had the PREDIATOR there, easy to pull but efficent enough to stop ya, then this sled was brought in the the owner of the pull.
Everything is great, track, food, spectator set up, pits. The second pull of the 2013 year, there is no telling how many tractors was there, from 3000# up to 8500#. The 3000# tractors couldn't move the sled. The 3500# class was interesting to say the least, seems all the way up to 5000# it was nasty. We actually saw a tire blow out when it dropped in the 6500# class. By the last pull of the season, with the same classes offered there was 4 tractors there to hook. DROP PAN SLEDS ARE NOT NEEDED AND ARE DANGEROUS IN THE SPORT OF "ANTIQUE" TRACTOR PULLING, IN MY OPINION. He has promised to make changes over the winter,I sure hope so.

 

[Anonymous-0]

I know exactly which sled your talking about. It was a POS back in the 70's that's why it was parked. The new owner knows everything, so he will figure it out......

 

[Tater]

Any tractor under 10 mph shoud not have to pull a drop pan.

 

[1206SWMO]

I absolutely despise drop pan sleds for anything under 10 mph..

 

[M.Genrich]

Jon Aller you have a great pull and I look forward to it every year. I cant remember ever seeing many if any sled break downs. Im not bitching! hats off to you and your crew. Im just not a fan of drop pan sleds, that's all.

 

[MH49]

Plus one from me on the 10 mph and down they are not required. Also from the other side, they can tear the begezzus out of a track. This can be an issue at pulls where you are short on track equipment.

 

[showcrop]

my wife doesn't like that I get black and blue on my chest from the steering wheel.

 

[Justin C.]

I generally keep my pan drop turned completely off for antique pulling. Sometimes pulling the heavy or faster ones, or if just on a bad track the front edge of the pan dragging isn't enough to stop them even with 10,000 lbs.+ in the box. If I have to drop the pan I usually slow the box way down and drop it in the first 20 feet of the pull. That way its still a gradual load on the tractors and doesn't pile everyone up in the same spot.
Heartbreaker 2 sled

 

[Anonymous-0]

You need Dave Hager as a sled operator. He has the
back of the pan on chains. Even if the pan drops, he holds
the diggers off of the ground. He will listen to pullers and
set sled appropriately.

 

[Chad C]

I pull many of the local pulls around SW Wisconsin. In the summer there is a pull nearly every weekend. Sled dropping for the 3.5 mph antiques is ridiculous but you would be surprised how often it goes on. Nothing makes for a more boring pull for the spectators to watch then 15 slow moving tractors all pulling within a foot of each other. I will eventually figure out which sleds and operators drop pans on these antiques and boycott accordingly. And trust me I will spread the word for others to follow suit.