Possible case puller?

[KennyCase]

I have been doing truck pulling for a number of years along with my brother. This year has been difficult dealing with my brother to say the least. My nephew (brother I do pulling with) has asked to pull my 400 next year, I said why not but under one condition. He has to help paint it this fall, he gladly agreed. Now I?m getting a crazier idea. I?m thinking about buying a case Dc or maybe even a 30 series to build just for pulling? Am I crazy? Could any of the great knowledge here point me in a great direction for a tractor to build.... hate to build my 400 since the engine, clutch and tires are all a few years old.

 

[jon f mn]

Depends on how much you want to spend and how heavy you want to pull. If you stay close to stock up then any com tractor will be competitive in its class. Its cheaper to get up from gas than diesel. A 930 gas would get the most hp for the least money.

 

[Tubacase47]

A DC would be great; the late Tom Graverson could beat the daylights of all other makes with his DC.

 

[casecollectorsc]

Lot of pulls won't let you shift the caseomatic tractors in stock class...either caseomatic drive or direct, no shifting. I pulled a 800 LP running on gasoline and did a good job. LP heads are higher compression than stock gas heads.

 

[KennyCase]

Jon, I spend a ton pulling a truck every year so I?m not looking at going to cheap. I want something that will pull good and have a future in the sport. After all I want my nephew to be the driver, I want him to get hooked if he likes it and be interested in it.

 

[jon f mn]

Without knowing what weight class you want to pull in and what your local rules are it's hard to say. In general the smaller cases like 430/530 do well in the small classes. Dc's do well in some classes. For big hp diesel you need 70 series or newer as the older case die.sels don't have much upside potential. A 6 cylinder gas will give the most hp for the least money. A 504 on a 7/830 rear makes a good combo.

 

[KennyCase]

Thanks for your suggestions, definitely something to consider.

 

[mEl]

Have been building DCs for years, have had great success, BUT, if I were starting out as you are to build a puller as your hobby long term, I would never start with a DC, even a stout DC is a first gear puller, second gear is to fast, If you decide to build an engine mid 400 cube range is as high as you will go for any dependability without adding support to the rear main saddle, they will tear out of the rear of the block.

The later Case blocks are 5 main bearing and have a good stiff block with room to stroke to 7.5 inches safely and bore can be taken to 5 1/8 in. These builds compete nicely on the NATPA circuit in a 400-700 8 speed modern transmission and a good old tractor to build around.