tractor pulling with flat spotted tires - - - My first tractor pull

   / tractor pulling with flat spotted tires - - - My first tractor pull #1  

Cecil Stults

Member
Joined
Jan 8, 2012
Messages
46
Location
Texas
Tractor
John Deere AR, a # of Farmalls, AC WD45, couple of Fords and a Massey Harris
I entered the below text in my last weeks post but it never showed up in new posts. I am staring a new post here. hope it does not show up twice.




Ok so I entered my AR with it's flat spotted tires in a county fair tractor pull.

The flat spots in the tires did not have any affect.
I don't know why I was obsessing on the flat spots.
Knuckle head me I blew the tires up hard to accomodate for the flat spots.
Yes I now know that was not a good ideal. I watched more that one guy at the pull letting the air out of the rear tires to get them nice and soft.

So I pulled up to the pullin' grounds with my truck tractor and trailer. Numerous others doing the same. I fired up the tractor and pulled it off the trailer. I am not set up for this stuff. I have a chevy truck with a bumper pull flatbead. Driving off the end of the trailer the AR lifts both back wheels of the truck off the ground and then lets it slam back to earth. Obviously a little lacking in equipment.

It was a 20 degree colder morning that when I was adjusting on the carburetor. I thought I had the AR running pretty good the previous weekend when I proclaimed I was ready.

I ran around on the AR for a while to let the engine warm up. I thought it would warm up and run fine. I took my turn on the scales weighing both axles. The engine stumbled trying to get the back tires up on the scale. I weightd 5770 lbs. I was put in class 7. I got to watch classes 1 - 6 run before It was my time. I was watching and learning.

I never changed the carb setting hoping it would be ok when I was up.
Not a good choice. When it was my turn I pulled out on the strip and I was not pointing straight down the pull lane. I was crooked. I had put a new clutch in the AR and it was grabby. I was also not used to a hand clutch. In backing up I was struggling to keep from running over the hooker upper guy. He did give me a second look in the process after I stopped and probably saw the fear in my eyes. He hooked me up and got clear quickly. So in taking off for my first pull I was at an angle that I had to correct right quick.
So I gave it some throttle. I was pushing the clutch forward waiting for it to start grabbing and I needed to correct my alignment with the steering wheel. When the clutch started to take hold the engine started to stumble from the cold. So at a reach I now needed to pull out a little on the choke. I was getting really busy all of a sudden. one hand on the clutch one hand reaching for the Choke leaving the steering on it's own for a second. All the while I was trying to act like I knew what I was doing for the onlookers. (One guy I talked to earlier had told me they figure I would be one of the ones to beat when they saw I was sporting an AR John Deere)
So luckily I found the right spot on the choke rod to get the engine to quit stumbling and start running better. I got the clutch engaged and could then frantically put a little "Haw"
left turn in the steering to get it going down the pull lane. so there I was pulling my AR moving the sled down range. I moved the choke a time or two and almost let the engine die. I finally found a spot where it would run and kept it there for the duration.
My pull was miserable. the hard tires chewed into the dirt and I quit moving less that half way down the run. The engine never quit I just did not have the traction.
It was kind of embarrasing.

Each tractor got two pulls. Prior to the second pull I got off and gave the carb another 1/2 turn rich. It revved up better. So on the second pull The hooker upper guy remembered me and seemed kind of jumpy.... I took off on the second run and the engine was not a problem. This time it was my new clutch. It decided I did not have it adjusted right and it was slipping. So again I lost momentum on the pull. I got further than the first pull but still it was pitifull for a big John Deere. I was having to hold the clutch handle forward with some force to get the AR to keep pulling. It did end up stopping with the wheels turning but I had lost my ground speed during the process.

So my rookie-ness was showing big time. I rushed to get the tractor ready. I was not comfortable using a hand clutch. I had more cons than pros going for me.

Next year I will be a different puller. With all this new experience.

Some of the guys there were givng me hints and tips and were most helpful.

I had a fun saturday morning...
 
   / tractor pulling with flat spotted tires - - - My first tractor pull #2  
Glad you had fun. I've thought a few times about pulling, but was a little nervous about looking like too much of a newbie. One of these days, though............

Ken
 
   / tractor pulling with flat spotted tires - - - My first tractor pull #3  
As long as you had fun. Thats all that matters. Did you ajust the clutch so it will stay engaged. It is embarrassing to have the tractor not pull very well. For me I like to pull but I go to show the tractor not to win. Lots of people modify there tractors for pull. Boring out the cylinders, adjusting the governor to rev higher.
 
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   / tractor pulling with flat spotted tires - - - My first tractor pull #4  
Any pictures?
 
 
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