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Tractor vs truck in a tractor pull

J

JohnV2000

Member
I was searching the internet but could not really find any videos or good information on what I am thinking about.

I am just curious, if you were to take a Farmall Super C, or Ford 8N, or something similar to that, and pull at a tractor show, how would that compare to a car or truck pulling the same sled? What kind of car or truck would be comparable to a 20-30 HP tractor in terms of only pulling distance? I understand the tractor will get better tractor, so I am taking that into account.
 
I pulled my super C a few years ago at our local show, did not do very well. Must take into account that when I restored it I removed the calcium from
the rear tires as it was going to be more of a show tractor, and it was at the bottom of the weight range in its class.
 

First, at tractor pulls the entrants are put in classes by what they weigh and most entrants will insure the their tractor weighs within ten lbs of the max. They also insure that they have the correct proportion of weight on the rear vs. the front They also insure that they have tires that they believe are the best design and tread depth with the optimum pressure. Hitch height which is a huge factor would also have to be the same for either tractor or car. You asked about a comparable car or truck which I take to mean weight and power wise. This would mean a VERY small two wheel drive car or truck which would also not have a lot of power, it would have snow tires. This would bring the deciding factor down to mainly weight distribution. Most small cars and trucks are front engine rear wheel drive so they would not get the traction. However, if you had something like a VW beetle with rear engine and large tires my money would be on you.
 
Modern front drive cars are at
a significant disadvantage
because as soon as they start
pulling the weight goes off
the drives, so I would say an
8n would be a good match for
most of them. Rear drive and
4wd changes that so it will
take a lot more tractor to compete, at least on hard ground. On a pulling track a 100 HP tractor will have a hard time taking a pickup because the hard track cancels most of the advantage of the larger tires. Once you get to the soft ground and tillage the advantage goes to the tractor with tall tires. This is why the Ford, Allis, and some Massey tractors never made it as tillage tractors, the taller tires on JD, ih, Case and others just did better on many conditions.
 
Maybe not the answer you are looking for, but our tractor club has a transfer sled that can stop about any stock pulling tractor up to 12,000# in 200ft. We have tried pulling some street legal 3/4 ton 4 WD pickups that weigh half that and we can't stop them before they run out of track.
 
Looks like welding man is gonna have the "saw it with my own eyes " answer. So many variables when you consider horsepower, weight, 4wd, 2wd, hitch height etc. I did have a guy at work that liked to brag about his 750hp Mustang which I'm sure is a very powerful machine. Our conversation about his car and my tractors finally got to the point of him backing that Mustang up to my MM Z for a little tug of war. He never showed up so my curiosity was never satisfied. I really wanted to know how that would've turned out.
 
Speed control is the great equalizer in pulls,if the trucks have to run the same speed as the tractors that would make a big difference.At 3 1/2 MPH pulls I'd say trucks and tractors
running the same speed and the same weight the advantage would go to the tractors.
 
It really is all about traction.
Consider this:
I'm just guessing on these weights and hp
ratings but you get the idea.
A Ford 7000 and a Ford 3/4t 4x4 pickup
probably weigh about the same amount.
A modern gas 3/4 ton 4x4 Ford engine
probably produces about 300 hp at the
flywheel and maybe can put 250 of that to
the ground after parasitic losses.
A Ford 7000 might produce 85 flywheel hp
and put 70 hp to the ground.
So if you give both vehicles their best
possible traction conditions the pickup
will easily walk away with the tractor.
As said below an old VW beetle would out
pull a pretty substantial tractor.
 
I had a friend in high school who had a
Ford high boy with a 429 in it was was
bragging that he could out pull a tractor.
He hooked on to the 4020 and dug 4 holes
in the gravel and I never let out on the
clutch. Fast forward a few months for me
teasing him we wanted to try on pavement.
This time I took the 4230 and drug him
down the road shifting while I pulled him!
 
You had a 2-3 times weight advantage there so it's no surprise. Hook both to a weight transfer skid and the results would likely be different. It weight them the same would be much closer too, at least on blacktop.
 
in our tractor clubs we have 6 weight classes. up to 12,000 lbs and 250 ft for a full pull. we also have an old ford flathead and an old 6 cyl. green diamond ihc trucks that pull for the fun of it. trucks have the regular old style dual wheel tires on them. they pull pretty dam good usually get about 3/4 the way down the track. the chain is hooked quite high on the truck so they both run out of power, not spin out. so many factors to consider.... plus the trucks are reving way faster than our antique tractors . plus the sled has gears and is used according to the tractor class. it is a fun pull so I never did find out what the sled is set at.
so with your questions the farmall and 8n ford would be in the bantom or 1st class depending on weight. don't know if your referring to antique vehicles or new ones. just as a guesstamite I would say an old 1/2 ton 2 wheel drive probably out pull them. I will look into this this summer once I get pulling.
 
Hmm, that was spooky. I finally just now clicked on this thread and read the posts. Was the last thing I read, then went to Youtube to see what's on. This was the 2nd video that popped up.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O6OmlV0nsn4
The video is of someone who hooked a station wagon to the pulling sled.

Well, I'm off to watch it! :wink:
 
(quoted from post at 07:29:20 02/16/19) It really is all about traction.
Consider this:
I'm just guessing on these weights and hp
ratings but you get the idea.
A Ford 7000 and a Ford 3/4t 4x4 pickup
probably weigh about the same amount.
A modern gas 3/4 ton 4x4 Ford engine
probably produces about 300 hp at the
flywheel and maybe can put 250 of that to
the ground after parasitic losses.
A Ford 7000 might produce 85 flywheel hp
and put 70 hp to the ground.
So if you give both vehicles their best
possible traction conditions the pickup
will easily walk away with the tractor.
As said below an old VW beetle would out
pull a pretty substantial tractor.
Click to expand...

Another way to get closer to an apples to apples comparison is to take an old pickup from the 60's or 70's with a low growling granny four speed and six cylinder and put it against the Ford 7000.

Back in the years when I used wagons to haul grain my 79 Power wagon with a four speed might get a 23000 pound 350 bushel wagon rolling in the field on bare dry ground but if the wagon had settled down overnight the chances of getting it rolling were slim. The Power wagon didn't have the traction with mud and snow grip type tires. If I would hook the 51 Deere A with no weights to the wagon the A had a slightly better chance but it might just dig two holes. That's about as close to a tractor pulling situation as I can get. My neighbor's 79 power wagon with an automatic could get a wagon rolling a little easier than my power wagon because he could ease into it. His was an extended cab, mine was a regular cab.
 
You are trying to compare two completely different vehicle with completely different designs and purposes.

A pickup or any other type of truck is designed to run on paved surfaces while a tractor is made to run on unpaved ground.

Trucks are designed to CARRY weight. Tractors are designed to PULL weight. Big difference.

Each excels at its own intended purpose. Each will fail miserably trying to do things that it was never intended to do.

A tractor will pull a plow or a harrow through soft ground where a truck would just get stuck. A truck can carry a ton of cargo on a highway at 60 miles per hour. A tractor could never do that.

Why try to compare the two?
 
Well as for me for years i only had one tractor and one four wheel drive 3/4 ton And with 12x16.5 tires a Detroit locker rear and a limited slip in the ft. i could do more with it then a 7500 lb tractor . 99 % of the time when i hug my 706 the pick up would get it out .
 
(quoted from post at 09:29:14 02/16/19) You are trying to compare two completely different vehicle with completely different designs and purposes.

A pickup or any other type of truck is designed to run on paved surfaces while a tractor is made to run on unpaved ground.

Trucks are designed to CARRY weight. Tractors are designed to PULL weight. Big difference.

Each excels at its own intended purpose. Each will fail miserably trying to do things that it was never intended to do.

A tractor will pull a plow or a harrow through soft ground where a truck would just get stuck. A truck can carry a ton of cargo on a highway at 60 miles per hour. A tractor could never do that.

Why try to compare the two?
Click to expand...

jmg maybe because it is public forum? :roll:
 
This got me to wondering ...... who is more powerful, Godzilla or King Kong? Answer .... whichever one you like best !!
 
I helped organize a tractor pull a few years ago. I got a full pule with my CASE DC4. Being local, the spectators went wild. Afterwards I realized the sled had been set to give me the full pull. It was all for fun but one other local got upset. There were no prizes.
Dave
 
Back in the seventies Chevy had a commercial with a 3/4 ton 4wd pu pulling a 4 bottom 3200 Deere plow.---Tee
 
Found it-Rusty had it on here in 2014--was a 3100 Deere plow---Tee
cvphoto13100.jpg
 
(quoted from post at 09:26:48 02/16/19) Maybe not the answer you are looking for, but our tractor club has a transfer sled that can stop about any stock pulling tractor up to 12,000# in 200ft. We have tried pulling some street legal 3/4 ton 4 WD pickups that weigh half that and we can't stop them before they run out of track.
Click to expand...

It is the inertial energy stored in the first 1/2 of the pull with the sled moving at 15-25MPh that coasts the extra distance .
The truck is applying it’s max pull from start to finish . The tractor isn’t even working until it is 3/4 of the pull distance .
 
(quoted from post at 06:26:48 02/16/19) Maybe not the answer you are looking for, but our tractor club has a transfer sled that can stop about any stock pulling tractor up to 12,000# in 200ft. We have tried pulling some street legal 3/4 ton 4 WD pickups that weigh half that and we can't stop them before they run out of track.
Click to expand...

The sled that used to do the stopping at most pulls here in New Hampshire was a small one. He could stop tractors up to 12,000, but if the trucks got the jump on him he couldn't stop them. To prevent this he would bring the weight box back to one foot from all the way back. That kept most of them from being able to get going fast enough to beat him.
 
Two men in a bar were talking about the 4x4 truck one of them had just bought. The truck owner said that he could out pull the others International 330(?) utility tractor. The tractor owner sent his son home with the other man and his truck. The son let his Uncle start to pull the tractor backward before he let the clutch out on the tractor. Well the uncle said if we were on the blacktop I would have out pulled you. So they went to the road and repeated it and the tractor won again. They went back to the bar and my friend's Dad collected an easy $50 , while sitting in a bar.
 
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