TRANSFER SLED PULLING

A LOOK INTO THE PAST AND FUTURE OF THE SPORT

Written by: Chad Embrey (www.truckpullers.com)

TRANSFER SLED PULLING CHAD EMBREY 1

 Introduction
Sled pulling is a motorsport in which the goal is to pull a weighted down
sled the farthest distance possible in a straight line the further the sled is pulled
the heavier it gets. The vehicle that pulls the sled the farthest is the winner. Sled
pulling is synonymous with tractor or truck pulling, The sport attracts and
accommodates a wide variety of vehicle and engine types including everything
from normal every day driven vehicles to insane exotic beasts.

The History of Pulling

We take you back way back, to where it all started Have you ever
wondered why agriculture seems to be such a big part of pulling?

We explain why

Prior to the invention of the

tractor, whenfarm
implementswere pulled
byhorses, farmers would boast
about the strength of their teams
and seek to compare and contest
against one another to see who
had the most powerful animals.

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1900s
In some cases they compared horse teams pulling large loads over distance,
such as a fully loaded haycartorwagon. In other situations, a flat board or skid
would have a horse or team of horses then hitched to it; weight would be
added, usually in the form of rocks, and the driver would ask the horses to pull
the load, with more weight added and competitors were eliminated, the
animals pulling the most weight or for the greatest distance were judged the
strongest.

These events became the formalized sport ofhorse pulling, which is still carried
out today with specially breddraft horsesbred to have high strength for pulling
heavy loads. Today, fixed weights on sleds are dragged for a set distance and
additional weight is added in successive rounds. While it is said that the
termhorsepoweris derived from this event, the concept was developed earlier,
in experiments and measurements performed byJames WattandMason
Worrell.

1929
Motorized vehicles were put to use in the first events atVaughansville,
Missouri, andBowling Green, Ohio,the latter being where the current national
championships are held. Although the sport was recognized then, it did not
really become popular until the '50s and '60s. It was also realized, at that time,
there were no uniform set of rules. The rules varied fromstateto state,countyto
county, and competitors never knew what standards to follow. This made the
sport difficult for new entrants.

1969
Representatives from eight states congregated to create a uniform book of rules
to give the sport the much needed structure, and created theNational Tractor
Pullers Association(NTPA). The NTPA's early years were events that used
standard farm vehicles, with the motto

"Pull on Sunday, plow on Monday"

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Early 1970s
Pulling remained basically the same, with only stock and modified tractors.
Stock tractors were commercially available tractors produced by manufacturers,
and modified tractors were the basic tractor chassis with another non-tractor
engine mounted on it.

Tractors remained single engine until

two Ohio brothers, Carl and Paul
Bosse introduced thecrossboxwhich
could allow multiple engines to be
attached to a singledriveshaft.

Other innovators during this period included

Bruce Hutcherson, with his

triple Rodeck engine
powered

"Makin Bacon Special"

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EJ Potter with his son Jack
and Double Ugly - the
experimental Allison W24 24
cylinder pulling designed for
bombers. It was a 24 cylinder
engine which was really 2
V12s side by side, with the
two crankshafts geared
together sporting about 4000
horsepower.

Dave and Ralph Banter and

their Chevrolet powered
tractors.

"Mission Impossible

by Tim Engler, which at one

point had up to
sevenblownalcoholengines
on board.

TRANSFER SLED PULLING CHAD EMBREY 5

Subsequently, modified tractors with four engines were common, while stock
tractors tried to catch up by adding multiple largeturbochargers, along
withintercoolers, but both retained the appearance of atractor. Soon tractors
became single-use machines that were not used on the farm, making the "Pull
on Sunday, plow on Monday" motto obsolete.

1974
Jet enginesfirst appeared in
pulling.

1976
The growing popularity of the sport caused the creation of a newfour-wheel
drive truckdivisionwhich started Truck Pulling as we know it and captured
a large fan base.

Early 1980s
The four wheel drive trucks and modified tractor divisions continued to thrill
crowds by adding more engines, and soon the tractors lost their tractor
appearance and turned into high 'spec'dragsters.

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1983
Thetwo-wheel drive(2WD) division was introduced.

The division imposes a weight-limit of 6,200 pounds on each competing truck, a

maximum width of eight feet, and a maximum distance of 15 feet from the
centerline of the rear axle to the front of the vehicle (including weight racks and
tow hook). (The length restriction allows for up to ten inches of cosmetic
fiberglass, however.)

Alcohol methane engines with up to eight cylinders are permitted, but diesel
engines are not. Any wheelbase is permitted.

1988
The limit was reached in 1988 when a tractor with seven engines was built.

1989
Gardner Stone's "General" Tractor a four-
jet-engined unit hitting the hook in 1989.

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 As for the 4 wheel drives in 1989
The engine sizes in these vehicles continued to increase, from 450 cubic
inches/7.3 liters up to 700/11.5 and probably would have continued, but the
NTPA limited it to 650/10.6naturally aspirated and noblown enginein
1989.

Today the 4-wheel drive division is one of the most popular with the success
of the following trucks

Holman Brothers "4-Play"

Chevy

Bob Boden's "Studley

Studebaker

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 The Current State of Pulling
Have you ever looked around , really seen whats going on in our current society. Nascar is
nearly dead, Dale Earnhart fans have been saying for years the sport died with him, I never
wanted to admit they were right but its hard to ignore as its proven to be true. Kids today
dont know who Stacy David is or Power Block TV all them shows are either gone or on
obscure networks.

With the advancements we make everyday, everything just keeps getting bigger or smaller
what ever it takes to make it better.

We owe everything we have today to the innovators and brave forefathers of our past. Stop
and take a minute to realize that in 1974. 1974 they were strapping jet engines onto
tractors to out pull their neighbors. That amount of

Oh yeah?Ill show you!

Is fizzling out, that competitive drive, the testosterone, maybe just the motor head in all of us,
what ever it was, it was certainly at an all time high.

TRANSFER SLED PULLING CHAD EMBREY 9

Now take a look at the newest generation. They don't seem to have that spark, that burning
fire seems non existent call it evolution or a tragedy but

we have lost something as a species

I suspect it is the fact that there are too many distractions today , when I was a kid it meant
the world to me to get John Swineharts signature on the bill of my John Deere hat when I
snuck back in the pits of the Perry County Fair in Ohio. I didnt have a cell phone yet
somehow I survived.

When I was 15 I pulled my first truck, Its an experience that you have to live through to fully
understand. There is a connection that is made between man and machine that is simply
unexplainable.

When the adrenaline mixes with the horsepower and

the hairs stand up on the back of your neck and you
get them cold chills you realize this is how it feels to be
alive.

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 The Future of Pulling
We are trying to bring it back, to restore the focus on the competitive nature and the
unexplained phenomena of the blending of man and machine to obtain a common goal.

Pushing every aspect to the limits just to gain another

foot on the track

We at www.truckpullers.com are trying to pick up the pieces and collaborate with promoters,
sanction bodies, pullers, fans and event coordinators to re-unite the sport of pulling.

The site features Pulling Clubs that allows users to start their own groups that contain a
photo gallery, forums, and event calendar they can manage their own memberships and
privacy.

The site also has a syndicated pulling calendar that has the most pulling events available
anywhere.

The site includes many forums and features to bring the Pullers together and is a driving
force for a brighter future for the sport so we can re-establish that spark in the next
generation.

You can help us

make truck pulling great again

By getting involved on Truck Pullers or you can keep posting on Facebook and watch the
sport fade away now dont get all upset, Facebook is a good tool for instant gratification but
your truck pulling videos and photos and conversations as buried and gone and have no
substance. On Truck Pullers we treasure ever post you make every photo or video you
share, it is our life blood. We all help each other for the better of the sport and we have a lot
planned for the future.

Join us and become a part of making something great again.

https://www.truckpullers.com

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 Thank You to our sponsors
MIGHTY DIESEL - http://www.mightydiesel.com

WAGGONER DIESEL - http://www.waggonerdiesel.com/index.html

RUNCOOL HOOD LOUVERS - http://hoodlouvers.com/

QUICK TRICKS AUTO - www.quicktricksauto.com

SOUTH BEND CLUTCH - www.southbendclutch.com

LOCKE PERFORMANCE - https://lockeperformance.com

SMARTY POWER - http://www.smartypower.com/

STEALTH DIESEL - http://www.stealthdiesel.com/

BIG BAD DIESEL PERFORMANCE - http://www.bigbaddieselperformance.com/

PERFORMANCE TRUCK AND TRACTOR - https://www.facebook.com/Performance-

Truck-and-Tractor-291818169612/

OPTI-LUBE FUEL AND ADDITIVES - https://opti-lube.com

HIGH-REV TECHNOLOGY -http://www.high-rev.com

ADAMS POLISHES - www.adamspolishes.com

www.truckpullers.com and TRUCK PULLERS is a registered

trademark of Embrey Enterprise www.embreyenterprise.com
this document may not be reproduced without express written
permission.

Reach the author - chadembrey@gmail.com

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