1952 JD model AR 2nd tractor pull.

[Cecil Stults]

Folks,

I have entered a couple of forum entries about my AR John Deer. the first one was me bringing it home and getting it started. the second was me taking it to my first Tractor Pull. so there is kind of a history of this guy out there since I have owned it.

But now I have my second tractor pull under my belt.
Not as scary and exciting as the first one because I kind of knew what to expect.
Same tractor pull event in the same Festival as last year.
This year I had forgotten it was coming up so I had one day to get ready. The tractor had not been used since the pull from last year. I had intended to buy a couple of parts for it but never got around to it.

The clutch linkage has a lot of play in it and I need some big bushings for the belcrank thing to swivel on. I could not get the clutch adjusted to where it snaps into place as the manual saying. I would get it adjusted and then go out and run it around but when I came back home the clutch the clutch seemed to need setting again.
I did the best I could on adjustment.

So I went to my second tractor pull.
My old buddy with a trailer had his trailer loaded with junk so I had to drive the tractor to the pulling this time. Only 2 or 3 miles.
I was in the 6000 lb. farm tractor class.
The tractor ran well this time. I had found some NON-ethanol gasoline and a bottle of octane boost to feed it.

I still pulled miserable distance wise. I only pulled 60 something feet. It was embarassing.
This year there were mostly all Farmalls. very few John Deers. Many more Deers last year.
But mine was one of the largest except for a diesel 730 that was in the heaviest class.
So all these fords and farmalls had been pulling and it was getting time for me.
I cranked up the AR and it started barking off a different sound that all the rest.
Folks were getting interested in the different tractor with the different sound.

But like I said my pulls were pitiful I would lose my momentum and just spill the back tires.
Farmalls out doing me. How embarassing.

I ask a guy that had a couple of different Farm-mules there about my lack of traction. He says it was my "rice" tires.
This tractor has very tall lugged tires on it. Looks like they have been used very little. Just old and hard from age.

He said if it was his he would carve the lugs down an inch or two.
Something about the tall lugs just chew up the dirt and sink.

Is that correct? I have heard folks mention "rice" tires but I never knew what they meant.
I don't know if I can bring myself to cut the lugs down on a tractor tire knowing what they cost.
Also it sounds like a crappy way to spend an afternoon.

The good news is I did win a 2nd place ribbon in my class.
So if you tell it right: I won a 2nd place ribbon in a tractor pull with my 1052 John Deere AR the other day.

Not many folks can say that.

I did have fun doing it.

 

[hawkeye08]

The tractor pull I went to recently had tractors with newer (deeper lugs) pulling better than the ones with less tread left... but all the ones that really pulled had low tire pressure, the sidewalls wrinkled when they were pulling. Also, they did not accelerate (give more throttle when pulling, seemed to give it a bit less as the pull went by, the few that gave more throttle seemed to start spinning and then stopped...

Good luck, and as they often say around here, pictures, pictures, pictures..

 

[DJ54]

Do you have rear weights, or tires loaded..?? Drawbar at max. height..?? Problem with the standard treads is they are nose heavy. So, you need to get all the height on the drawbar you can, right at the limit, so the chain is pulling down. If you're weighted up,. and at max. height, then the only option is go to the next weight class, with a lot of the weight on the rear. Yeah, maybe not worth it..., but bet you'll surprise them next year..!! You'd be surprised at how many people remember things like that from a previous year. At least us hard core amateur pullers do...

A buddy of mine used to pull his JD 60, right out of the field. Granted, it had an M&W .060 kit in it, and Rice Tires. And 60's have a real low 1rst gear. Pretty neat watching him pull, and the roll-o-matic front end keep one tire on the track. Eventually, both wheels came off the track. And as mentioned, he would be pulling back on the throttle a bit at a time. Even at that, she would spin out, but always seemed to win his class.

There is a big difference between a hard track, and a softer clay, or power track. I wuld do better on a hard track, where my bud with the rice tires did better on the power track.

On the other hand, posted below is a couple of pics of me on my Farmall BN many moons ago... 3,000 lb. class, and I weighed in at 2995 lbs. Max. drawbar height, and ballast in the seat where you need it, LOL... Steered it by leaning, like the garden tractor pullers. Of course, this was a tug pull, not transfer sled. She came off the line like that,and a full pull is only 20 ft. But I won the class..!! And probably one of the reason they now require the front wheels to stay on the track, or fasrly close anyway... But, what kind of fun is that..??

 

[Cecil Stults]

DJ54,

No, I have no weights. My tractor is right out of the field also.
I thought about filling them with water at least.

The track was another factor they just filled the ruts in with a blade after each pull. The track was pretty well chewed up at the end. Last few pullers almost took out the spectators looking for a good lane to pull in.

I will start looking around for some weights to use. I did pass up some earlier in the year because I was too lazy to pick them up. Too dang hot during July in TX to mess with it.

I don't think there are many options on the drawbar height on the tractor but I will check.

Thanks for the reply.