Holy Cow Tractor Pulling Team

Thursday, August 18, 2005

Bowling Green, OH (almost)

I drove the Semi to work and Stacey met me there. We left Kokomo about 11:30 on the way to pick up Brad and then on to Bowling Green. We expected to get there about 5PM or so and hopefully could get through tech.

We were traveling eastbound on US 24 between Peru and Wabash when we blew a trailer tire. That makes the 2nd one in 2 trips. In 2002, when we blew all the tires, we found that the axles weren't aligned. Once I fixed that, we have hardly had a blown tire, at least without a reason. So, now with two this close together, I am thinking we go something going on.

I am having problems getting the spare out of the rack under the trailer, so I crawl under and kick the tire out of the rack. While I am there, I look around and see a big crack in axle, on the opposite side that blew the tire. I get the tire fixed and when we get the trailer back on all fours, it is obvious that the tire on the cracked axle is bent way out. The crack is between the two U-bolts centered right on the sway arm. The crack is completely through, starting about 1/3 of the way from the top, extending all the way down, underneath, and back up the other side about the same amount. The bottom of the crack is already spread more than 1/4".

I know there is a truck stop in Peru with a service center, and I don't know what is in Wabash, so we turn around and head back to Peru. It is obvious that we won't make it to BG without some repair. Well the service center only changes tires and does oil changes, not real repair work. For $30 they would be willing to have a welder look at the axle and tell me if he thought he could weld it. I asked if they had a way to align the spindles so that the axle would be straight when I was welded. They said no, it would just be temporary. I knew that if the axle was welded back, essentially, in a bent manner, I would just keep blowing tires. They started calling around for a new axle, but never got back to us. If you are in Peru, IN and need truck repair, don't bother with S & S, they are pretty much worthless.

We made a lot of calls and found the Merrits Truck Repair, essentially right across the street from work, might have and axle that would fit. I figured I limped it this far, I could make the next jaunt back to Kokomo. At least I am getting it closer to home and it seems more likely it won’t be fixed. Well, when we get there, I find out they scrapped all their old axles out. They also said I would need a new axle that this one was not repairable. They flat out told me there is no way they could get me on the road this week.

OK, so we make the remaining 15 mile trek home. By the time we get in the driveway, the axle is so bent that the tire is nearly rubbing the fender. We spend the next 4 hours or so on the phone trying to find a trailer, truck, or whatever to get me to BG, but finally give up. I do want to sent a special thank you out to the Brad Plattner, the Barga's, the Tedder's, the Schoenemann's, and all the other random people I called trying to find something that would work.

So, it is a sad day for us. We were sitting comfortably in 4th place, both nationally and in Enderle points. By missing Bowling Green, it will drop us to 6th or 7th place, eliminating us from the Enderle pull off next weekend and keeping us from end of season money in the Grand National circuit. We are also going to miss a state hook Monday at Lima, also mathematically eliminating us from any HSTPA title.

So, it is obvious to me that our trailer is simply too light duty for the amount of weight we have to carry. It is a great trailer, very roomy and comfortable in the inside, but just doesn't have the suspension for a mod tractor. This will be our last season for this combination.

With the sudden drop in points, the issues with the hauler, the ridiculous cost of fuel and just generally being burnt out, we are ending our pulling season a little early. We will be going to Sandwich, IL to fulfill our NTPA commitment on the Grand National Circuit, and that will mark the final trip in this truck, and our final pull of the season.

I am putting the truck and trailer up for sale as soon as I get it fixed. If you are interested, please contact me.

As far as the tractor goes, we had already planning on sitting next year out. I don't know at this point if it makes sense to buy/build a new hauler or just sell the tractor. If you are interested in the tractor, please contact me as well. I WILL ONLY SELL THE TRACTOR COMPLETE. I have a lot going on in my life right now, and there just isn't enough time to do all the other things and tractor pull as well. If it sells, I will miss it and try to stay connected to the sport as an official or some other means. If it doesn't sell, we may be out in '07, but a lot of that depends on the hauler situation and other activities in my life.

Effective immediately, All remaining T-Shirts are being clearanced at $5 plus shipping, while supplies last.    

Monday, August 15, 2005

Berrien Springs, MI
I have always liked this pull. The pit area is like an obstacle course with little trees all over and really far from the track, but the track itself is half indoors and half out. The track is usually unique because the track inside tends to be much better than the track outside and it really becomes a challenge to set your tractor up right.

This night was different. The track was superb. Probably the best power track we have pulled on this year. I think the track got better as the class went on, so our draw of 4th in a class of 9 wasn't the best, but you play the hand you are dealt.

Don Deane was in the lead with 277 when we hooked and we made a beautiful pass to 291.87. Tom Hartzell said he needed to see Stacey and I after our class, and he commented to me I had probably won anyway. Stahl rode the brakes hard and Krider finished 3 feet behind me.

War Wagon II made a great pass and blew it out to 307, knocking us to 2nd. Todd Feiss finishes with a 291.91, beating me by just over 7/16" of an inch.

Tom had us come up on stage and we were presented with a "H2Oly Cow" law watering sprinkler. I need to get it hooked up an post some pictures.

The best part was that we were 2nd class and made it home at a decent time.

Saturday, August 13, 2005

Coldwater, MI
Coldwater is one of our favorite pulls. I had never been to Coldwater before I started pulling, but we have quickly met a lot of people from that area and it is almost more like a hometown pull for us, than our actual hometown pulls.

Coldwater has usually been a pretty good track and we usually do pretty well there. I'm an not sure what was different this year, but the track just didn't stay together. In the first three classes, everyone took the right side of the track, but most of the vehicles started bouncing from the 75-125' range. A couple really got mixed up and it was one of those nights I am suprised we didn't see one flip.

The mod class started on the right, and again, the tractor bounced a little. They did settle down and no one had a wild ride, but the hole short just wasn't there. The left side of the track was soft because no one tried it. I was eyeing it, and Ken Miller ran it. He made a pretty good pass. It tried to suck him right, but he had a good hole shot. My thought was that the poorer track was a better option than bouncing. Feiss took the sled back to center and made a scenic pass down the track finishing just behind Miller. I went back to the left, but there was no track left, Miller had used it all up. It pulled me hard to the right and I just never hooked. I finished behind Feiss, and an in third. Krider and Stahl moved back to the right. Both looked like better passes than mine, but didn't have hold shot. Krider finished just inches behind me and Stahl was back still. That left Deane. At this point, it seemed obvious that there wasn't any good track left, but Deane found it and made a picture perfect run some 20' ahead of Miller for the win.

As always, Sled operator Danny Nearpass fed us a nice dinner afterwards.

The good news is that I got my experimental belts in from Gates and all three engines were running at the end of the pass.

Monday, August 08, 2005

South Bend, IN
I had always heard the S. Bend had a sandy track. I was expecting a sandy track like Noblesville, Allegan, or some of the others. But, I was wrong, it wasn't a sand rack, it was a sand box. It was soft and just sand, without a hint of soil. I know all of us were scratching our heads thinking what do I do with this?

But, we all have the same track to pull on and, even though there is nothing for the tractors to get a hold of, the same goes for the sled.

As the class started, I was surprised. The track actually pulled pretty well, the track crew did a great job of keeping it in shape, and I think the crew did the best job they could with what they had to work with. We drew last hook in the class of 8 mods.

As the class went on, they had the right sled setting and two tractor made it out the gate, Deane and Krider. I selected the gear, tire pressure, and nose weight that I thought would work. I hooked to the sled and opened the throttle. The tractor skated around a little, until the sled loaded the back tired and then it hooked. The nose picked up and I started really picking up ground speed. I had a great hook going when, boom, we broke a blower belt. It was early in the run, so we didn't have the inertia to carry us through like at some pulls in the past. We ended up 6th.

The one piece of excitement came at the end of the run. When the belt came off, it caught the throttle cable and kinked it, holding the butterflies open. So, at the end of the run, the motors continued to run at wide open throttle. I struggled to pull them closed, while simultaneously hitting the electrical kills. Nothing was hurt, but it was a brief period of panic.

Gates was supposed to send new belts last week that are of new construction. Hopefully, they will come in this week.

Friday, August 05, 2005

Eaton, OH
First, let me say that we got home and looked in the brake situation. What happened in the brake rotor is actually twisting relative to the hub. What is happening is the "spokes" are bending a little and causing the rearward ears to move towards the center of the hub. We popped the rotor of the planetary and found the ID of the rotor to be .035" smaller than the OD of the planetary. As soon as we removed the rotor, it sprung flat. I clamped the rotor to a rotary table in the mill and machined the ID back to nominal and everything fit back up where used to be.

We drew second hook behind Bob Soisson. It was obvious that the track was not all that good, a little on the dry side, but I know from years past this track fools you and is usually better than it looks. Bob went about 272 with probably the best hook that could be made. We followed up with a 268. I had a hard time getting out of the hole, bouncing a little at first. The track official made the decision to reset the sled and lighten it up. Deane was already hooked to the sled, so he became the new test hook. Soisson would go next and we kept our early hook with third. I made the decision that my hot engines would hurt me less than cooler engines on a track that was certainly going to go away.

Deane and Soisson easily got it out the gate. My thought was that they lightened it too much and I didn't want to make a third run. (This is a Ohio pull, so a full pull is 310'. All they did was lengthen the track 10 feet.) I came out hard, but the engines were too hot and never really sounded like they are capable. Also, I was nose heavy. Still, I made a decent pass and finished at 303'. One at a time the tractors came down. The other two turbines, Krause and Barga, both made it out, but no other piston powered tractor broke the 300' plane. That put us in 5th and winning the piston class. Deane won in the pull off with Barga second.

In the Monday Morning Quarterback session that always occurs during the remainder of the class, I though that if I had moved 100# back and maybe dropped 6 to let the motors cool a bit more, I might have gotten that 7' feet that would put me in the pulloff. But, then I thought, I wouldn't have made a third pass anyway and since no one finished between me and the 310' line, it wouldn't have changed my placings at all, so I think it really didn't matter.

Ionia, MI (session 2)
In a rare situation, Mods were first class. Usually we are last and have two classes to watch and see where the good and bad parts are on the track. This was not the case tonight. The good news is that we would be the first class to leave and the first class to get home, which is welcomed following the busy 4 days.

First up was Ed Boyer. In what seemed like an eternity, he finally got backed up to the sled. I don't know what the problem was, but I think he was getting bad signals and just wasn't getting centered on the sled. The we find out, Ed had forgotten to cover his Louisville hitch with tape and the sled man hooked on the wrong drawbar. He tightened the chain and as soon as he rolled on the throttle, the hitch broke and the tractor silently rolled out to about 150', leaving the hitch still hooked to the chain.

Then, a group of tractors all tried the higher right side of the track. One by one, the went, fighting the left brake to say in bounds. The track seemed poor and the tractors bucked and rolled and were hooking and unhooking to the track. Diekman brought the sled over to the left side and made a great pass that put him in 1st. A few more tractors went, again on the right side, and again with the same results. Barga moved the sled to the left and made great pass, putting them in the lead. Jostock and Snyder again tried the right side with no luck. We again put the sled on the left side and made a great pass. From where I stopped, I couldn't tell if I had beat Barga or not, but shortly, the scoreboard told the tale. I was about 1.5 feet behind them.

Congratulations to the Barga's for the first GN win in a turbine tractor. This marks the 10th hook on the GN circuit this year and 5 of the 7 pre-committed tractors have won an event. Oddly enough, both Allison powered tractors Top Gun and Rat Poison have not yet had a win, but the third Allison tractor of Money pit leads the field with 3 wins. This had been a great GN season so far with everyone in the mix at every event.

Money Pit and Predator are only one point apart going into Bowling Green. Slagh is a ways back in third after the unfortunate kill switch issue the night before. We are back a bit more in 4th, and hold a slight lead over 5th place Top Gun.

Tuesday, August 02, 2005

Ionia, MI (Session 1)
We head to the Barga's farm and spend the next few hours hooking up the fourth motor and changing gear boxes. There was a great picture of the Judge and the Cow sitting more or less next to each other with lots of parts taken off, lots of people (mostly Barga's), forklifts, etc. I just don't know if it ever got taken.

We arrive safely in Ionia the next day after a good nights sleep. The track at Ionia is a banked race track sloping from right to left. Pro's were first up and we noticed two things...First, they were building a road, so the track got better as the class went on with the winner being the last tractor to hook. Second, the sloped, right side of the track didn't look to good.

With 11 tractor, we were in the middle of the pack. The mods all played on the left to center of the track. My first thought was to start high on the right side of the track and pull down to the left corner, converting the potential energy of the sled into kinetic energy (ooops, sorry, slipped into engineering mode) I mean the sled pulls easier down hill. But, my concern was that if the sled started pushing the tractor to the left, I couldn't stop it. So, the left line seemed like the place to be. Everyone agreed.

We made a great pass and everything was going along good until about 200' when the front left belt let go. We still had a nice pass and ended up 4th, the first tractor not in the pulloff.

Money Pit beat Downs in the pulloff and Top Gun had a clutch problem and was unable to come back.

Other events of note. Slagh had his kill switch come out internally, but didn't break the wire tie, so he was not allowed a repull. Downs also broke a belt, but easily got the tractor out. I think we was too hot in the pulloff.

We finished the night playing the nail game until about 3:30AM with the Barga's, Diekman's, Snyder's, and Jamie from Doug Downs crew. A good time was had by all.

Hamilton, OH
OK, so at this point, I know I have issues with the right brake. I know the rotor is warped because the ID of the rotor is too small for the OD of the hub. What I need is a really big lathe. What I have is....nothing that would help. What I need to do over the next 3 pulls is make sure the tractor doesn't want to go left.

Big class here tonight as both HSTPA and OSTPA tractors show up for this big pull. Ken Miller is first up and runs the right sideline. Picture perfect pass and doesn't seem like he used the brake. I am fourth hook and run about the same line. The tractor starts to drift left a little and I fight hard to get it straight. I make a good pass, but the brake leave me about 10' off of Kenny. As the pull goes on, it is obvious the track is going away. Everyone starts having problems with the hole shot. Deane is near the end and makes a great looking pass, finishing just a few feet behind me. We end up in second.

Marion Co (Indianapolis), IN
I'm way behind and really busy, so I will make it short. Better show this year with 7 mods. Unfortunately for the pullers, but good for the fans, the sled was too light with all but two making the pulloff.

Our first run was great and we back out of the throttle and coasted to 316. On the repull, we ran almost an identical spot on the track, picked the front end and headed for the sideline. I hit the right brake as hard as I could, but nothing happened. This time when I told my arm to ease out, it listened and I gracefully slowed to a DQ.

Unfortunately, it was a super pass the first time and it is hard to believe the track could change so much in so little time. It wasn't just us, everyone had a nice first pass and struggled in the pull off.

My first thought as they towed me off the track was that I hadn't gotten all the oil off the brake rotor (like in the cooling holes) and it loaded up the pads again. Closer inspection the next day at Hamilton showed the rotor was saucer shaped and the pads were touching 100% of the surface. At least nothing broke.

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