AC 616 or Simp. 4040 puller

[Guest]

Hey everyone! I went to a really good tractor show today, and saw the garden tractor pullers try to reach the white line while pulling #1500. The guys on the Cub cadets sometimes did and one guy in a economy did once. I was wondering about pulling with a Simplcity 4040 or AC equivalent and thought that I'd try to get some opinions about it. I know that they have hydros instead of gear drives, would pulling 1500lbs. under that much stress hurt the hydro drive or not? I'm not concerned about the engine as much as I am of the hydro. I'd like to get as many opinions as possible before I try anything. Thanks for the help! Mark

[powermax_paul 1]

Depends upon how much you like your 4040/616. I think it would walk all over the Cub Cadets but I value my tractors too much to try it. Maybe you got more guts than me! pp

[AGCO918 0]

Tractor pulling is by class and weight. The weight means the weight of the tractor and driver cannot exceed that weight. The 4040 is a lot of tractor (weight) with not much hp. This would put you in a heavy weight class, and most places probably in the compact tractor class. As you know many compact tractors are 25 to 30 hp. Hydro-they don't work well for pulling, and are too expensive to fix. They hydro absorbs about 2 to 3 hp vs. and gear drive, and (I believe this is correct) the hydro is variable torque/variable speed. Any time the hydro is less than full speed (maximum pumping rate) you are not transferring full torque from the engine. Pullers adjust their pulling speed (different gear ratio) to maintain a balance of power/speed. Go as fast as you can and still keep the engine in the power curve. The conditions warrent the speed. I have pulled as slow as 2.5 mph and ran out of power and have pulled as fast as 8.4 mph, some tracks are really sticky. Mike.