—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, December 10,1977
100
Toy tractors aren’t just for kids
By JOANNE SPAHR
SCHOENECK - The
crowd waits in quiet an
ticipation, keeping their eyes
on the track. In the pits,
contestants mill around their
tractors, adjusting the front
and rear weights and
checking tires as they
prepare for the next class to
begin.
Suddenly, the scream of an
engine slices through the air
and all eyes turn to the
tractor approaching the
starting line. Sending up a
cloud of smoke, it struggles
against the formidable sled
opponent-to its rear, with its
tires clawing for the track
ahead.
In a short time the event is
over, and the official runs to
check the distance. The pull
measures 14 feet, and with a
smile the driver picks up his
tractor and heads for his
work area to change weights
for the next class.
This sport is called micro
mmi tractor pulling, and
instead of dealing with huge
diesel engines, thousands of
pounds of machinery, and
the same amount of in-
Unlike full-size tractor pulls, weighing in during micro-mini competition is done
with a baby scales.
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JAMES L NEWSWAN6ER
AT BLUEBALL
MACHINE WORKS
(717)354-4478 Evenings call (717) 354-9431 (215)445-4191
Micro-mini tractor
vestment, it involves “toy”
tractors, model airplane
engines, and a little over $lOO
initial investment.
“I have to admit it hooks
you,” said one contestant
from Delaware who com
peted in a pul! held recently
in Lancaster County, “You
can get a lot more than $lOO
wrapped up in it once you get
started.”
But, getting started is the
key. All it takes is a l/16th
scale farm tractor model
which has been altered to
mount a model airplane
engine and a gear reduction
mechanism between the
miniature tractor’s rear
wheels.
The minipull, which is
patterned after large scale
tractor pulls, was born in
Missouri with competitive
pulling beginning . there
about three years ago. The
sport has since caught on
around the country.
Taking place on a 16 by 2
foot plywood track, the
object of each sport is to pull
the miniature weight
transfer sled the furthest
distance in the allotted time
A 1 water Jackat surrounds tha fire on back,
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Steering in a micro-mini tractor pull is done by
touching only the front side of the tractor with a
< *
* v
* * V
I '• V*
i * • v'-jr-
> % %“ wa»
■- r >Vf
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tills
period - about 18 seconds.
The ultimate is a full pull,
which is 15 feet.
- , *
To keep the sport com
petitive,. engines can be no
larger than .051 cubic inches
with of these power plants
winding out to 20,000 rpm. In
the hot rod division, the
motor may not exceed .20"
total displacement.
By changing gears and
adding wheel and front-end
weights, a puller can use one
*,
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ularity ■
pencil or a flat stick held in a vertical position.
tractor to compete in the
three, four, and five pound
weight classes. The six
pound class is optional.
Actually, while the large
pulls are louder and visually
more impressive, the
minipulls are more powerful
- pound for pound - than the
real McCoys.
“These engines pull
anywhere from eight to 10
times their weight,” said a
puller from the Blue Hen
Micro Mini Pullers club,
recently. This is in com
parison to full-size rigs
which pull on about a one-to
one ratio.
To guide these miniatures,
each contestant is allowed to
use a pencil or a flat stick
held in the vertical position.
Any pushing, battering, or
pulling of the tractor causes
the puller to be disqualified.
The purpose is to guide the
(Continued on Page 121)
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