In this story, we will reveal these 2 new tractors of the German Team. But first, we start with the history of the team. Everything started many years ago with stock tractors in the stock class of their own operation and the circle of friends on local brush pulls.
Usually, the plan was to run with the tractor in the 3.6t super sport class under the flag of the DTTO in Germany, but that wasn't possible due to the rules. So the only option was to build or purchase a new tractor. After some negotiations, the guys purchased a used IH 3.6t super sport tractor from the Netherlands at the end of 2014. Short said they had now a machine which they could compete in the German Championship of the DTTO. So, the team around Paul Siebers registered the tractor in 3.6t super sport class for the Championship. The first year was more or less a learning year for the German team with some good successes at the rounds in Germany. 
For the 2016 season, the tractor was completely overhauled, improved and a new lighter chassis was built. The rebuilt Farmall tractor looked much better and more aggressive compared to the year before and also ran now much better. Those were the biggest changes on the Yellow Thunder since then, after that the IH Farmall only got some small changes and improvements on the engine. These improvements were helpful for the team, which brought them some round victories and 3 runner up places in a row in the German Championship from 2017-2019. But they never won a championship so far with the Yellow Thunder.
The 2nd step did the team in 2017 with an IH 1066 for the 4.5t super sport class tractor. At the end of 2016, Paul Siebers and his crew purchased the 4.5t super sport tractor called ''Red Warrior'' of Tommy Karlsson and Mikael Noorgard from Jeppo in Finland. After the tractor has arrived in the workshop of the team, the team did some changes on the roll cage and gave him a new paint job. The tractor was painted in yellow again, like the Yellow Thunder and the tractor was renamed in ''Yellow Nightmare''. The main color of his enterprise, so the decision was clear. With that purchase, the guys hoped to bring a little bit more wind into the not very known 4.5t super sport class in Germany. But unfortunately in those 2 years, in which they competed, nobody is really stepped into the class, so the IH 1066 was more or less a show puller on the events in Germany. But Paul and his team also wanted a real fight against other 4.5t super sport tractors, so the only possibility was to sign in the Yellow Nightmare into the Euro Challange for farm stock/super sport tractors in Europe. But that was always a hard fight against the top tractors from the Netherlands and Denmark. The best finish was a 3rd place at the Euro Challange round in Made, the Netherlands in 2017.
Already at the end of 2017, came the first considerations to make the next bigger step. The dream of Paul Siebers and Max Boskamp always was to have a big super stock tractor in the team. So the team started to talk with different super stock teams about their plans. But unfortunately, no super stock tractor was for sale at that time, so the only thing was to wait and see what happens on the pulling market. But during the summer of 2018 came a super stock tractor on the market, it wasn't a red one but a blue one which was pretty successful on national and international levels now and in the past. At that time, the Zapo Pulling Team from Bathmen, in the Netherlands around Bennie Harmelink and Theo Broekhuis have decided to stop with tractor pulling at the end of the season. 
So the German team had an eye on the New Holland tractor and made some talks with Bennie and Theo during the season. Already before the 2018 EC in Alphen, the Netherlands, Paul Siebers and his team decided to purchase the New Holland component super stock of the Zapo team. After the tractor was arrived in his new home the sheet metal around the chassis and some things on the hood were renewed and finally the color was changed from blue to yellow like on the other two super sport tractors which they have.
First to the new Yellow Nightmare: Already during the 2018/2019 season came the considerations to build a new tractor for the currently in Europe fast growing limited super stock class. The guys also made clear, they didn't want to compete in the 4.5t / 9920lbs super sport division anymore after the 2019 season and decided to offer the Yellow Nightmare for sale. Before the winter break, the decision was made in the team, to build a new tractor for the class on component base. But why has the team decided to step out of the 4.5t / 9920lbs super sport class with the IH 1066?
The reason unfortunately was, the 4.5t super sport class could never fully establish itself in Germany and thus only a conditional competition developed. But the Team was open to new and further developments in this sport segment in Germany, so it made sense to enter the limited super stock class. It was easier to focus on one direction for the Traktor Pulling Team Kleve and that has become alcohol in this case.
Usually, it was planned to sell the whole super sport tractor after the 2019 season. It was a lot of interest on the tractor, but unfortunately, nobody wanted to purchase the whole Yellow Nightmare tractor.
So, the team decided to use some parts of the old Yellow Nightmare for the new limited super stock project. Only the machined IH stock rearend, the IH gearbox, the chassis, and the diesel parts were not used for the new project. Some of the old parts like the chassis, the rearend, and the gearbox were already sold to the Netherlands during the last year. The main reason to built a limited super stock on component base was, the component tractor is much more flexible and, in particular, more pleasant when screwing.
For the new component tractor, they decided to build a tube frame instead of a steel wedge frame. A steel wedge frame would certainly have had clear advantages for their possibilities, especially in the production. But since they knew the tube frame behavior and the easy accessibility of the Yellow Dream super stock, the decision was made very quickly.
The limited super stock received a new developed homemade chrome-moly tube frame with a homemade 3 bar chrome-moly roll cage, a homemade hydraulic steering, a racing driver seat with a 4 point harness, a completely new front end with a new front axle and a newly built homemade sheet metal rearend with a newly developed drawbar.
The reason unfortunately was, the 4.5t super sport class could never fully establish itself in Germany and thus only a conditional competition developed. But the Team was open to new and further developments in this sport segment in Germany, so it made sense to enter the limited super stock class. It was easier to focus on one direction for the Traktor Pulling Team Kleve and that has become alcohol in this case.
So, the team decided to use some parts of the old Yellow Nightmare for the new limited super stock project. Only the machined IH stock rearend, the IH gearbox, the chassis, and the diesel parts were not used for the new project. Some of the old parts like the chassis, the rearend, and the gearbox were already sold to the Netherlands during the last year. The main reason to built a limited super stock on component base was, the component tractor is much more flexible and, in particular, more pleasant when screwing.
The limited super stock received a new developed homemade chrome-moly tube frame with a homemade 3 bar chrome-moly roll cage, a homemade hydraulic steering, a racing driver seat with a 4 point harness, a completely new front end with a new front axle and a newly built homemade sheet metal rearend with a newly developed drawbar.
The new roll cage looks the same as on the old tractor, but the position of the cage on the new tube frame is more forward. Also, the engine will sit lower in the frame compared to the old Yellow Nightmare, which gives a lower center of gravity.
The rear wheels on the limited super stock are a set of used cut Firestone 24.5-32 Puller 2000 HP tires on polished Midwest aluminum rims. The tires and the aluminum rims were taken over from the old Yellow Nightmare tractor.
Completely new in the tractor will be the drivetrain too. The drivetrain gets an SCS gearbox with a custom-built steel driveshaft, a Van der Waal Pulling Parts centrifugal clutch and a Browell aluminum clutch bell housing.
The hood will be the same like on the old Yellow Nightmare. It's an IH 1066 sheet metal hood which was built between 1971 and 1976. The sheet metal fenders were built completely new by the team himself.
The hood will be the same like on the old Yellow Nightmare. It's an IH 1066 sheet metal hood which was built between 1971 and 1976. The sheet metal fenders were built completely new by the team himself.
The new Yellow Nightmare will have a turbocharged 6 cylinder IH DT466 engine with a displacement of 7.6l on alcohol fuel. The engine comes out of the old Yellow Nightmare and will convert from diesel to alcohol. The displacement of the engine is with 9l (maximum displacement in the 4.5t super sport division in Europe) currently a bit too high for the use in the limited super stock class. So the guys decided to size down the engine to a displacement of 7.6l.
The power plant will have a machined DT 466 cast-iron block with new billet steel sleeves, a machined DT466 head with better valve springs and new valves, a billet steel camshaft, a homemade intake and exhaust manifold, a billet Holset HX82 turbocharger with a billet intake impeller wheel, a new balanced DT466 stock crank with billet aluminum rods and pistons, a Waterman fuel pump, a homemade fuel tank, homemade aluminum oil pan, an Aviaid oil pump, an MSD 8 ignition and a Racepak data logger.
With the new Yellow Nightmare, Paul Siebers and his crew hope to have a good running and reliable tractor which they also can fight for podium places in the 3.5t/7700lbs limited super stock class in the future.
With the new Yellow Nightmare, Paul Siebers and his crew hope to have a good running and reliable tractor which they also can fight for podium places in the 3.5t/7700lbs limited super stock class in the future.
The aim was actually to make changes to the Yellow Dream for the 2020 season. Unfortunately for known reasons, this has not happened and the changes stayed on the paper. But there were ideas and changes in mind. So, they decided to start with the development and building of a completely new component super stock vehicle. For them, it was simply easier to start from zero with a new project compared to make laborious changes on the Yellow Dream.
Like at the limited super stock the planning of the tractor started on the computer, not all the parts for the new super stock were developed on CAD. The main person in the team for the technical developements on the new tractors and the CAD work on the computer is Max Boskamp. Max also is one of the main drivers of their current New Holland super stock tractor ''Yellow Dream''. After the chassis was ready developed, all the single parts for the tube frame were manufactured by a local company.
After all the parts were ready, the team started to weld the frame together, which has taken some time in progress compared to a wedge frame, which currently most of the teams use.
The new component super stock will have a completely new homemade chrome-moly tube frame with a new developed 3 bar chrome-moly roll cage, a racing driver seat, a homemade hydraulic steering, a new constructed front axle with a set of new front tires and polished aluminum rims from the USA, new homemade weight and engine brackets, homemade chrome-moly tube wheelie bars and a homemade steel sheet metal rearend with a newly built hitch and drawbar. From the first view of the new tube chassis, there are not very many changes to see compared to the old chassis of the Yellow Dream. But if you take a closer look at the new chassis there are some major changes to see.
The new component super stock will have a completely new homemade chrome-moly tube frame with a new developed 3 bar chrome-moly roll cage, a racing driver seat, a homemade hydraulic steering, a new constructed front axle with a set of new front tires and polished aluminum rims from the USA, new homemade weight and engine brackets, homemade chrome-moly tube wheelie bars and a homemade steel sheet metal rearend with a newly built hitch and drawbar. From the first view of the new tube chassis, there are not very many changes to see compared to the old chassis of the Yellow Dream. But if you take a closer look at the new chassis there are some major changes to see.
The new sheet metal rearend received a Rockwell Meritor aluminum center section with a Rockwell Meritor diff, a Rockwell Meritor ring and pinion gear and aluminum/magnesium planetaries carrier housing with ZF planetaries. The new sheet metal rearend should be lighter compared to the old rearend of the Yellow Dream. Currently, the rear wheels of the tractor are a set of new cut Firestone Puller 2000HP tires on polished Midwest aluminum rims. The cut tires and the rims were purchased from somewhere in the USA. Also completely new will be the drivetrain of the tractor. 
Currently, it's planned the new project will receive a SCS gearbox, a homemade steel driveshaft between the gearbox and the clutch and a 4 disc centrifugal clutch by Van der Waal Pulling parts from Hoeven in the Netherlands. The centrifugal clutch will be protected then by a Browell aluminum clutch bell housing which is SFI safety proved.The most interesting stuff about the tractor is definitely the newly built sheet metal hood. The newly built hood is made of aluminum sheet metal and is based on a Minneapolis-Moline G1355 hood. The Minneapolis-Moline tractor brand is very well known in the USA but not so known in Europe. The company was founded in 1929 through the merger of Minneapolis Steel and Machinery, Minneapolis Threshing Machine Company, and Moline Plow Company.
But only 34 years later, the Minneapolis, Minnesota based company was taken over by the agricultural machinery company White in 1963. But the brand name Minneapolis-Moline was used for the tractor until 1974.
The Minneapolis-Moline G1355 stock tractor was built between 1972 and 1974 in the Minneapoline-Moline factory in Charles City, Iowa in the USA. The G-1355 was sold under the Minneapolis-Moline, Oliver, Cockshutt, and White brands. In White and Cockshutt colors it was sold as 2270.
Currently, it's planned the new project will receive a SCS gearbox, a homemade steel driveshaft between the gearbox and the clutch and a 4 disc centrifugal clutch by Van der Waal Pulling parts from Hoeven in the Netherlands. The centrifugal clutch will be protected then by a Browell aluminum clutch bell housing which is SFI safety proved.The most interesting stuff about the tractor is definitely the newly built sheet metal hood. The newly built hood is made of aluminum sheet metal and is based on a Minneapolis-Moline G1355 hood. The Minneapolis-Moline tractor brand is very well known in the USA but not so known in Europe. The company was founded in 1929 through the merger of Minneapolis Steel and Machinery, Minneapolis Threshing Machine Company, and Moline Plow Company. But only 34 years later, the Minneapolis, Minnesota based company was taken over by the agricultural machinery company White in 1963. But the brand name Minneapolis-Moline was used for the tractor until 1974.
The Minneapolis-Moline G1355 stock tractor was built between 1972 and 1974 in the Minneapoline-Moline factory in Charles City, Iowa in the USA. The G-1355 was sold under the Minneapolis-Moline, Oliver, Cockshutt, and White brands. In White and Cockshutt colors it was sold as 2270.
But back again to the pulling machine. The hood on the new component super stock is a replica of the original G1355 sheet metal hood. The original one would be too small and not wide enough due to the later big engine in pulling tractor. So the easiest way was to make measurements from an original hood and then to build it a bit bigger out of aluminum sheet metal. The building of the hood takes a lot of time, but the result is impressive. Another advantage is the aluminum sheet metal hood is much lighter compared to the original one.
Also, the rear fenders on the new tractor are homemade and base on the original G1355 sheet metal fenders.
All the sheet metal work on the tractor was done by the team himself with the support of Korgel Maschinenbau GmbH from Kleve in Germany. One thing is certain the guys will be the first team with a Minneapolis-Moline hood in Europe on a pulling machine in the future. In the USA there are a couple of pulling tractors on the start which are using MM hood. One of them is the 10000lbs component pro stock tractor called ''Xtra Butter'' of Russ Yoder from Topeka, Indiana. He's also using a MM G1355 hood on his pro stock machine.
The Minneapolis-Moline G1355 will receive a 6 cylinder Cummins engine with 4 turbochargers in 2 stages on methanol. The original Cummins engine has a displacement of 8.3l, but they will increase the displacement to 10.5l. 10.5l is the maximum displacement for super stock tractors in Europe.
But which parts the engine later will have is currently not 100% sure. Sure is the engine will have a billet cylinder head with a billet camshaft, a 4 Holset turbocharger setup, a homemade fuel tank, an MSD 8 ignition and a Racepak data logger.
From the engine view, it will be almost the same as the engine in the Yellow Dream, but with a lot of improvements and more power.
Currently, almost all the sheet metal work around the tractor is done, but the rest of it, like the engine, drivetrain and many more little things are still in work, so the build now will take some time until it is ready to run.
How you could see and read in the story there is a lot going in their workshop in Kleve and the lights will not go out so fast anytime soon.
The work on the new Yellow Nightmare limited super stock is pretty far and maybe a start in front of a sled should be possible at the end of the year, but that also depends on the covid 19 situations in the coming months. Maybe it would be possible to start at the home event for the team. A start of the new Minneapolis-Moline G1355 component super stock is out of reach for this year and it's currently not sure when the new tractor will hit the track for the first time. But the first run in front of the sled should be possible in 2022.
It is sure, both tractors will bring new life into the limited super stock and super stock division in Germany!
For further information, check here: https://www.facebook.com/TractorpullingTeamKleve/
The Minneapolis-Moline G1355 will receive a 6 cylinder Cummins engine with 4 turbochargers in 2 stages on methanol. The original Cummins engine has a displacement of 8.3l, but they will increase the displacement to 10.5l. 10.5l is the maximum displacement for super stock tractors in Europe.
But which parts the engine later will have is currently not 100% sure. Sure is the engine will have a billet cylinder head with a billet camshaft, a 4 Holset turbocharger setup, a homemade fuel tank, an MSD 8 ignition and a Racepak data logger.
Currently, almost all the sheet metal work around the tractor is done, but the rest of it, like the engine, drivetrain and many more little things are still in work, so the build now will take some time until it is ready to run.
How you could see and read in the story there is a lot going in their workshop in Kleve and the lights will not go out so fast anytime soon.
The work on the new Yellow Nightmare limited super stock is pretty far and maybe a start in front of a sled should be possible at the end of the year, but that also depends on the covid 19 situations in the coming months. Maybe it would be possible to start at the home event for the team. A start of the new Minneapolis-Moline G1355 component super stock is out of reach for this year and it's currently not sure when the new tractor will hit the track for the first time. But the first run in front of the sled should be possible in 2022.
It is sure, both tractors will bring new life into the limited super stock and super stock division in Germany!
For further information, check here: https://www.facebook.com/TractorpullingTeamKleve/
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