Tractor Pulling News - Pulling-World.com: 6/1/22

After 39 successful years in the tractor pulling sport, the Rising Star Pulling Team from Oene in the Netherlands has decided to stop completely with tractor pulling. That decision was made by the team around 2 months ago due to the health problems of their driver Jan Bosman. Jan, currently 65, suffers from neck problems for quite a while and the troubles were getting not better in the last few months. It was a difficult decision by the brothers Jan and Henk Bosman to make that step after so a long time in the pulling circus. In this story, we are looking back what happened with the team in those 39 years.

During this time, they have not only competed with an Isotov turbine-powered tractor, but they also ran with different kinds of engines/turbines in this time. But more about that in that story.
Jan and Henk Bosman started with tractor pulling in 1983 because their neighbour had competed with farm/standard tractors at pulls of the NTTO, the Dutch Tractor Pulling Organization. At the annual fair the Oener Koefeest came Klaas Buitenhuis (at that time owner of the Foxy Lady) with his sled for a competition with local farm tractors and modified tractors.
Their neighbor asked Jan Bosman to mount a turbocharger on a Fordson Major stock tractor and after that together they built a modified tractor with a Deutz V8 engine in 6 weeks.

The Deutz V8-powered mod was called ''Bolako''. Jan, Henk and their neighbor competed with stock tractors and the Bolako modified at that pull in Oene, the Netherlands.
After only a single year with the Bolako in the modified class, Henk and Jan Bosman sold the tractor to a new owner in Germany in January 1984. After the tractor was sold, the two brothers purchased the Dutch modified tractor called ''Woody Woodpecker'' of Jan Romviel. The modified tractor was equipped with a Rover Meteor V8 engine from a Centurion tank.

The tractor was renamed in Bolako, like the previous mod tractor. Jan and Henk Bosman pulled with the mod machine at the organization of Klaas Buitenhuis from 1984 to 1986. Meanwhile, during the time, Henk and Jan Bosman purchased 5 18-cylinder Curtiss Wright R-3350 radial engines for a new project. During the winter of 1986/1987, they built a brand new modified tractor with a Curtiss Wright R-3350 power plant. That tractor became the first tractor with the name Rising Star of the team. But unfortunately, that radial-powered modified tractor never hooked in front of a sled. The reason for that was all 5 engines that the team had purchased had big technical issues.

After a lot of trying to get these problems sorted out, finally, the team gave up the radial engine-powered mod project. But already at the end of 1987, they had found a new engine for the tractor, but an engine without pistons this time. The team purchased a Rolls-Royce Napier Gazelle Mk161 turbine with 1450hp from a Westland Wessex helicopter.

In 1988, the 18-cylinder Curtiss Wright engine was replaced by the Rolls-Royce Napier Gazelle turbine. Before the tractor hit the track for the first time, the Dutch had to make some more changes to the tractor, before they could run with the turbine on the tractor.

The rebuilt Rising Star debuted for the first time at the Dutch Championship round on the Flevohof in September 1988. Henk and Jan Bosman competed with the single turbine-powered tractor from 1988 until the end of 1994 on Dutch pulling tracks under the NTTO banner. The Rising Star Team ran with the tractor in the NTTO A-Division (now Grand National) and in the NTTO B-Division (now National) during this time. In the NTTO A-Division, they competed in the 3.4t modified class and in the B-Division in the 3.4t and 4.4t modified class. The best result with the single turbine at an A-Division event was a 3rd place in the 3.4t modified class at the Flevohof in 1991.

Already at that time, the tractor was underpowered for the 3.4t modified class, so the only way for them was to build another new tractor with more horsepower.
This plan was implemented during the winter of 1993/1994. The team from Oene built a completely new tractor with 2 Rolls-Royce Napier Gazelle turbines for the 3.4 and 4.4t modified class. That new Rising Star received a brand new homemade steel wedge frame with an Engler Machine & Tool rearend, a Kippley transmission, a new homemade crossbox with custom-built gears (like at the twin Griffon It Kypmantsje), and 2 Rolls-Royce Napier Gazelle Mk161 turbine with 1450hp each.

The turbines on the tractor were positioned side by side for a better balance.
That nice new built tractor did his maiden run with Jan Bosman behind the wheel on the Dutch A-Division pull at the beginning of July 1994 in Eext. After the maiden event with the new tractor, the 2 brothers had to make some adjustments in the rearend due to some problems.
After the changes were done, the team achieved with the new twin Napier Gazelle Mk161 turbine-powered Rising Star the audience award at the pull in Lochem, the Netherlands 1994 and a nice 2nd place in the 3.4t mod class in Meerkerk, the Netherlands.

In the A-division, they competed in the 3400 kg class and in the B-division 3400 and 4400 kg class, like with the old tractor. The best result in the B-Division was a win in the 4.4t modified class at the event in Putten, the Netherlands in 1994. With some further strong results during the 94 season, the Rising Star Team finished in a strong runner-up position in the B-division point standings of the 4.4t modified class. That was a great result for them with the brand-new tractor.

In 1995, the tractor ran much better than in 94, and also the last technical issues were solved during the year.

That brought the team a couple of wins in the A-division and B-division in both classes. Especially the highlight for them was 3.4t modified class in the A-division. Those wins and consistent results brought them a great runner-up place in point standings, right behind the radial engine-powered tractor called ''White Horse 6''. That also meant Jan and Henk were qualified for the first time for a European Championship. That 95 European Championship was held in Hörby in Sweden. The team traveled all the way to Sweden, but it wasn't so successful for the guys from Oene in the Netherlands. In the first attempt, Jan couldn't keep the tractor in bounds and was disqualified.

His final attempt was much better, unfortunately, he missed the full pull by just 85 cm and was out of contention for the top places at the EC. the 99.15 m were only enough for the 9th place in this class.

The 1996 season went even better for them, for the first time in their team history they could win the Dutch Championship title in the A-Division of the 3.4t modified class. With that title, the team was again qualified for the European Championship in Jurva, Finland. Like in Hörby, Sweden the year before, they struggled a bit with the sandy track and the not straight running tractor there. Jan could qualify the Rising Star for the finals, but more than 8th place was not in.

That was one spot better than the year before at EC.
By the note, the Rising Star Team was awarded by the NTTO as puller of the year for 3 years in a row from 1994 to 1996.
1997 was the final year of the twin turbine-powered Rising Star. But that season was earlier over than first thought. During the mid of the season, they got technical troubles with those RR Napier Gazelle turbines on the Rising Star. Unfortunately, there were no further spare turbines for sale, and the team had to stop with the tractor in the middle of the 1997 season.

During the rest of the year, the Dutch team built a new workshop.
At the end of 1997, the team already had plans to build a new Rising Star for the 3.4t modified class. That new tractor usually should have 4 Klimov Isotov TV2 turbines from a Russian helicopter. Henk and Jan purchased for that new project at the time 8 Isotov TV2 turbines from Martin Ortkrass (owner and driver of the triple turbine-powered Iwan) and Matthias Vogelsang (owner and driver of the triple turbine-powered Erlkönig) from Langenberg in Germany.
But after some weight calculations and weight troubles, the team decided to set that 4 Isotov TV2 turbine powered mod project again on ice and a different plan was made for a new modified tractor.

After some considerations, Henk and Jan Bosman purchased 3 more powerful Klimov Isotov TV3 turbines from Eugen and Hans Kiemele in Eschach-Seifertshofen, Germany.
They started to build the new tractor with the Isotov TV3 turbines in 1998. The Dutch team also received support from fellow turbine pullers for the new Russian turbine-powered tractor. Help came from the Terminator Pulling Team from Belgium and Martin Ortkrass owner and driver of Iwan from Germany. The Terminator team helped with the new crossbox and Martin Ortkrass helped with the electric for the turbines and the tractor. For that new modified tractor, they used the old Engler Machine & Tool rearend and the Kippley transmission from the old tractor.

Also, the old 30.5x32 Firestone puller tires with the Midwest rims were taken over from the old tractor. The crossbox was completely new developed for the 3 engine setup and built by the Belgium company called ''Schaerlaken''. Also, a new steel wedge chassis was built and a new 2-bar roll cage was added to the chassis for the driver's safety. The team worked for over a year on the new project before the tractor was ready to run in front of a sled. The new triple Isotov TV3-powered Rising Star was officially revealed for the first time at the Indoor pull in Zwolle, the Netherlands in January 1999. This unveiling was also shown at Eurosport, when they showed the 1-hour broadcast of the pull in Zwolle.

But the tractor wasn't ready to run for the pull in Zwolle. The team waited at the time for the last driveline components for the new machine. The new Rising Star was ready before the Dutch Championship 99 season started.

That 1999 season was a learning year for the Rising Star Team with the new triple turbine. The new Rising Star debuted at the Dutch Championship opener in Wierden, the Netherlands in 1999. Jan Bosman behind the wheel was very careful with the new tractor in the 3.5t and 4.5t mod class. They finished in both classes in the last place, but the most important thing was, that everything was still intact and a lot of important knowledge was collected on that day.

During the year the team collected more and more knowledge and data with the tractor and the results got better from pull to pull.
The breakthrough then came in Lochem 1999. The Team won with the new Rising Star, the 3.5t modified class there. That victory was a big relief for the team after so many hours of work on the tractor.
But unfortunately, for the 2000 season, the engine limits for turbines were changed by the ETPC in the 3.5t modified class. That meant, the Rising Star Team was no longer allowed to drive with 3 turbines in the 3.5t modified class. Due to the new turbine rules, the team had decided to compete only in the 4.5t modified class in 2000.

That year in the 4.5t modified class was a success. With a lot of strong results and top 3 positions on the events in the Netherlands, the team achieved in their second full season with the new tractor a great 3rd place in the Dutch Championship point standings. In 2001 the guys returned to the 3.5t modified class with the tractor. They drove with the Rising Star in the 3.5t mod class with 2 running turbines and in the 4.5t mod class with 3 turbines.
In 2002, the Rising Star Team also competed for the first time with the triple turbine tractor at the European Championship in Bakel, the Netherlands. Rising Star was qualified in the 3.5t mod class for the EC on their home ground. All in all, it was a good EC for the Bosmans and the team.

Jan did two nice passes in front of the Belgium sled and finished in a good 6th place in a strong 16 competitors field from all over Europe.

Until the end of 2003, the team did a lot of nice runs with the tractor and was always under top 6 of the 3.5t and 4.5t modified class in the Netherlands. In 2003, the team also started again with 3 turbines in the 3.5t modified class. The reason for that was, that the team was able to prove, that they had the Mi-14 version of the Klimov Isotov TV3-117 turbines on the tractor. With all 3 running turbines on the chassis, the tractor was again competitive in the 3.5t modified class.
In 2004, the team switched the tires on the tractor. After many years with the old Firestone 30.5x32 8ply tires on the modified machine, the team purchased a set of new Firestone 30.5x32 Puller 2000 HP tires for the tractor.

Also, the team saved during the winter of 2003/2004 around 100 kg weight on the tractor with new lighter parts, like new aluminum planetary carrier housing on the rear axle, etc.
The new Puller 2000 HP tires gave the Rising Star a real thrust forward, and the tractor was on the same level now as the top V8 tractors in the Netherlands. The brand-new tires increased the performance of the tractor dramatically, and some very good results were achieved during 2004.

With wins in Achterveld and Bakel and 2 runner-up positions in Made and Putten, the Rising Star Team finished in 4th place in the Dutch Championship of the 3.5t mod class, behind Intertechno Lambada, Delta Lloyd Simply Irresistible, and Bandit.

With the 4th place in the Championship, Jan and Henk Bosman were qualified for the European Championship in Füchtorf, Germany. 17 competitors were on the starting grid in Füchtorf, at the time maybe one of the best fields for many years in the 3.5t. The track, on that Saturday in September 2004, was not the best. Less grip and traction on the start, too dry and too hard.

Many of the top teams struggled with the track in Füchtorf, including a lot of teams with Puller 2000 tires on the tractor. But the biggest surprise was, that Rising Star was the only puller which had no problems with this track conditions.

Jan Bosman did one of the fastest full pulls in the qualifying run. After that run, it was clear, that the Dutch team had the best cards on the table for the finals. In the finals, Jan Bosman had a great start and a lot of speed, like in the qualifying run. He was already on the way to beating the distance of Intertechno Lambada, but then Jan came very close to the white chalk line and had to get off the throttle to avoid going out of bounds. That cost them maybe the almost safe European Championship title. But the distance of 87.75 m was good enough for the runner-up place in the 3.5t modified class, around 4 m behind the European Champion Intertechno Lambada.

That was the best result on a European Championship for the Rising Star Team ever.
After the great 2004 season, the Dutch team didn't make big changes on the tractor for the 2005 season. The 2005 season in the Dutch Championship was very good, especially in the 3.5t mod class. 3 wins, 3 runner-up places, and one 3rd place brought them a great runner-up position in the Dutch Championship behind the 4 V8 Chevy engine-powered Delta Lloyd Simply Irresistible.

In the following years, the Rising Star Team had regularly top 3 rankings on the pulls in the Netherlands, but from 2008 on more and more power was lacking on the triple Isotov turbine-powered Rising Star compared to the Multi V8 powered tractors in the modified class.

It was getting harder and harder for them to get good results with the tractor in the 3.5t modified class. After the 2009 season, it was time to do something new for the 2010 season. During the winter of 2009/2010, the team changed the modified tractor from 3 to 4 Isotov TV 3 turbines.

Jan and Henk Bosman already had the thoughts and considerations to build a new tractor with 4 Isotov turbines for the mighty 4.5t modified class in 2004. That plan for the future usually was to build a completely new tractor with a new chassis, a new rear axle, a new drivetrain, and a new crossbox. But this plan was not completely implemented.

The plan for a new chassis with a completely new rearend was put on hold. Due to the high costs and the less time to build a completely new tractor, the team decided to make some changes to the current tractor. The 2 top Isotov TV3-117 turbines were positioned as far forward as possible on the chassis. The reason for that was, that the team still wanted to compete with 3 running turbines in the 3.5t modified class. With 4 turbines on the chassis in the 3.5t modified class, they had far less moveable weight compared to the old triple turbine setup. Due to the 4 turbine setup, they had to make some small changes to the wedge chassis.

They also had to build new brackets for the top 2 turbines. But that wasn't all. In order to bring the power of the two top turbines to the rear axle, the team had to build a 2nd brand-new crossbox. The new crossbox was constructed and developed in a V shape with custom-built gears. Compared to the old steel crossbox on the tractor, the new one for the top turbines was machined off lightweight aluminum. The housing for the crossbox was cnc-milled by a local company in their area, and Bennie Vreeman of Vampire Gears from Neede in the Netherlands built all the gears and did all the calculations for this new crossbox.

Due to the more power, they also had changed the turbine break on the crossbox at the time. The homemade 11-inch Crower turbine break received 4 discs instead of 3 discs compared to the old one.

Also on the rear axle some things were changed. The old 3 gear planetaries setup were replaced by 4 gear planetaries setup. The planetary carrier housing were purchased from Engler Machine & Tool in the USA, and Bennie Vreeman has built all the planetaries for the new setup.
The rebuild to 4 turbines with all the changes took a bit longer in the end than the team has expected. That meant the Rising Star wasn't ready for the season opener in 2010. The maiden run of the Rising Star with 4 turbines was in the middle of the season in Eext, the Netherlands. But, technical problems with the tractor, didn't allow a decent run.

After the problems were solved, they ran without big technical problems in the 3.5t and 4.5t to the end of the 2010 season. The first full season with the 4 turbine setup in the 4.5t modified class in 2011 was a success for the team. With a couple of top 3 finishes, Jan and Henk Bosman finished in a nice 3rd place in the Dutch Championship of the 4.5t class. In 2012, the NTTO dropped the weight of the 4.5t modified class to 4t and the name of the class was changed to Unlimiteds. For the Rising Star Team, wasn't that a problem. With 4 turbines on the Domex wedge chassis, the tractor already had a weight under 3.5t, so they still had a lot of moveable weight for that new 4t Unlimited class.

The tractor ran pretty well in this new lighter class with success.

The team also benefited from the problems of the V8 tractors in this class. The drop of the weight was a bigger problem for the multi V8 powered tractors, compared to the turbine tractors. For the V8 tractors, it's harder to transfer the power to the track with a weight of only 4t. In the winter of 2013, the old aluminum sheet metal fenders of the Rising Star were replaced by new, lighter carbon fiber fenders. From the shape, the fenders looked not different compared to the old ones. Last but not least, the fenders received a very nice new look.

But that wasn't the only changes on the tractor until 2019. Also, technically some things were changed, like new better parts on the rear axle or a Racepak data logger system for the turbines were only a few things.
But during that time the team achieved some further great results in the unlimited class.
Driver Jan Bosman took a couple of wins on the Dutch Grand National Championship rounds in the Netherlands and finished 3rd in the Dutch Championship point standings in 2015 and 2017. In 2017, they were also qualified again for the European Championship in Stroe in the Netherlands. It was a great EC for the team there. Jan Bosman achieved a very nice 3rd place in the 4t heavy modified class.

Both runs were perfect and only a bit more than 3 m separated the turbine tractor from the European Champion Intertechno Lambada in this class. The whole team was very happy with this result, and maybe also some other international competitors were surprised by the performance of the Rising Star.
In 2020, the team changed the tires on the tractor. The good old Firestone Puller 2000 HP tires were replaced by a set of new cut 30.5x32 Mitas Powerpull tires. Hans Heesakers from the Netherlands cut the new Mitas tires for them with the provided profile.

The Rising Star Team tested the new set of Mitas Powerpull tires at the 2020 Made’s Powerweekend Test and Tune, in the Netherlands for the first time. Jan did 2 pulls with the Rising Star in front of the Red Shadow TE sled. The new tires worked pretty well on the turbine tractor and the team was satisfied with the 2 pulls.
In 2021, the team didn't compete with the tractor on the pulls in the Netherlands. So they made the tractor ready for the 2022 season.

But unfortunately, they had to decide to stop with tractor pulling due to the health problems of Jan.
The Rising Star Team did tractor pulling with great pleasure for 39 years.

The Rising Star is still completely for sale, plus many spare parts and 2 Isotov TV3-117Mi spare turbines. The Rising Star is ready to run and is in very good condition. For Jan and Henk Bosman it was always very important that the turbine-modified tractor was very well maintained and in a technically very good condition all the time.

The Rising Star Pulling Team also would like to thank the competition organizers and the NTTO for the pleasant cooperation, the sponsors, fans, and the audience who have supported them all these years.

We wish the Rising Star Pulling Team a happy retirement from the pulling sport and good luck for the future.

Some details about the tractor which is for sale:
For sale: Rising Star Modified / Unlimited tractor

- 4 Isotov TV3-117M freepower turbine-engines
- Wedge chassis 4 mm Domex-steel
- Driveline brake homemade with Crower 11” clutch disk
- Crossbox steel AMD Racing Belgium with True Gear &
Spline Canada gears
- Crossbox aluminium Vreemann Special Parts with
Vreemann gears
- SCS Super Duty reverser

- Engler rearend Rockwell SQHD with Franklin magnesium
planetary housings
- Pressure lubrication on pinion-bearings
- Humpco billet differential
- Vreemann Special Parts planetary with 4 sun-gears and
bigger (stronger) ring-gear
- Lightweight kevlar rear fenders
- New Mitas Powerpull 30.5L-32 tires on new Midwest rims
- Racepak G2X-Pro Data Acquisition System
- Racepak IQ3 Data Logger Dash

- Home-made electronic overspeed protection
- 4 Holland Blanket turbine safety blankets
- Starter turbine AI-9B mounted in cart
- Weight racks and weights in front, in the middle and on the
back of the tractor

Tractor is competition ready, it is for sale due to health problems
In Europe, we use 3 engines in the Modified class and 4 engines in the Unlimited class
It is possible to build back the tractor to 3 engines, the third engine can be connected to the steel crossbox

For sale in consultation various spare parts and spare engines

For additional pictures and information: +31 6 2075 3064

For further information, check here: h ttps://www.facebook.com/risingstar82/

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