Changes on Wicked Screamer

After 5 years, 2 Dutch Grand National titles, 3 Euro Cup and 2 European Championship titles in the 2.5t/5500lbs light modified class, the Screamin' Bobcat Pulling Team from Ijsselmuiden in the Netherlands did some major changes on their light mod tractor called ''Wicked Screamer'' during the last 16 months. After the great success in that class from 2015-2019 and some not very big changes, it was time for some bigger changes and improvements to keep the tractor competitive for the future. Already in 2018, the Dutch team started on the Wicked Screamer with a clockwise and counter-clockwise turning engine. That setup worked pretty well and brought them the Dutch Championship and Euro Cup title in that year. 

After the Indoor pull in Zwolle last year, the team started to work on the light mod and changed the whole front end of the tractor for the new setup. The main focus on those changes was the weight distribution and less twist in the Domex chassis. After all the CAD work and calculations were done on the computer, the team started to work on the chassis and the new components for the drivetrain on the Wicked Screamer.

The position of the 2 Sassy Racing V8 Hemi engines on the chassis was completely changed.

In the past, the positions of the engines were lower and further apart. To have more weight on the front end for a better balance, the Screamin' Bobcat Team moved both engines more forward and further in the middle of each other. 

The engines sitting now almost on the front end of the chassis. Due to this change the engines also sitting higher on the chassis now. Due to the new position of the engines, the whole front end of the tractor was completely new rebuilt. Due to the less space on the front end now, there was no place anymore for the old fuel tank on the front end. But that problem was solved, with 2 new aluminum fuel tanks on each engine. 

The fuel tanks sitting now on the back of the engines, like on their heavy modified tractor called ''Bobcat Sr''. Nothing has changed on the position of the oil tanks for the dry sump lubrication, they are in the same position on the engines as before. Due to the new position of the engines, they also had to build new engine and weight brackets, plus a new front axle with new front wheels.

All the parts for the new engine and weight brackets were laser cut and bent by their sponsor Tosec BV in Zwolle, the Netherlands. The new front wheels on the tractor are a set of Vredestein V64+ tires on aluminum rims. Those wheels were usually used on agricultural machineries, like on rotary rakes. The wheels are much smaller and lighter compared to the old ones.

First, they wanted to drive with a set of Trelleborg front wheel tires but they were too small and too hard to turn with the weight of the tractor on them. 

To the drivetrain: Because of that position changes the tractor also needed some new components in the drivetrain. The largest part in that was the crossbox. Due to the narrower side by side position and higher center of gravity of the power plants, the old crossbox of the tractor didn't fit to the new setup anymore. So the only possibility was to build a completely new crossbox for the tractor. The new crossbox, bases on the crossbox of the 4 Hemi engine-powered Bobcat Sr, which was developed in collaboration with Bennie Vreeman of Vampire Gears from Neede in the Netherlands. Berrie Boer developed the new housing for the crossbox on CAD and Bennie Vreemann did all the calculations for the new crossbox. 

The new aluminum housing for the crossbox was CNC-milled by Breman Machinery in Genemuiden. The Dutch company also has machined all the previous crossbox housings for the Screamin' Bobcat Pulling Team in the past. After the housing was ready, the new crossbox was fitted with brand new custom-built gears. The new gears were developed and built by Bennie Vreeman of Vampire Gears. Also on the crossbox were again mounted those little Vampire Gears reverse boxes. Those reverse boxes worked pretty successfully on the tractor before. The team uses those reverse boxes since 2018. With this setting, they can take the torque out of the chassis, which makes the tractor is more stable on the track and they also can bring the power of the 2 Hemi engines better to the ground. Also, the new driveshaft from the crossbox to the rearend was built by Vampire Gears.

Last but not least both Hemi engines were completely dismantled and overhauled during the last winter.

Already after the 2018 season, they have switched the setup of the engines for the 2019 season. The Screamin' Bobcat Team replaced the old Veney Hemi cylinder heads for new bigger BAE Hemi cylinder heads. The new heads worked great, made more power and the engines were more reliable. 

For 2021 the team completely re-worked the fuel systems so the new engine setup even got better performance, this was also a test setup to see things worked out like they hope to. That means now they can easily adapt these changes setup to Bobcat Sr and the mini modifieds.

After all those changes the team hopes to have a better balance and less twist in the chassis for the future. The first run of the rebuilt Wicked Screamer was on the 24th of July 2022 at the Superpull in Brande, Denmark. The new setup worked pretty well, but in the end, it wasn't enough for the win in the light mod division. The Screamin' Bobcat Team went home with a nice 2nd place, behind Gators with Patrick Hansen behind the wheel from Denmark. But at the next pull in Made, the Netherlands they turned the table again and won the competition there. For the last 3 rounds of the season, the Wicked Screamer received a set of new cut puller tires. The old Firestone Puller 2000 HP tires were replaced by a set of new Mitas Powerpull 30.5x32 tires. The new tires worked pretty good on the tractor and another win at the Dutch championship finals in Langedijk brought them the Dutch Championship as well. Those new Mitas Powerpull tires worked well but will receive some modifications for next year to get more performance out of them. With 3 wins at 4 Dutch Championship rounds, the team has probably raised the bar once again after all those changes on the tractor. That gives hope for an interesting Euro Cup season 2022 in the light mod class.

 

For further information, check here: https://www.facebook.com/screaminbobcat/?fref=nf

 

6000LB and 7000LB Farm Tractors at Ettrick WI 2020 by D2

Too Hot to Farm Tractors at Viroqua WI 2020 by D2

First Fendt Pulling Tractor in the USA

The Micek Pulling Team around Lance Micek from Watertown, New York in the USA, has built a new component super stock tractor during the last two winters. After many years with an IH alky burner super stock in the 7500lbs super stock division, Lance decided at the end of 2019 after 14 years with the IH brand to switch to a other tractor brand, which didn't exist in the US pulling sport before.
But first to the history of the team from the USA. The Micek Pulling Team was founded by Lance Micek in 2003. The Team pulled with an IH 1066 farm stock tractor on regional level for 3 seasons. In 2005, Lance purchased a super stock tractor chassis. 

After that 2005 season, the team started to work on the super stock project. The tractor received an IH 1066 sheet metal hood, like their old farm stock tractor. But the super stock tractor was from the technical point of view completely different compared to the old farm stock tractor. The super stock machine got a 6 cylinder IH engine with 504 cui on alcohol fuel. The IH engine was fitted with an iron alcohol cylinder head and 2 turbochargers. The tractor was called ''Edge of Dream''. They competed in the NYTPA organization on different events in their home state New York until the end of 2012, before they did the next technical change on the super stock. 

After 6 years, with a stock rear end, stock gearbox housing, and a heavy steel chassis, the Micek Pulling Team built for the 2013 season a component tractor that gave them more possibilities for more movable weight. In the new Edge of Dream component super stock, the same engine configuration was used as in the years before. After another 6 successful years on NYTPA pulls in New York, the Edge of Dream was completely disassembled for their next chapter in the pulling sport after the 2019 season. In 2019 they had completed 10 years of pulling with the old engine & configuration. 

After that, they decided to build a new power plant with an aluminum cylinder head and a 4 turbocharger setup. Another point was, Lance and his team wanted to have something that is more competitive against the other super stock tractors in their division. But maybe the most exciting change on the tractor was the brand. After many years with the IH 1066 hood, they wanted to have a hood for the super stock tractor from another manufacturer. Their choice was to use a Fendt hood for the new project, which is currently very unique in the US pulling scene. 

Lance was inspired by the European Fendt 936 Vario component super stock tractor called ''Hurricane'' of Gerrit and Tom Esselink from Lochem in the Netherlands. When he saw the pictures of the super stock tractor from Europe, Lance thought I also want to have a Fendt pulling tractor.

The newly built Fendt tractor has a chrome-moly tube frame with an Accu-Feed 3 bar chrome-moly roll cage, a Kirkey Racing driver seat with a 5 point harness, a homemade rack and pinion steering, chrome-moly tube built wheelie bars, a Full Pull Motorsports drawbar and hitch, a homemade front axle with Firestone tires on polished aluminum rims, homemade weight brackets and a Full Pull Motorsports sheet metal rear end.

Also pretty unique on the driver's place is the throttle stick. The throttle stick received an original Joystick of the Fendt 942 Vario stock tractor.
The whole component chassis was taken over from the old Edge of Dream super stock. The chassis was built in 2013 by the Micek Pulling team, together with Tom Owens from Montgomery, New York. On the chassis, the team did some changes and improvements. With the new Full Pull Motorsports sheet metal rear end, a different rear end was fitted to the chassis. The new rear end is lighter compared to the old shortened Rockwell semi-truck rear end. 

With the support of Tom Owens, they had great support during the building of the chassis in 2013 and the rebuilt during the winter of 2020/2021. 

Tom Owens is a good friend of Lance Micek and a fellow puller from the state of New York. Tom owns a 3 V8 Hemi engine powered modified tractor, which is called Ramblin' Rose. Tom competed with his tractor very successfully in the NTPA Grand National Championship this year.  He finished in a strong runner up place of the 7500lbs modified division, 20 points behind the 2021 champ Bret Berg with Money Maker from Farmington, Minnesota.

The new Full Pull Motorsports sheet metal rear end received a Rockwell cast iron center section with a Humpco billet aluminum carrier diff, a standard Rockwell ring and pinion gear, custom-built steel axle shafts, cast iron planetaries carrier housing with Franklin planetaries, and homemade steel brake rotors with Full Pull Motorsports billet aluminum brake calipers.

The new Full Pull Motorsports rear end is lighter and stronger compared to the old one.
With all those changes on the component chassis, the team hopes to have more movable weight on the tractor, which should give the tractor a better balance on pulling tracks with a lot of traction. 

Also, all the sheet metal around the tube chassis was completely renewed with new aluminum sheet metal for a new better look.
In the drivetrain of the new super stock works a 3-speed Profab transmission and a custom-built steel driveshaft between the clutch and transmission by Modern Machine & Tool. The centrifugal clutch is an 11-inch Crawler clutch with 4 discs and an aluminum flywheel. The clutch is protected by a Probell steel clutch bell housing.
Also, the new rear tires on the tractor should give more traction than the previous ones. 

The old Firestone Puller 2000 HP tires were replaced by a set of new cut 30.5x32 Mitas Powerpull tires. These new cut Mitas tires were fitted on a set of used polished Midwest aluminum rims. The rims were used on the old Puller 2000 tires too. The new Mitas tires were bought by CM Pulling tires in Reynolds, Indiana and cut by NTPA Grand National modified competitor Tom Owens from Montgomery, New York.
The newly rebuilt component super stock machine received a brand new Fendt 942 Vario sheet metal hood. 

But why they have chosen to use a brand new Fendt 900 series hood for the new project?
Lance and his Team chose the new Fendt 900 series hood because there are currently no Fendt pulling tractors in the United States. So, they contacted an Agco dealer located in Pennsylvania, and the dealer was able to order the hood for them. But usually, the team had plans to use a other Fendt 900 series hood.
But the plan to use a 936 Gen4 hood was then discarded again, when the Agco dealer told them about the new 900 series that was coming out in July 2019. 

After some talks with the dealer, the decision was made to use the brand new 900 series Gen6 hood. By the side, the team also is the first tractor pulling team worldwide with a new Fendt 942 Vario Gen6 hood on a pulling tractor.
When the hood arrived in the workshop of the team, the guys started with the changes and the sheet metal work on the 942 hood. The positive thing about the hood is, the 900 series hoods are pretty wide compared to hoods of other tractor manufacturers. So they must do only some little changes on it, like building new sheet metal side shields for the hood and cutting holes into the cooler grill for the exhaust stacks.
The Fendt 900 Vario Series is now 25 years on the tractor market. The first 900 series Fendt was introduced in 1995 at the Agritechnica in Hannover, Germany. The first generation was called ''Fendt 926 Favorit Vario''. The name ''Favorit'' disappeared completely in the third generation of the 900 Vario Series. The biggest step did the german manufacturer with the 4th generation, with the 936 in 2005. The 936 in 2005 was the first Fendt tractor that ran 60kph on the road. Also, the operation in the driver's cab was revised, like a new joystick for an easier operation.

Maybe the biggest change was the engine, for the 4th generation they switched from the MAN 6 cylinder engines to the Deutz 6 cylinder power plants. But for the 6th generation, the MAN power plants returned to the 900 series tractors. That Fendt 942 Vario, which is the biggest tractor of that series was introduced by the company from Marktoberndorf, Germany in the summer of 2019. The official presentation in front of the audience was in Hannover at the 2019 Agritechnica, the world's largest farming machinery exhibition. The 6th generation of the 900 series Fendt is available in 5 different versions, as 930, 933, 936, 939, and 942. The largest one, the Fendt 942 Vario is powered by a 6 cylinder turbocharged/intercooled MAN D 1556 with 9l capacity. The MAN power plant produces 415hp with a maximum torque of 1970Nm at 1350rpm. The engine wasn't especially developed by MAN for the tractor. MAN also uses the engine in their own semi-trucks. With the new look of the hood, the new 900 series looks more aggressive compared to the previous generation. Also new in the tractor is the new VarioDrive TA300 transmission without change of driving range. That transmission was introduced for the Fendt 1000 Vario series in 2015. From the outside, 900 Vario looks like a little brother of the Fendt 1000 Vario, which is currently the biggest and most powerful stock tractor in the world.

But back to the pulling machine.
The vinyl graphics on the side shields of the 942 hood were designed by Cassy Wharram from Westmoreland, New York. The design was later wrapped by the small home business R12 Designs. For R12 Designs it was the first pulling tractor that they have wrapped. In the past, they have mainly designed vinyl graphics for ATV motocross, snowmobiles, and motocross machines.
Maybe a couple of people will be surprised about the engine in the new Fendt 942 super stock tractor.

I think most of the people in Europe and in the US know, the new 900 series Fendt has a 6 cylinder MAN engine under the hood. 

But not the super stock tractor of the Micek Pulling Team, they stayed with the 6 cylinder IH alky engine. Usually on Lance's wish list was a 6 cylinder MAN engine for the new super stock. Unfortunately, the german engine is not so easily available in the USA. In Europe is the situation completely different. The version of the MAN engine was not only used in the first 3 generations of the 900 series Fendt tractors but they were also used in a lot of MAN semi-trucks.

The engine is available in Europe like sand on the seaside. 

For them, it's maybe possible to purchase some used engines in Europe in nearby future.
So, back to the pulling engine.
The component super stock tractor is powered by a 6 cylinder IH engine with 504cui on alcohol fuel. The alky burner engine received a bored up IH 400 stock engine block, with Ductile billet iron sleeves, a new counterbalanced IH stock crankshaft with billet aluminum rods and Diamond billet aluminum

pistons, a custom-built aluminum oil pan, a new Crutchfield Machine billet aluminum cylinder head with titanium intake valves and Inconel exhaust valves, a custom ground billet steel camshaft, a custom-built intake manifold by Crutchfield Machine, a homemade exhaust manifold, 4 billet Wimer HX82 turbochargers in 2 stages, a 3 stage rotor oil pump, a Waterman fuel pump, and a Computtech DataMaxx data logger.
The engine was totally rebuilt by Jordan and Richard Lustik of the Silver Bullet Pulling Team from Eighty-Four, Pennsylvania during the winter of 2020/2021.

The maiden voyage of the new High Hopes Fendt 942 Vario component super stock tractor was at the Empire State Tractor Pull in Alexander, New York on July 10, 2021. After 1 year and 9 months of work, the tractor finally did its first run in front of the sled. But that first run wasn't perfect, the newly built-up engine ran not perfect yet. After 189.07 feet run was over, but the most important point was, everything was still in one piece and nothing was damaged.

During the season, the Micek Pulling Team competed on different Empire State and NYTPA pulls in their home state New York. The Micek Team did some nice runs during the summer and won the Empire State Pullers event in Norwich, New York. But that wasn't the only win for Lance Micek, another win followed at the NYTPA event in Walton, NY and a nice runner up place was achieved in Malone, NY a week before. The new High Hopes component super stock was almost on every pull which they have competed to find under the top 10 of the super stock ESP and NYTPA competitions in 2021. The season was finished on a good 4th place in the NYTPA point standings. 

But unfortunately, they couldn't compete on the last 3 hooks in 2021, due to engine damage. The engine is back now at the Silver Bullet Pulling Team to be fixed. That first season with the newly rebuilt tractor was a learning year with highs and lows but Lance Micek and the team were happy with the performance of the tractor so far. For the upcoming season, they hope the last problems are hopefully sorted out and the Fendt tractor runs more competitive in the super stock division on all events there.
One is sure, it's great to see that the US pulling scene also has a Fendt pulling tractor on the pulling tracks in New York and we hope we will see more Fendt pulling tractors in the world of tractor pulling in the nearby future!  

Tractor & Truck Pulling Sled: Basics 101

Blue Queen sled Italy rebuilt

After 13 years without any big technical changes, the sled of the Italian tractor pulling organization ITPO was totally rebuilt during the last 2 winters.
But not everybody knows the sled has a very long history in the European pulling sport. Originally the sled was built in Anholt, Germany by the ATTO (Anholter Trecker Treck Organisation) in 1987. Before they started to build the sled, a few people of the team did a journey to the USA on the 12th of December 1986 to see the Eliminator sled of the Luedtke family from Wisconsin. In January 1987, the team around Bernhard Paus, Karl Biesemann, Clemens Üffing, Hans Walter Exo, Theo Gasseling, Walter Schuch, Klaus Lenzing and Rainer Paus started to build the sled. 

During the building time, the Luedtke family came over from the USA to help out in the workshop for 4 weeks. In the beginning, the sled was not self-propelled and after every pull, the sled was towed back to the start with a stock tractor. The ATTO built that sled in only around 3 1/2 months. 

The maiden voyage of the new sled was at the German Championship opener in Eschach-Seifertshofen on the 12th of April 1987. The Michelin sponsored sled was used in this configuration until the end of the 1992 season before the big rebuilt came. 

During the winter of 1992/1993, the sled was totally rebuilt in the workshop of the ATTO. The sled received its own engine, a modified frame, a new hydraulic system, a new drivetrain, a 14 speed transmission, a modified pan, and wheels on the pan. The wheels on the pan were mounted for easier driving back to the start and a better shunting to the pulling track. The sled received a turbocharged 6 cylinder MAN semi truck engine with 360 hp. 

The almost new sled was now self-propelled and at the time one of the modern sleds in Europe. From the outside view, the sled looked like a copy of the Eliminator sled of the Luedtke Family from the USA. The rebuilt sled debuted at the beginning of the 1993 season again in the Yellow blue look of their main sponsor Michelin. The look of the sled changed after the 1995 season. In 1996, Michelin stepped out as a sponsor, and with Zircon which was a daughter company of the Kramp group in Germany a new sponsor was found for the ATTO sled. 

The sled got a new paint job and shined now in yellow-green colors of their new main sponsor Zircon. The sled was used in this configuration until the end of 2000. The German sled team stopped pulling tractors at different tractor pulling events in Germany and sometimes in the Netherlands too. After the 2000 season, the ATTO decided to stop with tractor pulling and sold the sled at the beginning of 2001 to Italy to the newly formed organization ''TPI''.  During his first years in his new home Italy, nothing major had changed only a bit the paint job. 

The pan and the weight box were painted red, due to their main sponsor McCormick at the time. Bigger changes on the sled were done around 2005. 

The driver's position on the sled was moved from the left end side to the middle on the top of the engine. The driver on the sled had with this change a better overview over the sled and to the pulling tractor in front of him. Also, the paint job was renewed after the changes.
Due to new saefty rules for sleds in Europe for the 2008 season, this time the TPI had to modify the sled a little more. 

In that year the frame and the weight box was changed. Due to the deadly accident the year before and the new ETPC rules, the weight box had to be run on a H-profile steel rails on the chassis of the sled. So the TPI people at the time fitted on each side of the frame an H-profile steel rails and made the weight box higher for the steel roles. 

The steel roles of the weight box run then on the steelrails. Also the steel plate at the end of the frame which the weight box hits was completely new constructed and calculated. 

For better absorption of the forces during a technical failure 2 crash buffers from the German company called ''EST'' were mounted on the weight box. Also, the sled received a box movement control system, a new kill switch system, and a pushdown mechanism. The PLC and the box movement control system were programmed and built by the Red Shadow Sled Team from Edewecht in Germany. The TPI used that sled until the end of 2011. After that the sled was to see only on a handful of events in that time.

The organization ITPO which was formed in 2016, purchased the old sled from the former Italian organization TPI (2001-2011) in 2018 and gave the sled a new paint job, a new design, and with ''Firing Star'' a new name. 

But the problem with the sled was, the sled wasn't really modified during the last 11 years. The last rebuild of the sled was in 2008 when the safety rules for European sleds were changed after the tragic accident of Jan van Alphen in Great Eccleston, England in 2007. 

Nothing big was really changed on the technic but the sled was again silver certified by the ETPC in 2019. But this silver certificate was only valid for that year and not anymore for 2020. So the only way for the coming season was a total rebuild of the old sled to receive an acceptance by the ETPC. After some talks in the organization and with their sponsors, they decided to rebuild the sled for the future.

The work for the rebuilt started at the end of 2019. The sled was completely taken apart for all the changes which were planned.
The whole frame and the weight box were not changed, but all the important systems in the sled were renewed. The most important things in the sled are the hydraulic system and all the electric systems, like the PLC. Without the hydraulic, they can not steer the sled back to the start and also can not operate the pushdown and more things not anymore.
Also, some changes were done on the pan of the sled. The main trouble on the sled was to stop the big classes in the past because the sled had too less resistance on the pan.

When the weight box was on the top of the frame and the weight pushed fully on the pan, the pan slide more over the track and they couldn't stop the tractors very well.
So the pan was modified and got some new custom-built steel knives which of them can be adjusted hydraulically. Also, the old air cylinders for the push down between the pan and the frame were replaced by new better better hydraulic cylinders which should give a better compression on the pan.

With those changes on it, the team hopes to have better resistance on the pulling tracks to stop better the big pulling machines in front of it. Also the rest of the hydraulic for the operation of the sled, like to extend the front wheels on the pan were renewed and all the hydraulic hoses and hydraulic steel pipes were replaced by new ones.
The second important point on the list of the sled was the electricity. The entire electricity for the SPS, kill switch, push down, box movement control, and the rest of the operation was completely redone. All the important sensors for safety etc. were replaced by new ones.

Also, the driver's stand was completely rebuilt. A new cabin was fitted on the sled for more comfort and safety. With the help of their sponsor Landini, they received a new cab of a Landini stock tractor. Inside of the cab, some things were changed, like the stock driver's seat was replaced by a Sparco racing driver seat with a 5 point harness, and the operation on the right site was changed for the operating of the sled. Finally, after all the work was done the sled got a new paint job, look, and a new name. Due to the new color scheme and the support of the Landini tractor brand, the sled was painted in blue/grey and received the new name ''Blue Queen''.

On the 24th of July 2021, the newly rebuilt sled was officially revealed in front of their sponsors, members and on their Facebook site in front of their workshop in Italy. The presentation was a big success and the sponsors which have supported the project were happy too.
But the first real test for the Blue Queen sled was at the ITPO tractor pull round in Villafranca Padovana, Italy on the 2nd of October 2021. The first use after the 2 years of rebuilding was not bad, all important things like the hydraulic, electric and all the safety equipment worked properly without any problems. 

Unfortunately, not all Italian top pulling tractors were there at the pull which was really a shame. 

With the rebuilt of the sled, the ITPO hopes to have a reliable sled in Italy for the future and also to be able to greet guest pullers from foreign countries in front of the Blue Queen sled.

 

The ITPO would also like to thank their sponsors Landini, Stella Mauro, Topcon Agriculture, Liqui Moly and ICR Coatings for the support during that rebuilt!

 

For further information, check here: https://www.facebook.com/ITPOASD/

2019

2021

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