Miscellaneous Small Engine and Garden Tractor Pulling Tips & Tricks
(Information that don't fit in any other category.)

The Importance and Safety of Having Wheelie Bars on a Pulling Tractor (Updated 11/4/05) Top of page

If a pulling tractor is going to run a 13" drawbar height with 26x12.00-12 tires, it must have wheelie bars properly installed, even if a club or pull site doesn't require them. Because a pulling tractor can flip back so quickly, without warning. The rear tires are rotating in one direction, which forces the tractor to want to rotate in the opposite direction. ("For every action, there's an equal and opposite reaction." - Newton's third law of motion.) So for safety sake, it's best to have wheelie bars installed for pulling regardless of the height of the drawbar or tire size. Wheelie bars are sometimes referred to as a "no-tip device." Wheelie bars are one of the easiest things to install on a pulling tractor. Only an idiot or someone with a death wish would pull a tractor without wheelie bars!

The pads or wheels for the ground contact needs to be of adequate size too, to prevent from sinking into soft earth. The pads need to be a minimum of 3" square x 1/8" thickness and wheels need to be a minimum of 4" diameter x 1" wide. Most pullers prefer to use wheels on the wheelie bars. They allow the tractor to gain an inch or two because they "roll." The pads on the other hand scrape on the ground and doesn't allow the tractor to get much further. And it's a good idea for stock tractors to run a 10" drawbar height anyway to prevent breaking a stock rear end.

For best stability of the tractor when the front end raises upward, most club's rules state that the bottom of the wheelie bar wheels or skid plates are supposed to a maximum of 5" from the ground. And the rear of the wheelie bar wheels or skid plates are supposed to be a minimum of 5" from the tread of the rear tires. Scroll down to see drawing for a better explanation. Check out this YouTube link: When it's important to have wheelie bars on a pulling tractor!

For safety reasons, make your wheelie bar bracket material rigid and not spring-loaded. They must be made of heavy wall (minimum 1/8" thickness) tubing and reinforced for strength. Also, bolt on the wheelie bar brackets and don't weld them to the frame. So they can be adjusted if necessary. See the pictures below Ê for what typical wheelie bar brackets look like:

^{NOTE: The wheelie bar brackets shown above were fabricated by the individual who owns each tractor.}

And be aware when using flat aluminum wheelie bar braces. If the tractor were to stop suddenly on the track, and the sled bumps the rear of the tractor, the braces may bend to the side from the impact. And straightening them so they'll look original again is almost impossible. Therefore, we think it's better to use 1-1/2" x 1-1/2" x 1/8" wall square tubing as wheelie bars. When the sled bumps wheelie bars made of heavy wall square tubing, the whole rear of the tractor will move sideways slightly, and the wheelie bars won't suffer any damage.

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How to set the wheelie bars for proper height so the front end won't be too high or too low when the front tires comes off the ground:

1. Install the front and rear tires that you're going to use at the pulls on the tractor.
2. Raise the front of the tractor (using a hoist or ramps) until the bottom of the front tires are about 16" off the ground.
3. Set the wheelie bars w/wheels or skid pads on the ground.
4. Mark and drill holes in the frame or transaxle to fasten the wheelie bar brackets.
5. Use 3/8" diameter grade 8 bolts to fasten the wheelie bars!

About Rear Safety Bumpers -

When a high speed garden tractor gets going down the track really good, and all of a sudden it's engine stalls and the tractor comes to a complete stop, what's going to happen? Chances are the sled will bump the rear of the tractor. Most sled operators can't put the brakes on in time or react fast enough because this can happen so quickly. Therefore, it's a good idea to install a couple of heavy-duty rear "bumpers" mounted on or incorporated into the wheelie bar brackets located a minimum of 6" above the wheels or pads. (Most club's rules and regulations will or should specify the location.) These bumpers will keep the sled from possibly getting up on top of the rear tires, causing damage to the tractor and/or injury to the driver. And the bumpers will prevent the pull chain from getting "wrapped" around one of the rear tires should the tractor go sideways to the extreme.

Safety of Pulling -

All tractor pullers, despite their age, needs to be educated on safety requirements and proper operation of a pulling tractor. Because many of them, when the tractor they're sitting on is hooked to the sled, will rev it up and give it all it's got, and they'll do whatever it takes to win. Some even get injured by doing so. They think it's a "no-holds-barred" contest.

We've seen a few garden tractor pullers would launch the sled (not our sled) at the sting line, when all of a sudden their tractor would flip backwards and sometimes the puller will hit the back of their head dirt shield that's on the front of the skid pan because no wheelie bars were installed on their tractor. They weren't seriously injured. But it's scary to actually witness something like that in person! It's not a funny thing to happen and certainly not part of the show!

We were at a pull several years ago [with a now defunct pulling club that was based in central Missouri], when an inexperienced adult person on a stock garden tractor was pulling the sled [not our sled] down the track when all of a sudden the front of the tractor reared up and stood on end, then it caught on fire. What caused this is the tractor had 26-12.00x12 lug tires, about a 16" drawbar height and no wheelie bars. It also had a loose-fitting gas cap with a full tank of gas, which was positioned on top of the engine, and the battery, which was positioned between the gas tank and steering column, wasn't fastened down. When the tractor stood on end, the gas cap fell off, gas spilled out onto the battery and on the driver. Then the battery tipped back, shorting out the posts against the metal steering column support, which ignited the fuel. It was a horrible sight! The flames were immediately extinguished and the puller had to be air-lifted to the nearest hospital with a burn unit. He recovered from his injuries, but he now has scars on his chest and groin area to remind him of that horrible day at a tractor pull when he was just trying to have some fun with his friends. Not to mention the mental scars it left, too. An official of this particular pull should have inspected that tractor and all other tractors for safety, and not allow the puller to participate if the tractor wasn't safe or legal, or if an adjustment wasn't made.

Tell your friends and family about this story. And tell them to definitely install sturdy wheelie bars with skid plates or wheels, whether if they feel they need them or not, or if the rules require them or not. Remember - friends don't let friends pull without wheelie bars (and other safety equipment). And NEVER allow a young person to participate in a pulling event without wheelie bars (and of course, other safety equipment) properly installed and maintained.

We've been to a lot of garden tractor pulls over the years and noticed that some tractors leak fuel in places where a fuel leak shouldn't be. Therefore, we think that safety inspections needs to include checking the fuel lines for dry-rotting, cracks, fuel leaks, loose fittings, etc. (The tractors should have sturdy wheelie bars, too.) The inspectors needs to grab hold of the fuel line(s) with their hand and wiggle it around and slightly jerk on it to check for durability. This is important. Especially in a kid's class. Don't wait until an issue becomes a problem, and then turn into a catastrophe. If pullers would build their tractors right to begin with and maintain them properly, there wouldn't be any injuries, fires, or fear of a fire.

Using a Quality-Made Hitch with an Adjustable Drawbar on a Garden Pulling Tractor or Mini-Rod | Updated 1/5/16 Top of page

First of all, when a pulling association's or club's sanctioning rules state that "the tractor shall have no more than a 13" hitch height", this is worded wrong. It should read: "The tractor shall have no more than a 13" drawbar height." The "drawbar" is the part where the hook (on the sled) fastens to. And the "hitch" is the framework that's attached to the rear of the tractor. It contains the drawbar.

If you can keep from doing so, don't use a bolted-on-solid hitch with a non-adjustable drawbar or a one-piece, welded-on drawbar. It's not that the weld may break, but if you had change the drawbar height, choose to pull in another class or with another club that require a different drawbar height, or if you were to change tire size, deflate/inflate tire pressure, change the diameter of the front tires or as the rear tires wear, a hitch with an adjustable drawbar, you can easily and quickly reset the drawbar height accordingly. This will give your tractor a better advantage with the competition.

To be truly competitive, always run the highest drawbar height your clubs' rules allow. And the further rearward the drawbar is located, the more weight must be placed on the front of the tractor. But if the drawbar is too close to the rear axle, it'll be hard to control the front end from rearing up and down violently at times. Therefore, the best position for the drawbar is 6-1/2" to 8" rearward from the center of the rear axle. This should allow the front of the tractor to rise gently (if the tractor is weighted correctly), which should give the driver full control of the tractor. This measurement applies to all makes and models of garden tractors and for all classes of pulling tractors, from a basic stock to a fully modified.

Information Concerning Strength and Safety of the Pulling Hitch and Adjustable Drawbar Ê

When certain pulling club's sanctioning rules state something like, "the pulling point may not be more than 3/4 inches in depth," what they actually mean is, on the drawbar, there must be no more (and no less, for strength) than 3/4" of metal between inside rear of the hole and outside rearward edge of the drawbar.

Also, for strength and safety, and because most rules don't bother mentioning this, the drawbar itself should be made of minimum 1/2" thickness steel, and not aluminum!

But the upper and lower angle brackets should be made of either minimum 1/8" thickness mild steel or minimum 1/4" thickness 6061 aluminum.

• When using steel angle brackets...
  • The adjusting rods can be securely welded to the upper bracket only.
  • The adjusting rods can be threaded through the upper bracket only and secured with a jam nut on each rod above the bracket.
  • Through-holes can be drilled and two jam nuts can be used to secure the adjusting rods to the bracket.
  • Through-holes can be drilled in the lower bracket and jam nuts are not necessary for the adjusting rods.
• When using aluminum angle brackets...
  • The adjusting rods can be threaded through the upper bracket only and secured with a jam nut on each rod above the bracket.
  • Through-holes can be drilled and two jam nuts can be used to secure the adjusting rods to the bracket.
  • Through-holes can be drilled in the lower bracket and jam nuts are not necessary for the adjusting rods.
  • Being 100% of the downward/rearward [pulling] force is on the upper bracket, when fastening the aluminum bracket to the tractor, install a wide, thick flat steel washer under each mounting bolt head or nut (w/stud) to distribute the load and prevent either fastener from being pulled through the aluminum or causing the aluminum to bend or crack when under pulling strain.

How to Construct a Professional Pulling Hitch with an Adjustable Drawbar Ê

FYI: This entire assembly is called the HITCH. The adjustable flat bar where the hook goes is called the DRAWBAR.

This type of garden tractor pulling hitch with an adjustable drawbar is the most common and strongest ever used. It's low-cost and looks nice, too. It's the design that most professional pullers use, plus it's NQS legal. It will adapt to virtually any garden tractor as long as two pieces of angled steel can be fastened on the rear.

Specifications are:

• Use four grade 8 bolts or hardened steel studs with hardened steel nuts to fasten the hitch assembly directly over the existing IH Cub Cadet rear transaxle cover plate or on the rear of the frame of another make of garden tractor.
• Use either two minimum 1/8" thickness angle steel or minimum 1/4" thickness aluminum for the upper and lower support brackets. Each piece will need to measure 2" x 2" x 6-½" long.
• Use two 3/4" x 8" long steel threaded rods with 4 matching nuts to adjust the drawbar height. NOTE: Using nuts for the drawbar is more secure than using two 1/4" bolts threaded into the rear of the drawbar plate. Besides, due to metal fatigue from tightening and loosening, the [grade 8] 1/4" bolts have been known to break off flush in the drawbar.
• With steel angle brackets, the threaded rods can be either welded or fastened with jam nuts. But with aluminum angle brackets, jam nuts must be used.
• Use minimum 1/2" thickness x 2-½" wide x 6-½" long flat steel for the drawbar. Bore a 1-½" hole for the hook. Drill the hole offset 1/4" x 3/4", so they'll be 3/4" of metal at the rear of the drawbar for strength.
• Secure all three pieces of steel together and drill two 3/4" holes through all three of them for the adjusting rods. But before drilling the 3/4" holes through all three pieces of steel, it's best to space the drawbar at least 1/4" away from the rear cover plate, like it shows in the drawing. This means that the two 3/4" holes in the drawbar themselves must be drilled 1/4" offset. This prevents the drawbar from making contact with the rear plate when adjusting it.
• Drill the two adjusting holes in the drawbar with a 25/32" bit (slightly larger than 3/4") so it'll slide up and down without binding on the threaded rods.
• And that's it! You now have a professionally-constructed and safe-to-use pulling hitch with an adjustable drawbar!