Posted August 22, 201410 yr Geez, this has been brutal! almost 5 hours to upload a measly 2 minute clip.. So, I told you guys I got to fire up a turbine powered pulling tractor at the county fair a couple weeks ago... Here's a face to the 'rancherman'! http://youtu.be/xfXxSCRUX68
August 22, 201410 yr So, that was you in the seat? How come you just sat there? You should have given us a view of you flying down the track with it!! Cool video!
August 22, 201410 yr Author yep! yours truly at the wheel... The owners only concern was that I kept my left leg firmly planted on the brake... even though these use a large truck transmission, in neutral, they still like to 'creep;... the airflow by itself will pull it along.. I was really amazed at how quiet it was... even when I kicked it up about 1/3 throttle... still could talk to the guys.
August 22, 201410 yr Owner (Big Grin) You must of had fun sitting in the Captains seat of that beast. Fixed your youtube link..
August 22, 201410 yr Author Oh heck yeah! the scariest part was NOTHING WAS LABLED.. dude would say "push this, turn that"... cripes I didn't know if I was hitting the ejector seat, or the kill switch! The fire ball was for 'wowing the crowd'... simple hand bent copper tube with holes drilled (like a soaker hose) in the exhaust stack... push a button to get the sparker going, and another to squirt JP8.. It 'idled' at ~ 6000 rpm.... 100% throttle was around 32-36k. there was a 4;1 reducer on the turbine output shaft.. so his truck transmission was still seeing about 8000 rpm. no vibration at all, none! the owner of this machine runs a turbine rebuilding service here in Ne. and says these really are cheaper to buy and maintain than just about any engine.. especially in THIS sport. about 8 grand gets you the engine and supporting hardware.. (engine, instruments, and starting system) a single 12v battery is all he needs... and you'll need about 3 gallons of JP8 per 15 second pass.
August 22, 201410 yr When I used to frequent pulls, the turbines never seemed to pull as far as the diesels or the blown gassers.
August 22, 201410 yr Author How much HP and TQ do those put out? That is insane RPMs! I heard anywhere from 1500 up to 2500 HP... so the math in figuring torque.... lets say 32,000 rpm, and 1500 HP = 246 ft.lbs. @ the input to the gear reducer.. so @ 4:1 and 100% efficiency ( never happen) lets just say it's ~ 850 torque 2500 HP @ 32,000 rpm would be about 410 @ the input side of the reducer... so ~ 1200-1300 ft.lbs.. When I used to frequent pulls, the turbines never seemed to pull as far as the diesels or the blown gassers. As you can see, ^^^^^ it's all about rpms! soon as they start lugging, they are done... Talking about 'slipper clutches/ in another thread...... here's the perfect place to use one! The clutch isn't hooked up until almost max engine rpm.. and will 'let go' pretty quickly as the turbine lugs. This is where a good driver can 'see' how the track is grabbing... so he can adjust tire pressure/weights... to keep those tires spinning! They really don't want 100% traction.. 50% or less for a turbine I really can't remember a turbine ever lugging down to zero... only spun out. Now, when there are 3-4 of these turbines tied together on the same chassis... No amount of drugs or alcohol would prepare me for a ride on those!
August 22, 201410 yr Hey Michael, if Ranchman is gonna post videos, a Mopar1973Man T-shirt and decal are in order!!! They'd look good on them big fenders wouldn't they??!! Rancherman.....................must've been nerve racking to take instructions from a couple of "fat boys" with beers in their hands!!!! They look like beers anyway!!!!!
August 23, 201410 yr Author Hey Michael, if Ranchman is gonna post videos, a Mopar1973Man T-shirt and decal are in order!!! They'd look good on them big fenders wouldn't they??!! Rancherman.....................must've been nerve racking to take instructions from a couple of "fat boys" with beers in their hands!!!! They look like beers anyway!!!!! The association or 'club' they belong to, really is entertainment. Meaning yes, the association has members (pullers) they join and pay dues, and 'enter' the sanctioned pulls.. At this level, it costs about 20 bucks for each 'hook'. The County fair 'hires' the association to put on a show. This year, 4500 was spent to 'book' them. These pullers, are running for year end points... sure, If you win a class on a particular weekend you'll win some money, 1st is ~ 150 bucks hardly worth it! doesn't cover the gas money to show up!! At the end of the year, the bigger money is awarded to the total point leaders in each class... ( 'booking money) Still, it isn't a paying proposition! These guys do it for the camaraderie, the women , and most importantly... BREWSKI!!! Yep, Dorkweed, you got it! I imagine it is 'structured' very similar to the local rodeo, when they come to town. if I start posting videos more often... I gotta find a way to upload them faster! I burned up the whole night for that 2 minute clip.. Hughesnet satellite speed are 'ok'.... for downloading, but uploading is about 1/3 of that
August 24, 201410 yr Owner if I start posting videos more often... I gotta find a way to upload them faster! I burned up the whole night for that 2 minute clip.. Hughesnet satellite speed are 'ok'.... for downloading, but uploading is about 1/3 of that Like with Linux I pre-process the video file with KDEnLive by converting to like a MPG4 or MP4. This typically compresses the file a bit more. Then upload it. My speeds are nothing to write home about at...
Geez, this has been brutal!
almost 5 hours to upload a measly 2 minute clip..
So, I told you guys I got to fire up a turbine powered pulling tractor at the county fair a couple weeks ago... Here's a face to the 'rancherman'!
http://youtu.be/xfXxSCRUX68