Stanley,

Is this close to what you remember? We run this tractor in ITPA now-might not be quite the same as the old M you saw 40 yrs ago, though this is certainly a '48 IH M. I don't think you'd want to step on the sled or stone boat as it passed now.

It was volunteers stepping onto a sled as it passed when I first started attending pulls also. But-there was trouble finding step-on volunteers lots of times. Then, if it got hot or inclement, you might lose a few volunteers. That kind of changed the equality between contestants. Then, as tractors got more hp (about the time of 4010s & 806s) & ability of speed, they all said the heck w/trying to jump on. Then when you had a pull-off or 2, you needed 2x the volunteers. Sometimes the quest for beer overpowered the want to stay & play volunteer-or maybe it was just finally time to go home & milk the cows. Again-it was hard to be fair when weight was constantly changing. Then, as tractors got higher hp, they needed heavier sled tractors (ballast)...but soon they found they couldn't get the sled started moving. So-the pull back tractor would have to "push" in reverse 'til motion started. I think this problem was also solved w/mechanical sleds. You know yourself you can usually pull more load once you're moving.

I believe Billy Watkins from Arthur IL might've had the 1st mechanical sled. The "Pow-r Stopper". I think all sleds might pay him a royalty $$ yet. Pretty soon mechanical sleds popped up all over. Being self-propelled really speeded up the pull routine since the sled could get back to start line very quickly.

PB-I'm not sure what you mean by a progressive sled.

But PB is right...if you had a regular big farm tractor they might not ever be able to stop you due to weight. Some of the heavier competition classes now are only 12-14,000#. Though semi-trucks pull at about 20,000#. But-whatever you pull, you need some equality in the classes. Tire size (&#) & tractor weights would have to be standardized. Pretty soon after you write a few rules, you end back up where you are now. There was a few yrs when the JD QuadRange first came out they wouldn't let IH use torq or JD use QR shifting in pulls. You just had to lug it out in whatever gear you chose. Touch the TA or shifter & you were DQ'd.

Always rules to deal with.