Driving low power tractors?

Some decent pulls around that area on 22. Wal-Mart dc and bunch of drilling activity around there now

 

the military deliberately gets engines and equipment (ground vehicles) manufactured with looser mechanical tolerances and weaker power output for the specific purpose of maximum longevity. the tighter something is wound and the harder something is tuned (for performance), the less durable it will be in the long run, from material stress and wear (en jeneral). i have a snowflake DD13 that takes 5 minutes to get onto the freeway, but once it's up to speed it will keep pulling 80k lbs up most hills without having to drop under 50mph. sometimes in PA where you can't use momentum i end up in 6th at 20mph for a stretch, but not ever on the interstates. there's the argument that if you use a 550hp beast engine it's actually easier on the engine, because it's not having to max itself out just to do everyday work, but with the same gross weight between a weak engine and a strong engine, any material used to construct the engines are the same, so the same gross weight stress is going to get transferred between the same material type, the difference being one engine is going to be fighting back a LOT harder than another for a little bit better acceleration performance, at the cost of increased fuel expenditure.

 

My Dad has told me there was few times he was standing out on the running board of his crackerbox with a 238 detroit cause he wasn't sure he was going to make it to the top coming out of crusible in midland. The moto back then was load it till you couldn't pull away from dock then take one off.

 

Well its horses for courses right? For road trains where your hauling anything from 70 - 100 tonne anything under 580 hp would be a total waste of time. Think if one was hauling freight on most flat highways 450 hp would be fine, running through alot of mountains and hills then minimum of 500 hp required.

 

My own truck has a 400 hp Cummins, ungoverned, so I do have the opportunity to use downhill momentum to climb hills. It's fine for what I do, up to 80K gross. At times I have done power only loads, pulling trailers putting me at 110K, then it gets to be a challenge in the hills.

I have done a lot of drive away for oil companies. It amazes me how a certain major oilfield company specs ALL of their trucks with 350 hp Cummins or CAT engines. WTF? We are pulling up to 110K off-road on grades well north of 20%! BUT they do offer CDL training and many of their drivers are newbies, so I can see why they neuterized their trucks, after seeing the skill set of their drivers.

For overall oil field work I am looking for at least 550 hp in my next truck (something that isn't plastic).

 

750ish/2300ish......3.73 gears, 24,5 tall rubber with a 18 speed. The only way to fly.....

Pulling 106K around the tundra....


Don’t lug it on a hill with a load. Easy on the accelerator pedal . And only a stout C-16 or a turned up engine stays with me.....

Priceless......

 

I just got a woodie.

 

Thank God for high HP!

 

The maxidynes were specifically designed to grunt and grunt and grunt. 1966 was the 1st year for production and same for TRL 107 triple countershaft 5 speed. Had a 52% torque raise while most others were lucky to be in the low 30s. If you didn't go wild with the pump and timing they ran until the driver retired and another one hoped in.

When you compare it to a big cam that's 855 cubes and the big cats the little dog was only 672 cubes.....pretty impressive if you ask me