All right I got into an arguement the other night with my buddy that drives a Ford about sled pulling. I told him that diesel truck pulling wouldn't be as popular as it is today if Dodge wouldn't of put the Cummins into a Dodge years aso. He argued with me and said that if they never would of put a CUmmins in it then people would of figured out a way to mod the powerstoke as much as a cummins. What do you all think. I think there still would of been sled pulling but not as nearly as strong as it is today. I mean how many Dodges do you see at a truck pull over a Ford or Chevy? Lately Chevy has stepped up to the plate with the new Duramax but years ago they were just a shadow. In all I don't think the diesel industry would even be the same. Look at how many modded Dodges you see running around compared to Ford or Chevy. SO what do you ll think? I thought it was kinda an interesting subject so thought I would bring it to light.

 

Well, the pulls near me started with a guy in a 86 F250 with a 6.9L...

 

They were pulling with gassers before diesels became popular.

 

Sled pulling was around long before the Cummins.

 

Yes, sled pulling would still be popular, the track would only be half as long though. If Dodge didn't put the Cummins in their trucks, the Amish would be killing in sled pulling. I've heard a story that my neighbor told me about a Amish guy bringing in his horses & challenging the local pullers to a pull-off. He said those horses out pulled the trucks by alot. This was back in the late 80's. I told my neighbor that it seems as though the guy retired from pulling when the Cummins was there in late 88-89.

 

I am talking about Diesel pick up sled pulling not gas sled pulling. I am aware diesel pick ups did not begin the sled pulling era.

 

I'd say most of the mods that have been done to the Powerstrokes was in order to keep up with the Cummins engines (and now the Duramax) so if the Cummin's hadn't been leading the way all these years truck pulling would be where it was 10 years ago. Competition is what drives a sport like that, look how far it's come in the past 2-3 years since the Duramax has stepped it up and made the Cummins guy's bring their A game. If you look at what it cost to reliably mod a Powerstroke to the 500-600+hp range where a guy has to be to be competitive in sled pulling it's not possible for very many of them to compete with a Cummins or Duramax and it's due to the design of the engine they are starting out with and not because there hasn't been alot of effort put into doing it. There's no doubt in my mind that the Cummins engine is a big reason diesel truck motor sports are so popular today and it's because it's pretty easy and cheap to get big peformance numbers out of them that the other brands couldn't touch until recently.

 

Diesel pulling would still be big without Cummins... you would just see alot more guys with 3208 cats and series 40 detroits at the pulls.

 

It doesn't matter a bit whether Cummins engines ever came along or not, guys would still be trying to do it with ANYTHING that will burn fuel

 

True but I would wonder if you would see as many guys doing it? It takes some seripus money to mod a powerstroke. As for as a Cat 3208 and detroit 40 series I wonder if those would have been offered in a pickup truck. Also speaking of some serious money if anything has yellow paint on it you get charged 50percent more. For about 4 Grand you have a 13 second 8000 pound pickup truck.

 

Or Not.....
The heaviest single pulls recorded in Alaska occurred at previous Fur Rendezvous events. Two St. Bernards in the heavyweight class, Susitna (the father) and Kashwitna (the son), pulled an incredibly 5,220 pounds each. http://www.alaskaoutdoorjournal.com/...eightpull.html

 

That is incredible that dogs can pull that much weight, I would hate to have them on a leash while they decide to go chase kitty.
Jim

 

Sled pulling is popular...?

 

WOW!! I would love to see a video of that.

 

So would I.....I'll do some searching, but with dial up it might take awhile, so if anyone finds some go ahead an post them.