something (it's not a rule passed by congress, that's for sure) that will make millions of law-abiding Americans criminals if they have something called a pistol-brace that was previously legal (they can still keep it if they pay a $200 or so fee, and send in the paperwork, with the following warning). How many pages of ATF or IRS regulations are there? Is there a bill anymore that passes both houses of congress that isn't several thousand pages long?įor example, the ATF just did a. How many NTPA Tech officials are there, how many responsibilities do they have at each event, and how many parts are there on a pulling vehicle or sled they never get to look at with a fine tooth comb because of only so much time? The human mind can only keep track of so many things. The more pages of rules on the books, the harder it is to keep track of them, and also the higher the likelihood someone will be in violation of some of them. Todd, your response got me to thinking about something that is a general fact of life beyond pulling, but pulling is a perfect microcosm of it. I thought it was a rule for them to be mounted in this way and asked Marvin about it on Friday, he said that wasn't in the kill switch rules. I am a firm believer that the kill switches that have a pin should be mounted on a swivel so that if the tractor is at an angle to the sled when activated it will line up with the pull cable on the sled rather than pulling at an angle making it harder to pull out the pin. That is one piece of safty equipment we want to be sure is working. We also pull them with the engines running wherever we run engines at the shop. As I've stated in a different post I pull mine several times a summer with the zip tie still intact just to be sure they do what they are supposed to do. My tractors have the correct rings but I can say that never look at them any more and you just become automatic that they are correct. Honestly it's just one of those things that slips through the cracks. The tractor has been all over the country going through tech with lots of tech people. Basically, a second hitch on a mini is simply not feasible.īasically everyone, Mike told me that the ring that failed was on the chassis when they bought it and that they never really looked at it thinking it was what it needed to be. So yea let's take a chance of severely upsetting the smoothness of the ride on one of these little rocketships. front ends come crashing down, more wrecks. Not to mention, ever seen what happens when the second chain gets twisted up & gets shorter? When the front end comes up, the bottom hitch moves forward with the vehicle, if that second chain isn't long enough to allow free movement, guess what happens. 6-7"? The wheelie bar pads are only allowed a maximum height of 6".Īnd let's think about what will happen when the second hook bounces out of the bottom hitch just like they do on big vehicles, the second chain falls & goes under the front of the pan of the sled. So at what height do we need the safety hitch, for both hooks to clear. Hitch height on a mini is 13 inches, and more often than not the drawbar is set at 12 inches or less. that extra weight is on the wrong end of the tractor! Sure let's raise the weight to accommodate, but wait. let's make them add a 20 lb (or more) safety hitch. So the class that's literally so tight on weight we're using keychain rings on the kill switch which pull apart & fail. I made this post out of shock and horror of what I saw on video, and was definitely too quick to point fingers.Įdited 2 time(s). I don't want to falsely accuse any sanctioning bodies of doing wrong. I also learned the ring on the kill switch failed so it never actually got pulled. I will fully admit I was in the wrong there. Had Mary been knocked unconscious and/or the wheels not busted off, that tractor could've very easily shot full throttle across the track into other vehicles/people.Įdit: Thank you to those who informed me that PPL, or anyone else for that matter, doesn't run two chains on mini rods. I mean can someone name me a time in the past few years where a vehicle came unhooked at a PPL event? Another question, do they not pull the kill switches on these things during inspection? Clearly the kill switch did not engage either at all or not in a swift manner. My question is though, why does the NTPA continue to not require a second safety hook at all of their events? Maybe someone with more insight could tell me why but as a fan I see no reason why lives should be toyed with at NTPA events when PPL has required a second hook for years. Mary Kehl thankfully walked away from one of the scariest wrecks I've seen on video or in person.
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