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Defender with ETC & ARB vs Grey Fergie


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I live on a farm & during the winter the farmer got hopelessly bogged down with a 4WD tractor towing an 8 ton trailer of manure. We had to dig a hole to disconnect the trailer coupling & both the tractor & trailer were sitting on their axles. Another tractor was brought from another farm, big 4WD & promptly broke a chain. Larger chain brought & both the tractor & trailer were recovered with ease.

Clearly there is no point comparing capabilities of modern tractors with latest Defenders but I wonder how a Defender would do against a 50 year old 2WD 3 geared grey fergie? I am sure it has been done.

MINESAPINT

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Doing what?

Most tractors are designed to take a lot of weight transfer from their trailer to give traction on the rear wheels, so stands a good chance of towing 8 tons of manure across ground that a Defender wouldn't even look at with a trailer on, never mind one more than twice the legal towing weight! You can't do weight transfer on a vehicle with a 150kg max noseweight!

Or are you talking about unladen traction if you connected them together on a variety of surfaces?

Or something else?

It's a bit like comparing apples with small green aliens playing the harp on the international space station, IMHO.

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Guest WALFY
It's a bit like comparing apples with small green aliens playing the harp on the international space station, IMHO.

:D:D:D . Such a strange comparrison to draw Mr BM.

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OK, looks like I have not posed the question well.

Something called a tractor pull is popular in some circles & I understand 6 cylinder Fordson Majors are a weapon of choice.

I was simply wondering what sort of a match a Defender would be for a vintage tractor such as a 3 geared grey fergie in a tractor pull scenario. This could be on a variety of difficult surfaces, sand, ploughed field, grass and possibly on tarmac. Would the relatively modern technology in the Defender win over the vintage tractor which has the advantage of the big wheels?

MINESAPINT

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:D:D:D . Such a strange comparrison to draw Mr BM.

Well saying "apples with oranges" wasn't really enough :D

In tractor pull conditions it would come down to which has the most grip on the surface in hand and then the gearing. From experience I would suggest even a low powered tractor would spin its wheels on any surface in bottom gear and most will have a diff lock too so I think my money would go on the tractor though what I said earlier about weight transfer is significant - the back end of most tractors is relatively light when unladen. Fill the rear tyres with water and I know what my money would go on :)

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I live on a farm & during the winter the farmer got hopelessly bogged down with a 4WD tractor towing an 8 ton trailer of manure. We had to dig a hole to disconnect the trailer coupling & both the tractor & trailer were sitting on their axles. Another tractor was brought from another farm, big 4WD & promptly broke a chain. Larger chain brought & both the tractor & trailer were recovered with ease.

Clearly there is no point comparing capabilities of modern tractors with latest Defenders but I wonder how a Defender would do against a 50 year old 2WD 3 geared grey fergie? I am sure it has been done.

MINESAPINT

I'm sure you wouldn't be dragging a tractor out with a chain :ph34r:

When i was about 15 i did this, and propmptly got shown a video of someone else doing the same thing, only their chain broke a link and went straight through the back of the tractor cab and squirted lots of red stuff about :ph34r:

Never did it again.... and neither did i :(

Anyway .. It'll all be down to tyres and surface.

I recon tractor will win on mud un sand etc. Defender will win on road unless the back of the tractor can be weighted down.

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In a tractor pull I understand they pull against each other as in "Tug of War".

MINESAPINT

Actually, in a tractor pull the tractor pulls a weighted skid, often with the weight moving forward as time passes and sometimes with hooks under the sikd to increase drag.

The idea is to pull the skid 100 m (fa full pull), then more weight is added and the full pullers try again.

Last year, I had a chance to recover an old Porsche 2WD tractor that tried to follow me and some other LRs trough a muddy ditch and got stuck up to its axle.

Made me feel quite good. :lol:

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Its all down to engine power , gearing, and traction .

so many variables it could only be on a case by case basis

the fergie would be at a definite disadvantage engine power wise against a efi V8

but not so much against a tdi, that needs to get to 1800 rpm to develope max torque

gearing , low low with a torque converter, 1st low on 110 with low ratio transfer gearing,

what size tyres fitted to fergie , two wheel drive, 4wd , triple dif locks , tyre treads, and tyre sizes affeting contact areas

surface, ? so it goes on . :(

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I'm sure you wouldn't be dragging a tractor out with a chain :ph34r:

When i was about 15 i did this, and propmptly got shown a video of someone else doing the same thing, only their chain broke a link and went straight through the back of the tractor cab and squirted lots of red stuff about :ph34r:

Never did it again.... and neither did i :(

...

Proper chains dont work like that!

The chain should be completely static, if it breaks it just drops down quietly.

Always uses chain for heavy work with tractors - it is by far the safest.

Proper chain also has numerous uses for recovery work in a 4wd Land Rover context... Especiallty in compination with the hi-lift.

You can get completely static steel wire rope too - it is just somewhat more costly than normal steel wire rope. If broken it will also just drop down quietly.

Regarding the tug-o-war .... A 2wd tractor is absolutely no match for a 4wd landrover in terms of cross country ability. On level and solid ground the tractor _may_ be able to pull a larger load than the landrover - but only because of the lower gearing and the weight transfer. .... As long as the tires have sufficient traction on the surface, the real limit is the gearing..... The weight transfer helps with maintaining traction by transferring weight to the rear wheels on the tractor. My own 4wd tractor runs at about 300 meters pr hour at full throttle in lowest gear. As long as the tyres provide sufficient traction the pulling power is awesome...

Edited to add: Of course _never_ join a chain to anything dynamic.....

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Regarding the tug-o-war .... A 2wd tractor is absolutely no match for a 4wd landrover in terms of cross country ability.

Not sure I'd agree with that as a 100% guaranteed principle though I have seen a few 2WD tractors buried nose first especially with a front end loader and skinny front tyres :lol:

Quite right on chains, they shouldn't have any give, chains and wire hawsers are the classic recipe for increasing the length of a chassis when mixed with a clot who doesn't appreciate the power of deceleration imposed when a solid steel connection suddenly tightens :)

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