Power Tool Drag Racers Rip Up The Track For Real

Power Tool Drag Racers Rip Up The Track For Real AG WORLD 29-5-24 Big-block sanders, nitro burning funny-saws, chopped chain saws and supercharged speed wrenches are just some of the power tool drag racing machines seen at the Power Tool Races held in San Francisco, Calif. Steven Nelson is a former tractor puller turned power tool racer. He says the only limit to what participants can enter is that the power unit has to be from a hand held power tool. Fuel sources vary all across the board from 110-volt AC current to nitro-powered burners. Nelson and his dad Lowell are working on a non-riding racer for a race planned in October. "It uses 10-in. circle saw blades for wheels and a 9-in. grinder motor for power," says Nelson. "The saw blades work better than rubber wheels, and they throw fantastic rooster tails of wood as they go." Nelson and his dad have built 6 racing machines in the past. The hand held grinder motors he's using to power his latest racer are rated at 2 1/2 to 5 hp and are mounted on aluminum frames. Races are held on a 75-ft. track with a foot wide particle board floor and 2 by 4's on edge for sides. He admits the machines are more than a little dangerous. "When you have a 40-lb. racer coming down the track at speeds upward of 40 mph, you don't want to get in the way of those blades," he says. "When we set up our practice track on the sidewalk in front of our house, we line the street with our own cars in case the racer jumps the track." The races are held every June in a scrap yard in the San Francisco area. While Nelson and his dad are commercial fishermen, many of the participants are metal artists, leading to some very creative racing machines. Working with electric motors has challenges of its own, he adds. At zero rpm, they are at maximum torque. By the time they get to full rpm, they are at half torque. Getting maximum speed out of a racer requires a balance between torque and speed. "You want to hit full speed about 3/4 of the way down the track," explains Nelson, who is also working on a larger racer that can be ridden. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Steven Nelson, 6037 Stone Hand Ave., Citrus Heights, Calif. 95621 (ph 916 721-1332; teamkiss2001@yahoo.com; www.teamkiss.com; www.powertool dragraces.com).

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