Thread: watch 'hauling timer' the new ford ecoboost

I know that's amazing. Don't forget this engine was thermal-shock tested, abused in a torture chamber to simulate 150,000 miles (240,000km) of abuse first, then it took that. It's incredible what a 3.5L V6 petrol engine can do when they try hard. 270kw/ 570Nm from 1600 rpm, while getting 23mpg (10L/100km) on the highway.... in an F150! All while using regular unleaded fuel. Amazing! Well done to Ford. Another thing that Toyota DIDN'T DO!!!
And you are right F4, that tow ball could have broken and become a dangerous projectile. So not something to try at home.

Hmm, 22 logs weighing a total of 110,000 lbs. That is 5000 lbs per log which is equal to 2.27 tonnes per log. The largest was 3 US tons which is equal to 2.72 tonnes. I wonder how well a Defender would go (rated to pull 3.5 tonnes)?

Cheers
KarlB

I am not to sure about what I am on about here but if a defender is rated to tow 3.5T on a trailer, thats 3.5 rolling. This means two things, the trailer will allow the car to accelerate faster than a log will because of friction, but a log may brake better, depending on the brakes on the trailer.

Either way though, at 40kph the log dragging car is working very hard to keep the momentum, the transmission and engine are going to overheat fast if they are prone to that, whereas once a 3.5T trailer is rolling the resistance at 40 is minimal.

I understand what you are on about F4Phantom, but the logs were being hauled along a gravelly road at high speed to minimise any opportunity for them to dig in. It also has little to do with the engine but a lot to do with gearing and traction. If you really want to see some impressive towing check this out:

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0jhuKLrjJLg"]YouTube - Land Rover Defender Towing a 12 Tonne Truck.[/ame]

Cheers
KarlB

Originally Posted by KarlB

I understand what you are on about F4Phantom, but the logs were being hauled along a gravelly road at high speed to minimise any opportunity for them to dig in. It also has little to do with the engine but a lot to do with gearing and traction. If you really want to see some impressive towing check this out:

YouTube - Land Rover Defender Towing a 12 Tonne Truck.

Cheers
KarlB

That video is amazing, and yes you are quite right, but I disagree with power. As much as I am in the LR camp, and as much as I hate American cars, their trucks are very powerful machines, and this ford in my estimate would outdo a defender, perhaps not in getting the job done, but this thing effortlessly got the job done at speed. Gearing gives you the torque to drag the log, power overcomes higher gearing mechanical disadvantage. A defender does not have nearly 300kw and if it did the drive train would not cope. But then again I have never been a fan of comparing two totally different cars, there is so many things the defender can do where this ford would not have a look it.

If I was an engineer, I'd be able to work out the stress on that towball

I really can't believe they did that, a great demo of the truck could easily have become a fatal story. Hard to believe the test was designed by engineers and they allowed that to happen.

The F truck might be good, but oh boy, on the bush/logging tracks we all use they are bloody useless. Too wide, too long and very ordinary turning circle. They do make a great caravan towing vehicle though, long as you're doing the big wide desert stuff.

Not sure why one would expect the logs to be dragged along a paved road? Ripping up the asphalt in the process... There is a lot more resistance there than a trailer with wheels. I can push a large trailer by hand. Yes as F4 said, it would be stupid to compare apples with oranges here, but if we do compare them the Defender is a lighter truck on a lighter frame, designed more for low-speed rock/mud crawling, so the gearing is higher. And there's nothing wrong with that. An F150 has gearing close to a regular car, and can pull heavy loads at high speeds. Pulling a 5th wheel up the rocky mountains on freeways, for example. Steep inclines combined with the need for maintaining a high speed in a high altitude, the Defender won't do it.

I am not saying the F150 is not a capable vehicle. It is. I am just saying that the log towing demo is not that much of a big deal. You could tow them with a 20 hp 1 litre Fergie Tractor running on kerosene. The video implies that the F150 is as capable as a "very big, very powerful" log skidder which is utter rubbish. The skidders tow whole logs weighing maybe 10 tonnes or more across very difficult terrain; that the F150 could not travers on its lone some, let alone towing a log.

Cheers
KarlB