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Posted

pretty impressive for only 4 horsepower

 

Not really. 16 legs is VERY LOW torque. How many hp does it take to turn Skylon Tower in The Falls? Hate to be a killjoy ;-) ;-) BUT it only takes a 3hp motor to make the floor rotate.

Posted

Not really. 16 legs is VERY LOW torque. How many hp does it take to turn Skylon Tower in The Falls? Hate to be a killjoy ;-) ;-) BUT it only takes a 3hp motor to make the floor rotate.

 

Horsepower is not torque.

Posted

True. Sorry. Still I don't even think horsePOWER is measured the way it is worded. 1 hp for 1 horse. Is it?

 

No. One horse can generate as much as 18 horsepower, I think.

 

The minimum being, of course, zero.

Posted

 

 

No. One horse can generate as much as 18 horsepower, I think.

 

The minimum being, of course, zero.

 

That is what I thought. That Hp is not measured 1 to 1... That puts that team into perspective as a 72 hp (maximum) assist. It is only one semi, tanker. Who knows if it is loaded or not. ?? Probably not. Will it get stuck easier being empty or a light load? Only through the snow too.

 

On the river (of course through the water, more drag?) an average retractable pilot house (non-mainline) towboat will have about 500-1200 hp. A big river, southern retractable towboat can be up to 5,000 hp. Figure that average 500-1200 hp boat will easily push up to 6 or 8 barges (of course again, through the water). That is anywhere from 9,600 tons to 12,800 tons of weight. Again, that 72 hp team is only pulling one little semi/tanker that may or may not be loaded. To put that semi into perspective, there is this:

 

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CCgQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.iowadot.gov%2Fcompare.pdf&ei=fDLPUsfOEKbc2gWo8oHYBg&usg=AFQjCNHLjcOmnYTuz6-2Umrms8sui1eISQ&sig2=S4KOlA8Lx_lABtW5FMBwWQ

 

Posted

Are they big horses or small horses? Draft horse or race horses? Is the guy big or little that has control of the horses?

Posted

All comes down to what information you want to input to make the numbers work on how many horses are really needed to pull it out.

Posted

Thats roughly 8000lbs pulling a 40,000lb (empty) or 80,000lb+ (loaded) semi out of a ditch. Traction, torque and center of gravity at work there. I would take the 4 horses over a 400hp truck in that situation. They can use the torque they produce much more efficiently and put said torque to the ground through traction by shifting body weight. A 400hp 4x4 truck in that situation would end up just spinning its wheels until it was able to get traction. By then the horses have won. Horsepower is the speed at which torque is applied. Great for drag racing but in real world applications its the torque that does the work.

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Posted (edited)

Thats roughly 8000lbs pulling a 40,000lb (empty) or 80,000lb+ (loaded) semi out of a ditch. Traction, torque and center of gravity at work there. I would take the 4 horses over a 400hp truck in that situation. They can use the torque they produce much more efficiently and put said torque to the ground through traction by shifting body weight. A 400hp 4x4 truck in that situation would end up just spinning its wheels until it was able to get traction. By then the horses have won. Horsepower is the speed at which torque is applied. Great for drag racing but in real world applications its the torque that does the work.

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Nice explanation. Thanks.

 

Truck loaded is only 40 tons, unloaded (mt) is 20 tons. Thanks. I've seen little sh*t tugs with 600 hp push (they pull it on a tow line when they get to The Lake) a 3,200 TON tanker barge.

Edited by ExiledInIllinois
Posted

Thats roughly 8000lbs pulling a 40,000lb (empty) or 80,000lb+ (loaded) semi out of a ditch. Traction, torque and center of gravity at work there. I would take the 4 horses over a 400hp truck in that situation. They can use the torque they produce much more efficiently and put said torque to the ground through traction by shifting body weight. A 400hp 4x4 truck in that situation would end up just spinning its wheels until it was able to get traction. By then the horses have won. Horsepower is the speed at which torque is applied. Great for drag racing but in real world applications its the torque that does the work.

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Horses don't produce torque. And horsepower is not "the speed at which torque is applied." :wallbash:

Posted

Horses don't produce torque. And horsepower is not "the speed at which torque is applied." :wallbash:

 

Horsepower is the speed or rate at which work is done. Feel better now?

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