We’ve been around a few engine dynos in our life and frankly NONE of them have looked or acted like the “dyno” in this video. Frankly, we’re thinking that this is more along the lines of a “test stand” than a dyno. Why? There are no power numbers given, there seems to be an open garage door directly behind it, and the freaking engine flops around like a fish when it is throttled and run. The only thing that really blows up our theory is that the engine clearly has a load placed on it during its pull.
According to the description on the video this engine is destined to be used on a multi-engine pulling tractor. The thing looks and sounds the business, for sure. In all of the dyno pulls we have ever seen, including at least three 3,000hp pro mod engine pulls, we have never witnessed a mill move around like the one in this video does. Before the hammer is laid down the blown big block flops around a little, but when the pulls hits full song, the rat motor torques over and the really rocks around when the throttle blades are closed. Your eyes will bug out when you see just how much the engine moves at the end of the pull. It isn’t an inch or so, it looks like the thing is going to fall on the floor.
If we owned that motor we would have made an ill-advised attempt to catch the bastard before it wiped out on the floor!
PRESS PLAY BELOW TO SEE A SUPER PISSED OF RAT MOTOR LITERALLY ROCK AND ROLL ON THE DYNO!
Looks like they rigged a chassis dyno to work without the chassis.
looks fine… what could possibly go wrong with 700 or so HP spinning at 6000 rpm while flopping around like a dying fish? Scatter shields? We don’ need no steenkin’ scatter shields…
Brian – as you know I have thousands of hours on the dynos and this has to be the worst set up I’ve ever seen. My guess is that they mounted the engine on rubber mounts for some reason.
There isn’t a clear view of the dyno but it looks to be a Superflo hydrokenetic (water brake) and they can absorb quite a bit of power. These transfer power thru a steel coupling (sort of a stub shaft) and the dyno is mounted pretty stiffly with only the load cell allowing the dyno to pivot slightly. So the engine is rockin’ and rollin’ and the dyno isn’t and there’s just a short connector between them (a 24″ or so driveshaft with a couple of U-joints might allow for some relative movement). Hmmmmm – what could go wrong there???
I’ll wager that they’ll tell you that they have 100+ runs this way. But the 101+ run likely will eventually have a catastrophic failure.
BTW – folks, NEVER stand radially in line with an engine that’s running on a dyno. ANYTHING that fails, even a belt, will leave radially so standing at the front or rear is much safer if you have to be with the engine at all.
I send my best to the next of kin.
Dan
In my hs. physics class the teacher was spinning a solid rubber bicycle about 20″ in dia. with an electric motor (gyroscopic force), the tire pulled apart, slapping him across the shoulder. We though he was dead…he wasn’t. He had a perfect tread pattern stamped across his chest. When the lessons stop the next day they throw dirt in your face.
This dyno is Jim Oddys dyno , purcased by Bill Leverentz, . Billy was a fixture at Oddys Automotive till he bought out Jim’s equipment.