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The shorter drawbar allows you to maintain more lift on the sled pan, but does not create more leverage to cause weight transfer on the tractor. It's all about balance and if your tractor is too heavy in the front end, it takes a longer drawbar to maximize the leverage needed to transfer all the weight to the rear wheels. If you have a tractor that is light in the front, the shorter drawbar will prevail as it won't take as much leverage to balance the tractor. The only time that the longer drawbar will cause you to lose the lift on the sled is if by using the longer lever(the drawbar in this case) it causes your front end to lift. Once the front wheels move off the ground, you lose hitch height which in turn is causing the chain to pull forward more than lift on the sled. I am not talking about moving weight around for a heavier or lighter front end. The object is to run as long a drawbar as possible without having to add weight for balance. The more weight that you add to the rear of the tractor, the shorter the drawbar must be to maintain balance. Obviously were not talking about a 3 foot long drawbar. It's more a measurement of inches. Too long and other factors come into play such as drawbar flex which causes hitch height loss. Nobobdy will disagree that a shorter drawbar is more advantageous if it keeps you from adding front weight. Somebody stated that a long drawbar and a long chain have the same effect. Maybe I'm mentally challenged, but I don't see it that way. Changing the length of the chain changes the angle at which the tractor lifts on the sled. Longer chain equals less lift. Whether you shorten or lengthen the drawbar has no effect on the angle of the chain or consequently the lift on the sled as long as the length of the drawbar does not change the hitch height.
I think we all see the same picture, we're just looking at it from different angles!
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