Plowing at the Speed of Sound
July 27, 2013 9:29 AM   Subscribe

Swedish farmer drops a turbo into his tractor.
posted by vansly (50 comments total) 9 users marked this as a favorite
 
Swedes just wanna have fun!
posted by stirfry at 9:39 AM on July 27, 2013


Hopped up tractors are not the sole province of the sweedes. Though more commonly they pull things.

I particularly like the Chevy V8.

Oh, and crashes.
posted by craven_morhead at 9:45 AM on July 27, 2013


"So, how did Olaf die?"

"Quickly."
posted by ColdChef at 9:46 AM on July 27, 2013 [18 favorites]


Heres the original on youtube.
posted by Lanark at 9:52 AM on July 27, 2013


The farmer kind of looks like Steve Reich. I kind of want to think it's him tearing around the Swedish countryside.
posted by TimeStove at 10:02 AM on July 27, 2013 [1 favorite]


I predict that the swedish farmer is going to learn about instability really soon.
posted by mondo dentro at 10:07 AM on July 27, 2013 [2 favorites]


Mod note: Swapped in the original link on Youtube
posted by LobsterMitten (staff) at 10:09 AM on July 27, 2013


Vad är en typisk tölp fyra sista ord?

"Hej, titta på detta!"
posted by lalochezia at 10:16 AM on July 27, 2013 [5 favorites]


That front steering linkage looks awful, uh, frail for that much power. Otherwise, hell yeah!
posted by Benny Andajetz at 10:25 AM on July 27, 2013 [2 favorites]


I predict the farmer is going to regret not putting on a wheelie bar. Seriously - an acquaintance of mine died when his tractor went over backwards while dragging a log. I understand it's a known hazard.
posted by Kirth Gerson at 10:28 AM on July 27, 2013 [2 favorites]


BAN THIS SICK FILTH
posted by Rhaomi at 10:58 AM on July 27, 2013 [7 favorites]


I predict the farmer is going to regret not putting on a wheelie bar...

I wrote my initial snark after watching only about a third of the video. Now that I've watched the whole thing, I have to admit the guy is like a tractor test pilot--he seems to know the stability envelope of his vehicle pretty well.
posted by mondo dentro at 10:58 AM on July 27, 2013 [2 favorites]


So does he find it easier to pull now?
posted by MuffinMan at 11:00 AM on July 27, 2013


This dovetails nicely with Honda's Mean Mower.
posted by Purposeful Grimace at 11:11 AM on July 27, 2013


That looks like FUN! I want to drive it!
posted by PuppyCat at 11:12 AM on July 27, 2013


That's one way to aerate the soil, I guess.
posted by Greg_Ace at 11:13 AM on July 27, 2013


Same guy... on snow.
posted by 445supermag at 11:15 AM on July 27, 2013 [1 favorite]


It's not that the bear dances so well, it's that he dances at all.
posted by mr_crash_davis at 11:15 AM on July 27, 2013 [3 favorites]


Take that Amish countryside! {flips over, horses meander past, muted sounds of snickering, approaching sirens in the backround}
posted by jeribus at 11:35 AM on July 27, 2013 [2 favorites]


I am really really REALLY surprised this worked so well.
posted by DU at 12:07 PM on July 27, 2013 [1 favorite]


After trying to get my wife to sell her 1990 Volvo 240 wagon for the past , ahhhhhh, 18 years or so (I did NOT understand the cult of Volvo), I gave up last week and decided to just go ahead and restore the old gray shoebox.... Thanks for the link, and the ideas!
posted by HuronBob at 12:17 PM on July 27, 2013 [1 favorite]


Also, once again 'Murrica does it bigger and better. Six blown V-8s on your tractor. Superchargers make more torque down low, turbochargers make more horsepower up high. Guess which is preferable in tractors?

And for ultimate torque, diesel engines kick ASS on gassers.

And then there's the weirdos and their turbine engine tractors.

And apropos of nothing but I just love the show this guy puts on at the drag strip and it's also a jet engine, I present The Lord Humungus*. What is this I don't even

*Not really, but if I owned that that's what I'd call it.
posted by Purposeful Grimace at 12:49 PM on July 27, 2013 [6 favorites]


The America does it better thing feels like runaway evolution to me. Bigger! Shinier! Louder! Rinse Set on fire, repeat.

It's a bit of a stark contrast comparing straightaway towing competition and tooling around (expertly) on a supped up farm tractor on an actual farm.
posted by porpoise at 1:14 PM on July 27, 2013 [2 favorites]


I'm surprised the raft of Farming Simulator videos out there haven't been pointed out yet. (It's a great game, I will say)
posted by crapmatic at 1:17 PM on July 27, 2013


(It's a great game, I will say)

Would you go so far as to say it's out-standing in its field?
posted by Greg_Ace at 1:26 PM on July 27, 2013 [4 favorites]


I would not.
posted by pipeski at 1:38 PM on July 27, 2013 [1 favorite]


Would you go so far as to say it's out-standing in its field?

It's a harrowing experience.
posted by Mary Ellen Carter at 1:41 PM on July 27, 2013 [5 favorites]


If he painted it blue, I know just the plinth where it would fit.
posted by vorpal bunny at 1:50 PM on July 27, 2013


It's a harrowing experience.

I understand the profits from it are helping seed their next project.
posted by Greg_Ace at 1:59 PM on July 27, 2013 [1 favorite]


Purposeful Grimace: "Also, once again 'Murrica does it bigger and better ..."

I think you confused "bigger and better" with "trying too hard." Seriously that's like the Yngwie Malmsteen of tractors
posted by invitapriore at 2:10 PM on July 27, 2013 [5 favorites]


And apropos of nothing but I just love the show this guy puts on at the drag strip and it's also a jet engine, I present The Lord Humungus*. What is this I don't even

Sure, but it's just a jet engine. Just a jet engine, like the world's biggest wussburger would attach to a semi tractor.

Whatcha want to see is Shockwave, the semi tractor with THREE jet engines on the back. It's the purest expression of stupid but awesome America that there is.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 2:19 PM on July 27, 2013




It's a damn shame that Saab's no longer around to provide an outlet for all of Sweden's automotive weirdness....
posted by schmod at 3:45 PM on July 27, 2013 [1 favorite]


Maybe it's just me, but the video artifacts reminded me of found footage... and how it never actually has such artifacts.

Seriously, if you are going to make a found footage film, it should look like this. Occasional warping. Jittery brightness. etc.
posted by gryftir at 4:27 PM on July 27, 2013


What happens when Europeans try to be 'Murricans.

Kidding, kidding, the jokes are for the kidding.
posted by Purposeful Grimace at 4:53 PM on July 27, 2013 [1 favorite]


Are tractor transmissions synchronized? And the differentials are open? I'm shocked on both counts.
posted by a halcyon day at 5:02 PM on July 27, 2013


I had an ( well still do) uncle who'd shift without the clutch when he was driving the International Harvester.
posted by 922257033c4a0f3cecdbd819a46d626999d1af4a at 5:20 PM on July 27, 2013


guys oh god this is the next fast & furious movie isnt it
posted by ardgedee at 5:23 PM on July 27, 2013 [1 favorite]


...uncle who'd shift without the clutch when he was driving the International Harvester.

Why not? Clutches are expensive. I bet it's a common skill among tractor-jockeys.
posted by Kirth Gerson at 5:25 PM on July 27, 2013


Why not? Clutches are expensive. I bet it's a common skill among tractor-jockeys.

For real. Though the uncles and Mom are no longer farmers, they have mad tractor skillz still.
posted by 922257033c4a0f3cecdbd819a46d626999d1af4a at 5:31 PM on July 27, 2013


I really wanted to see him hook up the rotary and start plowing at turbo speed. Just driving it around is kinda useless for a tractor.
posted by snwod at 5:32 PM on July 27, 2013


Just driving it around is kinda useless for a tractor.

Not if you want to get to and from the field in a very fast manner.
posted by 922257033c4a0f3cecdbd819a46d626999d1af4a at 5:34 PM on July 27, 2013 [1 favorite]


In my head, from mid-20th century memories, I can hear the voices of a hundred old Kansas farmers in a Grange hall meeting, all individually shaking their heads and rumbling something like "It's all fun and games, until you try to hook up the bush hog, and get your cuff caught in the PTO, isn't it?"
posted by paulsc at 6:04 PM on July 27, 2013


I have this image of a Swedish farmer tooling along on his regular tractor and this fucking neckbeard just goes whipping by him at a zillion miles an hour and he lazily waves at the rapidly dwindling dust cloud and tucks a new snus under his lip.

In this vision both of these dudes are my favorite people in the world.
posted by Divine_Wino at 6:06 PM on July 27, 2013 [3 favorites]


Also, did anybody else notice that the exhaust pipe that was pointed up at the beginning of that footage, was pointed almost straight out at the end? Like a visual "Whoops!" indicator of roll over, or tip over, or something unintended having happened along the way of shooting this...
posted by paulsc at 6:12 PM on July 27, 2013


Yup paul, I showed this to my gearhead buddy at work and he pointed to the exhaust and said "Flipped 'er." I call him Johnny Laconic.
posted by Divine_Wino at 6:52 PM on July 27, 2013


The Allis Chalmers D-19 diesel was the first production turbocharged tractor - way back in 1961.
posted by rfs at 7:42 PM on July 27, 2013


Hang on-- when he's doing the donuts in the end, you can see the exhaust pipe pointed up on the first go-round, then out, then down. I guess it's just loose.
posted by alexei at 8:44 PM on July 27, 2013


Yeah, you can sort of see it flop over when he's giving it all that spin force around 2:50, and then again at 3:45, it actually goes from "up" to "down" in one spin.

Honestly, parts of this made me think I was watching old-fashioned movie chase scenes where they speed up the film.

he seems to know the stability envelope of his vehicle pretty well

Yeah, but he doesn't even have a safety harness (maybe a lap belt?). He's putting a lot of trust in that hopefully-not-but-probably DIY roll cage. Jeeps with factory roll bars used to have a problem with killing people, and even Dale Earnhardt had a safety cage (and a lot more), but it didn't protect him from getting bounced around inside it.
posted by dhartung at 2:34 AM on July 28, 2013



Yeah, but he doesn't even have a safety harness


See also his other video: jump with volvo 745 down to 2 meters seetbelt dont work.

Self preservation doesn't seem to be even on the list of priorities.
posted by titus-g at 11:35 AM on July 28, 2013


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