By Andrew Liszewski
Whenever I’m driving through farm country and see one of those huge combines, I can’t help but wonder what would happen if a couple of them crashed into each other. But for the longest time I assumed I was the only one. “Some day…” I would think to myself, “some day…” Well it turns out that ‘some day’ is actually June 14 when the town of Lind, Washington holds their annual Combine Demolition Derby. The town itself is pretty small, but the derby manages to draw crowds of close to 5,000 people from all over the state. The competing teams seem to go all out too, bringing support people for on-the-fly repairs and painting the combines with colorful slogans and nicknames. There’s even a cash prize for the winners, though something tells me it doesn’t quite cover the cost of the actual combines that have probably seen their last harvest.
[ Washington Combine Demolition Derby ] VIA [ GoSleepGo ]
I’ve seen these combine demolition derbies before. It’s interesting for the first 3 seconds, but they only move about 10mph or so. On top of that, they really can’t maneuver all that well, and have some very weak spots (the rear axles). If they do catch your interest, then you should probably check out roto-tiller racing. Now that’s entertainment.
Here is a tip for watching some combined mayhem. Get hold of the Jeremy Clarkson’s Extreme Machines series. I cannot remember which episode this was in, but finding out is time well spent for you!
why not donate the combines to third world countries, instead of making GARBAGE out of them. The waste that is America!
yea, take all the expense to ship them to a country that cant afford the gas, let alone the spare parts.
Last year, as well as being on the bill this year, the Porter County Fair of Indiana held at the Valparaiso Fairgrounds upholds this crazy destruction derby. Something to see I guess, I just havent gotten around to it and I live in Valparaiso!!