So as you can see by the lead photo, I’m not stretching the truth when I tell you that the tractor in this video (a mid-1960s Farmall 1206) is literally broken in half by the end of this video. The culprit? A flywheel explosion that is bizarre in its own right. As you will see, the driver of the tractor makes two attempts to pull the sled down the course. The tractor does not sound all that healthy and on the first attempt he literally cannot get the thing to move and he aborts. The second attempt he manages to get the tractor moving under its own power and the thing pulls the sled right out the back door. That’s when disaster strikes.
After the pull is done an official approached the tractor. All of a sudden the motor revs up and BOOM, you can see the machine split in two. At that point in the video, it switches to a collection of still photos documenting the scene and they are stunning. The 1206 is not a small machine. They came with 5.9L International DT361 diesel engines that were turbocharged and rated at up to 112hp at the draw bar. The straight six seems to be intact, but the transmission, which was most likely made of cast iron shattered like glass when the massive flywheel came apart. Tractors like the 1206 do not have a perimeter frame like a car, instead relying on the driveline components themselves to act as the machine’s spine. As you’ll see in this video the only thing left actually holding this thing together was the sheet metal cowl above the engine.
This is destruction on an absolutely epic scale!
PRESS PLAY TO SEE AN OLD FARMALL 1206 MEET THE MOST VIOLENT END IN HISTORY!
