To me the most terrifying thing that can happen if you are a puller is the scenario that comes to pass here. At a small pulling course in Pennsylvania last weekend a driver and team experienced disaster. Thanks to the safety equipment, the driver walked away but when you see this video you are going to wonder how.

Often times we see engines coming apart in these tractors but in this case the engine was running like a top and that was the problem. The hook begins perfectly and the tractor gets the sled moving nice and slow. As soon as the driver pours the coals to it a problem is immediately evident. The weight box is not moving. Sitting all the way at the sled operator’s end of things, this is a massive problem. Why? Because this tractor that makes a few thousands horsepower has nothing to slow it down and doubly bad is the fact that it’s accelerating like a dragster with the weight of a semi tractor or two on its back.

The sled operator has a kill system which we’re sure he was trying to employ in his cab but nothing, none of the measures designed to prevent this situation work. The tractor gets a tremendous run at the course with no real work and as is the case with any race course, it comes to an end. The video stops when the whole mess piles through a fence and into a massive dirt berm designed to stop a runaway situation.

We have seen still photos and we can tell you that the tractor basically folded in half and we’re amazing that the driver was not hurt in the legs or feet of his body because of the fact he was kind of folded into the driver’s area when the frame broke and the tractor came to be shaped like a V.

This is a true nightmare.

Press play to watch a true pulling catastrophe – the weight box does not move –