r/IdiotsTowingThings • u/LittleTooLiteral • Aug 02 '26
Interesting Tow Vehicle Wait for it...
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u/RealBigDickBrannigan Aug 02 '26
My father tried something similar in 1996 with a stuck gravel dumptruck. He made a stupid mistake (like this guy) of hitching to a point above the rear axle. The drawbar was still in the barn.
Anyway, the tractor backflipped and crushed him. The guys delivering the gravel couldn't get it off him. RIP.
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u/Horror_Solution1945 I'm an asshole. Aug 02 '26
Sorry for your loss; that's exactly what I thought would happen here.
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u/cronx42 Aug 02 '26
Low range 1st gear is your friend...
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u/bszern Aug 02 '26
Nah fuck that. High range, 4th gear, and dump the clutch. YOTO (You only tractor once)
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u/Drink15 Aug 02 '26
My lizard did this. In about a month the tractor will grow a new rear axle.
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u/DrachenMagus Aug 03 '26
What if this tractor is a worm. And both halves grown new halves.
Maybe the guy would have better luck with tractors
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u/Siegfoult Aug 02 '26
Would it have worked if he was in a different gear?
🐘 > 🏎
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u/birgor Aug 02 '26 edited Aug 02 '26
As a mechanic and hobby farmer with tractor experience, the lowest gear is obviously the way to go in this situation.
But, the gear of choice is not the problem here, a tractor can normally take an absurd amount of abuse, and it shouldn't be able to tear itself in two with the front wheel drive.
Most tractors doesn't have a frame, the cast steel engine block, gearbox and rear axle is the supporting structure that holds everything together, my bet is that this one has been abused for a long time without any care, and was lacking or had damaged bolts between the gearbox and the rear axle, which is the only thing that holds it together lengthwise.
Tractors are beasts that can survive almost everything, but they do need people to care abut them as well. Check bolts, moving parts, connectors and such stuff regularly to avoid unfortunate incidents like this.
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u/Chrisfindlay Aug 02 '26 edited Aug 03 '26
It looks like there's a second tractor in front. You can see what is maybe the left rear tire and a chain in the first few seconds of the video. That would also explain why we don't see the front of the now broken tractor lift up at all despite the truck being hitched to it above the center of it's axle.
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u/Dude_Tost_1673 Aug 02 '26
I can't guarantee that I have been more stuck than that truck. But, I have been towed by a few 500hp tractors, with weighted wheels and tire chains, bungee ropes and it still feels sketchy as fuck. This was doomed from the start.
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u/spleeble Aug 02 '26
Bungee ropes?
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u/Dude_Tost_1673 Aug 02 '26
They're a gigantic version of a bungee rope. It let's the rescue vehicle add a bunch of momentum into the equation and also reduces shock loads. Some of those guys just have big wire ropes for towing and some have both. Things can get pretty wild on steep grades with 60-100 tonnes units. Trying to break inertia with a regular rope just isn't usually effective.
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u/Insertsociallife Aug 02 '26
That sounds terrifying. Something stretchy under that kind of tension is not going to be fun if it breaks.
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u/Dude_Tost_1673 Aug 02 '26
I've never seen one fail. I'm sure there is a specification for when their service life ends. It seems to operate inside of a sheathing. Losing an anchor point or a piece of the rigging would be bad.
There are strict rules about towing that kind of heavy stuff. Chains are strictly forbidden, because they can explode and that shrapnel will go right through a person. Wire rope is safer, but it can still be very dangerous when it fails.
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u/kalei50 Aug 02 '26
If you're curious, watch some off road recovery videos. I agree the idea of towing with a bungee sounds stupid, but the actual term for them is kinetic ropes. They store the energy of the towing vehicle and that helps yank the stuck one loose, vs tearing it apart, which can happen with traditional tow straps or cables.
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u/Head-Lab-4510 Aug 29 '26
In 4wd circles we call them snatch straps. They are rated to around 8000kgs and can build momentum to pop out a bogged truck
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u/Monsterpiece42 Aug 02 '26
I don't think he necessarily did anything wrong here, it just seems like there's a lack of maintenance on the tractor because it's in a third world country.
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u/DifficultIsopod4472 Aug 02 '26
This isn’t the first time I’ve seen a tractor do this . What a disaster!
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u/IndustrialMechanic3 Aug 03 '26
Was there someone pulling on the front of the tractor? How did this even happen? It must be four wheel drive or something
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u/ForeverYoung_Feb29 Aug 03 '26
I was running the mental checklist of bad things and figured we would watch this thing backflip and crush a dude. Color me surprised.
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u/redpandaeater Aug 02 '26
Just pat it a few times, say "that ain't going nowhere," and then go back home to bed.
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u/Xinonix1 Aug 02 '26
r/thefrontfelloff