ELVINGTON, ENGLAND - Is ploughing your field proving to be a long and time-consuming slog? Well you might want to phone up JCB Tractors in the UK, whose modified farm machine has just broken the Guinness World Record for the World’s Fastest Tractor.
The man enlisted to do the deed is not quite what you’d call a farmer, but as a motorcycle racer, TV personality and all-round thrill seeker, Guy Martin was certainly a top candidate. He incidentally also holds the world records for the fastest snow sled and soapbox.
The new record formed part of his TV series called Speed with Guy Martin and it was actually the second time he’d broken the world record, with an attempt in June having achieved 166.79km/h.
Following further modifications to the vehicle, Martin returned recently to smash his own record by over 80km/h.
The 153.77mph record (which is 247.41km/h in metric speak) was measured over a 1km stretch at the Elvington airfield in North Yorkshire.
Of course, this is not the standard everyday tractor that you'll find in your nearest rural area. This JCB Fastrac model has been extensively modified, its 7.2-litre turbo engine with a massive charge cooler now producing around 745kW. Consider, for the sake of comparison, that the standard Fastrac has a top speed of just 66km/h.
Achieving such a feat required more than just raw horsepower, however, which is why Williams Advanced Engineering thoroughly overhauled the aerodynamics package, which included an aero bumper and a flat underfloor, while the mirrors were removed from the cab and the front overhang was reduced. Williams also modified the rear farings to close the wake behind the cab.
The result, after performing 65 individual simulations, was a 25 percent reduction in drag.
“It doesn’t feel like a tractor (to drive),” said Guy Martin, who actually does own a tractor.
“From the outside it looks like a tractor but it doesn’t to sit in and it doesn’t go anything like a tractor.
“You have a five-point harness, there’s no radio, there’s no cup holder, no fridge. Most tractors have fridge and air con. It doesn’t have autosteer on it.”
Watch both record attempts in the Guinness World Records video below.
IOL Motoring