Tractor racing is a concept that we aren't too familiar with down here in New Zealand. Sure, we've got the tractor pulling at the field days each year, but it doesn't compare to what the Scandinavians are up to.
Instead of just drag racing, an incredible hybrid of Motocross and tractor racing called 'traktorcross' exists, which puts a group of high-powered farm machines on a dirt circuit complete with berms and jumps.
One driver that competes in this series is Emil Sjödahl, who competes with a turbocharged, VR6-swapped 1958 Massey Ferguson 35 that makes around 200kW more than it did from factory.
A 1992 Golf was the donor car for the 2.8-litre lump, which then had a turbocharger strapped to it before hitting the dyno. According to Sjödahl, his tractor managed to make 210kW with the rear wheels spinning, so in reality, it was a lot more than that.
As a fan favourite, a lot of VR6 engines have wound up turbocharged and swapped into various vehicles, but this one is easily the most unique that we've come across on the internet.
Surprisingly, footage from the traktorcross semi-finals shows that this Massey Ferguson possesses the handling to match its straight line performance, and has no trouble boosting around the track.
Sjödahl notes that he had steering issues as well as a dragging clutch during this event, and has since ironed out the issues in preparation for the next event. Suspension and brake upgrades are also on the to-do list.
Armed with a decent suspension system, we can imagine that Sjödahl's boosted tractor would put power down a lot easier, and reduce the bone-rattling shake that's obvious in the race footage.
Unfortunately, it doesn't look like traktorcross is coming to New Zealand any time soon, but we're sure that it'd be a welcome addition to the field days either way.