JCB FASTRAC SPEED RECORD
had to stand up on the Allis
Chalmers tractor because of its lack
of stability. Guy Martin described
the record-breaking Fastrac as “rock
steady”, whereas Jenkins likened his
experience to “riding a frightened
bison”. Jenkins did claim,
however, that it was one
of the most thrilling
experiences of his
life despite the
fact he had raced
cars at more
than 200mph.
Jenkins’
record stood
until February 19,
2015 when
rally driver Juha
Kankkunen drove a
Valtra T234 at 80.88mph on
a snowy and icy emergency airfield
in Finnish Lapland. Kankkunen had
to rely on the world’s first winter
tires for tractors, the Nokian
Hakkapeliitta TRI. After the Finnish
record, tractor speed attempts
became more common. Just a few
months later, on September 25,
2015, US racing driver Jack
Donohue set a new world record of
96.3185mph on his 8N Credible
tractor on the Bonneville Salt Flats.
The 1952 Ford 8N farm tractor had
been designed to go at 12-14mph,
but Donohue added aircraft tires at
the rear and land-speed racing tires
at the front, then installed a larger
version of the Ford Flathead V8
engine. He returned the next year on
September 17 to beat his own world
record with a speed of 101.1692.
The accreditation of records is
complex, however. Donohue’s
34 iVTInternational.com September 2019
time was attested by the
East Coast Timing
Association
(ECTA), but
it was not
recognized
as a Guinness
World Record.
Therefore,
when Top Gear’s
‘Track-Tor’
reached a speed of
87.2mph in March
last year in front of a
Guinness adjudicator, it
was acclaimed as a new Guinness
World Record. To hit this speed, the
Top Gear team added a 5.7 litre
Chevy V8 engine, four-wheel brakes
and adjustable air suspension.
Race for the prize
From JCB’s perspective, the Top Gear
time was a British record, but not a
world record. The next step,
therefore, is to overtake the world
record set by Dave Archer, a beef
farmer from Ohio, last winter.
Archer emulated Donohue by
supercharging a 1960s tractor which
originally had a top speed of
13.9mph. Archer had the idea of
while recovering in hospital from
double lung surgery. On returning
home, he got his old Allis Chalmers
tractor out of the shed and added
specialty tires, a roll cage, a flywheel
shield and a parachute. He spent a lot
of time modifying the engine, but he
claimed that the engine, transmission
and almost every other component
was original to the tractor. Archer’s
daughter, Cathy Shalitz, reached a
speed of 108.5mph in October 2018
at an event held in Arkansas by the
East Coast Timing Association.
JCB’s Alan Tolley is confident his
team can surpass the 108.5mph
mark by the end of the year. “We’ll
be analyzing the data from the
British record at Elvington, and
there are definite improvements we
can make. We can add more power,
but you can sometimes hit a brick
wall and we’ll need to consider the
resistances and aerodynamics,” he
says. To keep hold of the record,
however, the Fastrac may need to go
significantly faster than 108.5mph.
World record holder Dave Archer
told Farms.com that his modified
Allis Chalmers tractor could go
much faster. “I built it with the idea
in mind it would be like a 250 to
300mph car. If someone breaks our
record, we’ll be waiting,” he said. iVT
On the Web
Watch the moment the record was broken at
www.iVTinternational.com/jcbrecord
103.6mph
The record-breaking
speed set by the
JCB Fastrac
ABOVE: The JCB team
celebrate following
confirmation of the
record
BELOW: An Allis
Chalmers D10, similar
to the one that was
heavily modified for
Ohio farmer Dave
Archer’s 108.5mph
world record
/iVTInternational.com
/Farms.com
/jcbrecord
