Mankind is constantly working toward achieving new speeds. Normally this effort is reserved toward traditional vehicles like cars and planes. But a new record has been made with a more unorthodox machine: a tractor.

Announced on Sunday, a 135 mile per hour tractor has broken the Guinness World Record for the fastest modified tractor.



The original vehicle was a JCB Fastrac 8000-series tractor with a 6-cylinder diesel engine. On its own, it's capable of speeds as high as 43 mph (impressive for farm equipment). After extensive modification to the powertrain and swapping a number of parts out for lighter alternatives, the Fastrac's horsepower was boosted to a hefty 1,000 hp.

The interior had some work done as well. The seat was replaced with a racing seat and a roll cage was installed over the cabin. We've not seen a high-speed tractor accident before, but we can't imagine it would be pretty.

For the actual speed test in June, they had Guy Martin behind the wheel, a man with a history of piloting unconventional vehicles. They managed a top speed of 135, beating out the previous record set by Top Gear by 2018.

"There are some good folk there and they said about this idea of building the world's fastest tractor. So I said 'if you want it piloting give us a shout' and that’s where it came about."


Impressive speeds from a modest vehicle. We look forward to whoever tries to break this record next.