Lind, Wash. 24th Combine Demolition Derby (78 images)

For 24 years, auto demolition derbies (destruction derbies), have been for wimps as evidenced by the folks in Lind, Washington who create mayhem with no less than 10-ton, 25 year old and older harvest combines. This is small town, rural America at play.

This year's event brought in combines and drivers from Washington, Oregon, Idaho and drivers from as far away as Canberra, Australia.

Some combines arrive by truck, however, we were lucky to find them self-propelled...
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For 24 years, auto demolition derbies (destruction derbies), have been for wimps as evidenced by the folks in Lind, Washington who create mayhem with no less than 10-ton, 25 year old and older harvest combines. This is small town, rural America at play.

This year's event brought in combines and drivers from Washington, Oregon, Idaho and drivers from as far away as Canberra, Australia.

Some combines arrive by truck, however, we were lucky to find them self-propelled driving from Kulotus to Lind as we got near town.

The combine demolition derby weekend starts on Friday with the arrival of combines from far and wide, a local version of auto demolition derby in a small arena where cars race anti-clockwise around large tractor tires.

On Saturday is when the fun starts with a parade down Main Street in Lind featuring the combines, grain trucks, derby cars, kids, floats and horses followed by a hearty barbecue and in the afternoon, the real action begins.

This year's event featured 3 heats of 6-7 combines in each followed by racing grain trucks and pickups at intermission. The top two wining combines in each heat advanced to the final, championship round. All others that can still move make it to the consolation round before the main event.

As the grain trucks and pickups race around the small track, combine teams frantically weld and repair their beat-up machines to prepare for the main event.

The stands are packed as ten-ton machines battle one-another for bragging rights as the top driver and machine. This year's winner? I don't know with so much action as these machines crash head-on at a break-neck 8-10 miles per hour. When the headers collide, their backsides lift off their wheels, provided they haven't broken or have been sheared off during the mayhem!

Next year's derby will be Lind's 25th and will happen on the 2nd weekend of June, 2012 featuring several of this year and last combines that have survived.
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