Combine Derby Entertains With Massive Mayhem

When people think of a demolition derby, images of jalopy hot rods thrashing around and making minced metal out of one another come to mind.

Imagine what a combine demolition derby would be like.

You can witness such a derby, the only one of its kind in the region, at the 53rd annual Lind Rodeo.

This year, 10 massive monsters of steel, used to mow down and chew up crops during harvesting, will gather on the rodeo grounds to squash each other into large lumps of scrap metal Friday night. The actual rodeo runs Saturday and Sunday.

The Combine Demolition Derby is a demolition derby in the truest sense. Unlike an auto demolition derby, these combines aren’t attempting to avoid plowing into each other or being plowed into.

Despite their lumbering size, combines - thanks to their pivoting rear wheels - can maneuver around the arena fairly well.

“When you go out to get somebody, you always try to hit their rear-end,” says two-time derby champ Mike Doyle. “That, hopefully, will keep them from moving around too much more.”

Doyle is an eight-year veteran of the event. What’s more, he’s driven the same piece of machinery every year.

“The old headers (the area where the blades are attached) take a pretty good hit,” says Doyle. “When we’re out in the arena, we probably got top speeds of maybe 15 miles an hour, which don’t seem like a lot, but with a big ‘ol combine and a header hitting each other, you get a pretty good jolt.” (By the way, the blades are removed for the derby.)

Competitors whose combines haven’t been battered beyond repair spend the off-season rummaging through old junkers for parts. What generally needs replacing are rear axles, spindles, headers and hubs.

Surprisingly, the sport isn’t too expensive.

“What we do is look for old, used combines that have been either wrecked-out or are sitting out in the farmer’s old bone yard. We try to pick them up real cheap. We’ll pay up to $200 or $250 for a combine.”

Metal crunching starts at 6:30 p.m. Admission is $6 for adults and $3 for children.

Saturday’s events include a parade at 11 a.m., a barbecue at noon and the rodeo at 2. On Sunday, a cowboy breakfast is scheduled for 7 a.m., the always-popular Businessmen Calf-Roping happens at 9 a.m. and the rodeo resumes at 2 p.m. Rodeo admission is $6 for adults and $3 for children per day.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color photo