Tractor Upset December 10, 2009 12:46PM
My wife picked up some old farm items at an auction and was putting them on E-Bay.

One Item was a magazine called "The Farm Quarterly April/May 1971"...there is a story with pictures of Tom Hollinger flipping a Farmall 460 over backwards at the National Tractor Pull at the Farm Show in Louisville the previous February.

I know some of the old timers might have been there, and the younger pulling fans have probably heard about the accident.

I thought some tractor pull collector might want it so I told the wife I'd post a link

[cgi.ebay.com]
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Re: Tractor Upset December 10, 2009 01:12PM
I was in Louisville with my dad that night. The front of the "Sesame Street Special" just kept getting higher and higher. I believe that it turned out that he was using the old "U style" drawbar from a farmall M and the supports just folded up. It was pretty shocking to see him laying under the tractor like that. We really have come a long way as far as safety goes.
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Re: Tractor Upset December 10, 2009 02:14PM
Was the driver killed?
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Re: Tractor Upset December 11, 2009 01:02PM
I am not sure but Family was there I wll ask Dad I do not think that he was killed when that happened. If it is the right time had a good friend of Family that had a 180 Massey that was to hook right after him and if I remember correctly he did not hook.


Eric Prewitt
The Prewitt Pulling Team
Public Relations for
The Pulling Radio Network
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Re: Tractor Upset December 13, 2009 02:43AM
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did he not have wheelie bars?
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Re: Tractor Upset December 13, 2009 04:38AM
I was sitting across from the srarting line and he did have wheelie bars . He had the small steel wheels that were used to move a front mounted cultivator around with. when the front end got so high the wheels went over center and spun backwards tipping him over.
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Re: Tractor Upset December 19, 2009 06:32PM
Guys I talked to Dad tonight about this incident, he was there he said if he recalled it right back then they used to draw so many to do some test hooks in the afternoon, the test hooks went fine, but when the pull started they added quite a bit of weight to the pan and in that day the track was what everyone has came to know the Louisville track to be very Sticky. Well the first few hooks were pretty wild if Dad remembered right. And a guy that was a neighbor of Mr. Hollinger with a 180 Allis had taken the Lead And Mr. Hollinger had in his mind his neighbor was not going to beat him. Most everyone had 18.4 tires the "Sesame Street Special" Had a brand New set of 24.5's and when he took off it just kept going up. Our Uncle went and visited him in the Hospital he told him he had seen it that high before but it usually came out of it, but it did not that time. Dad also said that tractor was sold he thought to some one I forget who he said but He thought that Danny Dean done the wrenching on it for the Guy who bought it. If anyone remembers the guy that bought it please post.


Eric Prewitt
The Prewitt Pulling Team
Public Relations for
The Pulling Radio Network
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Re: Tractor Upset December 20, 2009 01:10AM
In the early-mid 1970's the Sesame Street Special 460 ended up at Clay Center,Kansas.It was owned and pulled by Dwight Sherbert for several years and I saw it pull several times.At every pull the KTPA announcer always mentioned that it was the tractor that tipped over at Louisville.I have no idea where its at now.We were talking about this tractor on Newagtalk several years ago and Dwights son posted about it.
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Re: Tractor Upset December 11, 2009 11:49AM
He should have been; thats plain dumb, it never shoulda got that high
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Re: Tractor Upset December 12, 2009 04:43AM
Its not nice at all to say he shouda been !!!!!!
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Re: Tractor Upset December 13, 2009 01:52AM
Hard to believe some one would even think that much less say it Sad
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Re: Tractor Upset December 13, 2009 02:35AM
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what is the big deal with u shaped drawbar we all plowed with them for years?

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Re: Tractor Upset December 13, 2009 05:54AM
The "U" drawbars were built for 50 hp tractors. Also, I don't believe that he was using the straight drawbar as a support. That's what alowed the two braces to fold up if I recall correctly.
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Re: Tractor Upset December 13, 2009 12:19PM
did he get killed?
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Re: Tractor Upset December 13, 2009 01:50PM
No. He was pinned under the steering wheel but he had slid off the side of the seat far enough that it was not a direct crush on his chest. The next night, the announcer said that he was in serious condition in the Louisville hospital. We never did see him pull after that though.
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Re: Tractor Upset December 14, 2009 05:01AM
He was lucky to be alive
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Re: Tractor Upset February 09, 2023 02:39PM
I was at the pull when Mr Hollinger flipped. I think he had a high back seat which offered some protection. Nightmares for years after. Glad to hear from his granddaughter! Thank you
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Re: Tractor Upset December 15, 2009 05:03AM
Was this the first year for L'ville?
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Re: Tractor Upset December 15, 2009 05:51AM
I belive that the first pull was in 1969.
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Re: Tractor Upset February 28, 2011 11:42AM
Tom was very much alive in the mid-70's on the outskirts of New Madison Ohio. He was my landlord and lived across the street from the home I rented from him. He was well at the time but I'm sure he dealt with health issues as a result of the accident, though you would not know it to look at him.
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Re: Tractor Upset March 15, 2017 03:33AM
Hello, I know this forum was a long time ago, but I just wanted to tell the story. I'm Tom Hollinger's granddaughter. He had his accident before my dad was born, but I've heard the story plenty of times. They didn't have wheelie bars at the time, and apparently the hitch broke, sending the tractor backwards, and almost crushing my grandpa. He broke several bones and had a long recovery, but he is doing well now. Its 2017 and he is doing great. He just recently bought the Sesame Street Special (the name chosen by my two aunts when the were younger), and is fixing it back up. It is true, he didn't pull again after the accident. It is really neat to hear the experience from people who were there though, thank you for sharing!
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Re: Tractor Upset March 15, 2017 01:14PM
Yes I remember that nite well,I was the next tractor up to pull, in a moline ub,watch tom pull a wheel stand and it just kept coming up to the point of no return, still remember that steering wheel in his gut. On a side note that was the unveiling of the 460 RoHo new fuel injected ally/ Nitro engine, put it on everybody on first engine pass, talk about rpm, she was sweet!
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Re: Tractor Upset February 12, 2019 03:10AM
Toms drawbar did not break... it bent. There were no weights on th front & one of the front tires was removed. My partner & I had given it a pretty good going over in the staging area & decided it was a tad on the spookie side. We drew to pull right behind Tom. A mess to say the least. After the pull was ready to resume Stanley & I did our Louisville coin flip and he became the designated driver. AND... A beautiful run it was... FIRST PLACE. THIS was the first tractor to run Fuel injection aolchie & nitro. That night she was @ 30% nitro... makes a totally different sound. Wonder tractor and CHEAP to run until others figured out what was going on.
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