Time to revisit an internet classic.
America’s Funniest Home Videos was the OG, but since then, the invention of cell phones in conjunction with the internet has really allowed the world to get a front row seat to all of life’s stupid moments. It’s fueled shows like Tosh.-0 and Ridiculousness, but now, we can just go straight to the source and find entertainment on YouTube, Instagram, and more recently, TikTok.
I didn’t grow up on a farm and maybe this is the proper protocol for taking down old silos, but it sure as heck seems like there’s better ways out there.
Unfortunately, there’s not much context for the who, what, and where of this video, but a wild man wielding nothing but a sledgehammer decided it was time to take down a silo and have his friend video it.
Right from the jump, this just looks like a bad idea. Again, I’m no pro and don’t fully understand the structural physics which would tell you where this thing would fall, but on optics alone it’s a no from me.
The video begins with around half of the base already knocked out. To be honest, it looks pretty fun to swing that puppy around and smash out some concrete, but knowing that the end goal is for all however many thousand pounds to come crumbling down to the very ground I’m standing on? Hard pass.
The guy keeps making his way around the base and it’s looking like this thing may come tumbling down at any second. The cameraman starts talking to the guy, and while I can’t make out some of what they say, the gist is they’re talking about having never done this before.
Maybe not the brightest to have your first time be completely winging it, but hey, like the one guy said, it has to be like felling a tree right?
Wrong.
Eventually, he knocks out the panel that broke the silo’s back and the whole structure fell apart and began falling, but it fell directly towards both of the guys.
A comment on the video helps describe why it didn’t go the direction they were planning.
“I would say it’s nothing like felling a tree. A tree is a solid object, whereas a silo is hollow. This means that if you remove half of the lower blocks (either all one side or alternate blocks) the whole weight is now balanced on the remaining pieces. Hence them exploding outward as opposed to choosing to lean towards the missing blocks”
Obviously, the camera gets all shaken up as they run away but I don’t understand how the guy with the hammer got out of there; it truly looked like he was about to get flattened by the rubble.
Somehow, by the grace of God, both guys got out unscathed, but my goodness was it a close call. Next time, how about you call in a pro or at least have some experienced people around, yeah?
My heart is still racing…
Here’s an updated version… nobody almost died though.
