The German-built Bagger 288 giant trencher should be familiar to anyone who likes to gawk and awe at spinning blades larger than most houses. It’s as close as we’re going to get to 100-story battle mecha for a while.

The natural first thought after seeing the 288 is, “I wonder what that thing would do to anything that wasn’t dirt and stone?” We have an answer, thanks to an inattentive driver and/or a poorly-placed bulldozer: Not as much as you’d think! It’s a credit to the iron construction of the bulldozer, flipped up between the tines of the blade [and seen in the yellow circle], that it didn’t sheer apart in a puff of sparks and shrapnel.

Still, I bet that made a heart-stoppingly rad noise.

More Pictures [ThrillingWonder.Blogspot]