F-150 easily hauls what might be the biggest Halloween pumpkin that we have ever seen.
Halloween is only a few weeks away, so in the coming days, the odds are good that many Ford F-150owners will take their truck to a nearby farm to pick up pumpkins. In most of those cases, the Ford owners will load a few pumpkins into the cab of their truck so that they don’t get to rolling around the bed, but John Harnica of Harnica Kids Pumpkin Farm in Michigan doesn’t need to worry about that.
The video above comes to us from the Hills Ford YouTube channel and it is a unique commercial for the 2015 Ford F-150 that includes one of the biggest pumpkins we have ever seen; weighing 1,200 pounds and being too big to roll around the bed. Hills Ford is located in the United Kingdom, so it is a bit odd that they showcased a commercial featuring a Michigan pumpkin farmer, but it is still an interesting piece as we head into the Halloween season.
Growing World Class Pumpkins
In the video above, John Harnica talks about his hobby of growing massive pumpkins, showing us the 1,200-pound beauty that he grew back in 2014. Harnica planted the special seed that grew into this pumpkin in April of that year, and over the course of six months, a combination of knowledge, luck and help from Mother Nature led to the beastly gourd in the video.
Of course, once the massive pumpkin is ripe, Harnica has to move it and to do that, he starts with a tractor fitted with some tow straps for a car. He carefully lifts the huge pumpkin into the bed of his 2015 Ford F-150, which has no issue hauling the 1,200-pound fruit. In fact, the pumpkin is so big that is practically fills the entire bed, leaving just small gaps in front of and behind the prized gourd.
Heading to Market
In addition to the pleasure that Harnica gets from growing a world class pumpkin, taking it to market can be just as much fun. When driving his F-150 along his local Michigan roads, other motorists ride alongside him, taking pictures and giving a thumbs-up at the site of the massive gourd in the bed.
If you are one of the rare homeowners who celebrates Halloween with a massive pumpkin like the one grown by Harnica Kids Pumpkin Farm in Michigan, a new F-150 will comfortably carry it from the farm to your home, but once there, you are going to need machinery or a bunch of strong people to lift it out of the truck.
"Before I was old enough to walk, my dad was taking me to various types of racing events, from local drag racing to the Daytona 500," says Patrick Rall, a lifetime automotive expert, diehard Dodge fan, and respected auto journalist for over 10 years. "He owned a repair shop and had a variety of performance cars when I was young, but by the time I was 16, he was ready to build me my first drag car – a 1983 Dodge Mirada that ran low 12s. I spent 10 years traveling around the country, racing with my dad by my side. While we live in different areas of the country, my dad still drag races at 80 years old in the car that he built when I was 16 while I race other vehicles, including my 2017 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat and my 1972 Dodge Demon 340.
"Although I went to college for accounting, my time in my dad’s shop growing up allowed me the knowledge to spend time working as a mechanic before getting my accounting degree, at which point I worked in the office of a dealership group. While I was working in the accounting world, I continued racing and taking pictures of cars at the track. Over time, I began showing off those pictures online and that led to my writing.
"Ten years ago, I left the accounting world to become a full-time automotive writer and I am living proof that if you love what you do, you will never “work” a day in your life," adds Rall, who has clocked in time as an auto mechanic, longtime drag racer and now automotive journalist who contributes to nearly a dozen popular auto websites dedicated to fellow enthusiasts.
"I love covering the automotive industry and everything involved with the job. I was fortunate to turn my love of the automotive world into a hobby that led to an exciting career, with my past of working as a mechanic and as an accountant in the automotive world provides me with a unique perspective of the industry.
"My experience drag racing for more than 20 years coupled with a newfound interest in road racing over the past decade allows me to push performance cars to their limit, while my role as a horse stable manager gives me vast experience towing and hauling with all of the newest trucks on the market today.