Box 88, Bass River, Nova Scotia, Canada B0M 1B0
You might be interested in a tractor my grandson, David McIntosh
and I have re-created.
The tractor is powered by a 1915 1 HP Fuller & Johnson (with
a thank you to Verne W. Kindschi for confirming age) make and break
engine, that was originally used to pump water at a local hotel. It
had been outdoors, uncovered for forty years when I bought it. Why
it didn’t freeze and break, I’ll never know. We dug it out
of six inches of ice and everything was seized up. Thanks to tips
in GEM, I restored it.
Wanting a better way to show it off, again from GEM, I got the
idea to build a tractor. The steel wheels, more in keeping with the
age of the engine, I cut down and welded. The rear wheels, from a
hay loader, I made to fit a 30′ x 8′ diameter band; the
front wheels, originally binder truck wheels, to fit a 20′ x
4′ diameter band. These were covered with conveyor belt and
‘ x 1’ strips bolted on for traction.
The rear end is from a Valiant car, with 12′ cut out of each
side, making it just under 48′ wide. It fits easily into my
pickup. The transmission is out of an early Dodge car, three speed
with stick shift on top and brake on the back end.
The drive is one flat belt and one V belt with clutch and all
made from the scrap pile.
Top speed is about 2 MPH. Front axle and steering gear is also
made from scrap. The seat is a cast iron Frost and Ward. The
controls are sized to fit David who is 9 years old. He is pleased
with it and is really interested in old engines. We took it to his
school for ‘Show and Tell’ when they were studying ‘A
Step Back In Time’. He goes with me to look at engines, helps
to get them home and cleans them up. We work together and it is
nice to see young people interested.
