Car Tractor Built From Pontiac Parts

Car Tractor Built From Pontiac Parts FARM HOME Cars 21-3-9 Al Brusky, Green Bay, Wis., is a big fan of old IH tractors. He already had a pair of Farmalls - a Cub and an "A" - and liked both tractors but thought they were underpowered. So he used parts that he al-ready had from a variety of 1961-68 Pontiac cars to build his own tractor that's patterned after both his Cub and the "A". The tractor has a Pontiac engine, trans-mission, differential, tilt steering column and steering box, heater, 11 by 14 front flotation tires, front spindles, and rear brakes. It also has master cylinder brakes off an old GM car and a red Ford Pinto seat. "When I started building it I didn't know what it would look like, but it turned out great," says Brusky. "It's about the size of a Cub but the engine is set in line instead of off to the side like it is on a real Cub. The cab has tinted glass windows and an AM/FM cassette player, and the hood tilts forward for easy access to the engine. There's a hydraulic cylinder on front and back. I use the front one to raise or lower a 5-ft. wide, 1 1/2-ft. high blade that I use to move snow. I use the rear cylinder to raise or lower the drawbar." Brusky used 2 by 3-in. steel tubing to build the frame and a length of 1/2-in. thick, 3-in. sq. steel bar to build the front axle, using the front axle design on an "A" as a guide. A U-shaped steel piece welded onto the frame keeps the front axle in place. The rear axle and posi-traction differential are from a 1963 Pontiac. Power is supplied by a .040 overbored 455 cu. in., V-8 gas engine out of a 1970 Pontiac. A triple 50 roller chain connects the 400 Turbo transmission to the differential. He mounted a 20-tooth sprocket on the transmission and a 32-tooth sprocket on the differential in order to gear it down. "Top speed is 35 to 40 mph," he says. He bought the 38-in. high, 18-in. wide lugged flotation rear wheels at an auction and had a mechanic make adapters to connect the wheels to the car's rear axle. "The adapter has two sets of bolts - an outer set that connects it to the wheel and an inner set that connects the wheel to the brake drum," says Brusky. A hydraulic pump belt-driven off the engine crankshaft is used to power the cylinders. Brusky uses a pair of levers on the left side of the dash to raise or lower the blade as well as the drawbar. He uses two more levers on the right side to operate the throttle and to shift gears on the trans-mission. The tractor has two brake pedals - one for each rear wheel. He used 1-in. sq. steel tubing to make the frame of the cab and filled it in with sheet metal. The tinted glass windows were custom made. The door is on the left side of the cab and the 11-gal. gas tank is under the seat. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Al Brusky, 400 Northern Ave., Green Bay, Wis. 54303 (ph 414 494-2825).

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