Tractor Fulfills Lifelong Dream

Tractor Fulfills Lifelong Dream TRACTORS Made-It-Myself 24-4-42 I've wanted to build a tractor for most of my life but I never had the need until after my wife and I retired and sold all our farm equipment. When the young couple who bought our small farm decided to leave, I was back in farming but with no equipment to do the work. I decided the time had finally come to build a tractor," says John Grabber, Umbarger, Texas. In addition to farming, Grabber used to own an IH combine salvage yard so he was most familiar with salvage IH parts. With the exception of some structural steel and sheet metal parts, all components on his home-built tractor are standard IH parts. The front axle, rear axle, final drives, wheels, and transmission come from an 815 combine, along with about 5 ft. of the frame. The engine, radiator, and hydraulic pump come off a 403 combine. The power steering pump, valves for 3-pt. hitch, the remote valves, the valves for the front-end loader, and the lift cylinders used on the 3-pt., come from a 503 combine. The hydrostatic speed control has a safety starting arrangement so the tractor cannot be started in gear. The steering wheel is adjustable up, down, forward, and backward. A 20-gal. air tank serves as a fuel tank. "I'm building a front-end loader to use with the tractor. I've also used it to pull a 14-ft. tandem disk as well as a 3-pt. mounted chisel plow. The tractor has the same basic engine as a gas-powered 706 Farmall, with 50 to 60 hp." Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, John Grabber, Box 180, Umbarger, Tex. 79091 (ph 806 499-3385).

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