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Industrial Loader Turned Into "Snow Machine"
Joe Germuga of Rochester, N.Y., converted a used 1978 Ford 3550 industrial loader tractor into a snow-moving machine with a big bucket and a 3-pt. mounted blade on back.
He bought the tractor for $4,000. It came from a local school district and didn't have a lot of hours on it.
He couldn't fit the
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Industrial Loader Turned Into "Snow Machine" TRACTORS Loaders 31-6-29 Joe Germuga of Rochester, N.Y., converted a used 1978 Ford 3550 industrial loader tractor into a snow-moving machine with a big bucket and a 3-pt. mounted blade on back.
He bought the tractor for $4,000. It came from a local school district and didn't have a lot of hours on it.
He couldn't fit the tractor's cab in his storage shed so he removed it. A fabrication shop reworked the oversized fenders.
The tractor came equipped with a 66-in. dirt bucket, but Germuga wanted something bigger so he replaced it with a home-built 95-in. wide bucket. He also used sheet metal and steel tubing to build the blade, which is a little wider than the tractor's tires.
"It works great because I can back up to a building and use the blade to drag snow away from it, then use the bucket to push the snow into the street. The blade is built strong enough to also spread dirt or crushed stone," says Germuga.
The bucket has a Case loader cutting edge that's reinforced with some hard steel cutting edges salvaged from a highway department scrap pile.
The tractor was completely sandblasted, epoxy primed and painted safety yellow. It's equipped with a home-built safety glass windshield, which can be folded down. "I made the frame and a glass shop installed some used safety glass in it," says Germuga.
There's a home-built, 16-ga. hinged metal door on the left side of the tractor and a solid "filler panel" on the other side to block the wind. His wife used some canvas to make a "comfort cover" that covers both sides of the engine and channels heat back into the operator's area.
"The combination of the comfort cover, filler panels, and windshield keeps me comfortable. I can operate all day long in real cold weather with overalls and a jacket and still keep plenty warm," says Germuga. "I had tried using a factory æcomfort cover', but my wife's model works a lot better."
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Joe Germuga, 51 Hartfeld Drive, Rochester, N.Y. 14625 (ph 585 288-3579).
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