Farmall F-12 Repowered By Subaru Engine

Farmall F-12 Repowered By Subaru Engine AG WORLD 32-2-23 "I do my own mechanic work and over the years have become very impressed with the Subaru car engine. So my stepfather and I came up with the idea of repowering a 1934 Farmall F-12 tractor with a Subaru car's fuel-injected engine. We're impressed at how well it runs," says Bill Harris of Van Etten, New York. The steel-wheeled F-12 tractor belonged to Harris's grandfather and was originally equipped with a 25 hp, 4 cyl. gas engine. Harris replaced it with the 4-cyl., 1.8-liter, 90 hp engine out of a 1989 Subaru wagon. The tractor still has its original 3-speed transmission, brakes, radiator, and gas tank. It uses the car's clutch and computer-controlled starting system. Harris even rides in style on the car's plush, reclining bucket seat. "It runs beautifully. Some of my neighbors like to poke a little good natured fun at me whenever they see me driving it," says Harris. "I call it my Farm-A-Ru 100. I already had the car. My only cost was for a new battery and some electronics. My total expense was about $200." The engine has two opposed banks of cylinders so Harris needed two exhaust mufflers. So he installed a pair of vertical exhaust pipes and clamped a motorcycle muffler on top of each one. "It makes a rumbling sound like a Harley Davidson, which gets your attention right away," says Harris. To rebuild the tractor, he lowered the frame so the engine sits level with the tractor's drivetrain, then made new motor mounts. He made an adapter to couple the Subaru's clutch and clutch linkage to the tractor's driveshaft. The belt-driven governor off an old combine is used to control the speed of the Subaru engine. "The governor regulates the tractor's speed so I don't have to keep my foot on the gas pedal all the time. Whenever the engine is under load, the throttle automatically opens up to keep the engine rpm's the same. I use the tractor's original hand throttle to set the engine speed and it'll stay that way. The wide front end was made out of an old car differential that he cut down. He cut the axle in half and removed the ring gear, keeping only the axle and bearings, then mounted them vertically. He cut down the car axle to make the spindles for the wide front end. The Subaru's computer and electronics are used to control the car engine's fuel injectors. "When I turn the key, the engine pops right off," says Harris. He used the Subaru's bell housing and transmission. He made an adapter to connect a driveshaft coming out of the tractor's 3-speed transmission to the car's transmission. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Bill Harris, P.O. Box 242, Van Etten, New York 14889 (ph 607 589-6914; wrh5@yahoo.com).

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