Tandem Axle 4-WD Tractor, Trailer

Tandem Axle 4-WD Tractor Trailer TRACTORS Made-It-Myself Jerry Bruecker Kaukauna Wis converted his Massey Ferguson 8 hp garden tractor into a 4-WD tandem axle model He also built a high flotation dump trailer to pull behind it      This rig lets us haul excess ground from graves dug in our local cemetery without damaging the turf says Bruecker     The dump trailer rides on four 12-in wide stock car wheels aligned in a row and is raised up or down by a heavy duty cordless drill which shaft-drives a transmission mounted on the trailer frame The transmission has a 140 to 1 gearbox ratio which makes it possible to dump a 4 000-lb load in just 35 seconds      I came up with the idea because when graves are dug there s always excess ground that has to be hauled away A skid loader had been used but it made too many deep wheel ruts says Bruecker     He bought another identical Massey Ferguson tractor and removed the rear end assembly which he mounted behind the tractor s rear wheels As a result the tractor now has two hydrostatic transmissions which operate simultaneously using the tractor s original hydrostat control lever      It s amazing what this 8 hp tractor will pull It has a lot of traction not only because it has 4-WD but because it has two rear ends that are pulling together all the time says Bruecker It ll pull a 4 000-lb load of dirt with no problem      Hooking up the two transmissions was a simple job because there s a lever on the bottom of each transmission I used one of the tie rods from the tractor that I cut up to link the levers together They work simultaneously The Massey tractor has a very rugged transmission     He welded a frame onto the add-on rear end and attached it to the tractor He also added a homemade 2-ft sq box on top of the rear end which is used to carry tools weights for traction and a cushion for a rider A home-built pivot allows the tandem axle wheels to go up or down on rough terrain     The trailer is entirely home-built and hooks up to the tractor via a ball hitch It has a 6 by 8-ft box with 10-in sides There are two sets of wheels on each side with a short axle mounted between each set of wheels     Bruecker used 1/4-in thick 4-in angle iron to build the trailer s frame The hitch is made from 3-in sq tubing and has a bracket on it that supports a heavy duty drill The drill shaft-drives a gearbox that has a spool mounted on back of it A length of cable leads out from each side of the spool and goes up alongside a vertical pipe with a pulley on top of it and then is connected to the box s frame     A vertical length of cable is attached to the spool and is used to keep the box from over centering and dropping down too far as it goes up The vertical cable moves in the opposite direction as the horizontal cables so when they re winding in it s winding out It acts as a stop so the box can t go too far up says Bruecker     The trailer s endgate opens automatically as the box is dumped     Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Jerry Bruecker 481 County Road CE Kaukauna Wis 54130 ph 920 766-2937; jbruecker@yahoo com

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