Another Triple Tractor Hookup

Another Triple Tractor Hookup HITCHES Hitches 6-1-4 That triple tractor hookup we told you about in our last issue may have been the first of its kind, but we found out it wasn't the only one. Ryan Solberg, of Fosston, Minn., wrote to tell us he'd seen a similar hookup at his county fair's tractor pulling event. We checked into it and, sure enough, Donald Dufner, of Buxton, N.D., has a triple tractor hookup that he's been using since 1967 for both fieldwork and tractor pulling contests. Dufner hooked three John Deere D's together to make himself a 165 hp, 6-wheel drive tractor. "It handles like a 4-wheel drive tractor, and even has articulated steering. It's not a bit clumsy, despite its size," Dufner told FARM SHOW. "It's also designed so the back tractor can be removed quickly and just the front two tractors used for smaller jobs. "When just two tractors are used, such as on my pull-type combine, the second "D" runs the pto and the front "D" pulls the load. This way, I've got variable ground speed," Dufner notes. "The three D's have enough power to pull a 10-bottom plow." In the early 1970's, Dufner quit using the 3-tractor hitch for the most part. "Since gasoline got to be so expensive, I now use, as my main power source, an 820 John Deere diesel with a single Deere "D" behind. With this rig, I can pull a 32-ft. field cultivator or a 10-bottom plow. The two-cylinder 100-hp. 830 is the newest tractor I own," Dufner points out. He adds that, in tough going, he mounts an extra Deere "A" motor on the back of the "D" to operate pto equipment while the 830 and "D" engines provide the pulling power.

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